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Short lengths of 4" Flexwatt

F

Flagg

New member
I'm planning on making my own heat mats using 4" 8 watt per ft flexwatt. Some will be less than 1 foot in length.

Now I don't really have any experience with flexwatt so I wasn't sure if this would work, as some dealers say it needs to be at least 12" in length.

The 11" flexwatt is constructed in panels so this makes sense, but I 've been told that the 3" and 4" is a continuous element.

I contacted several dealers of flexwatt and most of them have told me this will work, but one particular dealer, whom I have heard has some ethical issues, claims to be a big expert on flexwatt and told me that lengths under 1 foot tend to short out fairly often.

Does anyone know anything about this, or have first hand experience in using short lengths of flexwatt? I imagine this dealer could just be trying to sell more flexwatt, or he could be right. I'd rather not set up multiple vivs this way if its going to be more prone to failure or worse.
 
I have never used lengths that short, but I don't see any reason why it should be a problem. If the majority of people are telling you it's not then it's probably fine. This one guy may just be trying to scam you out of some $$$.

However, just to be on the safe side is there any reason that they absolutely couldn't just be a foot rather less than a foot?
 
Actually the short pieces will only be used for under a year so I'll probably go ahead with it.

They need to be short because I am trying to heat an 18 qt sterilite tub and the ridges on the bottom of the tub prevent me from using anything larger than say 8 inches if I want it to mount flush to the bottom. I'd also rather not have flexwatt sticking out the sides either and the depth of the tub is under 12 inches.
 
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