Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got a bunch of heat cable in a trade last year. I've held onto it to build incubators with. Well~ now I'm ready to get to work~ and there is a LOT of this stuff!! I've got two rolls that are 60' (300 watts) and another 25 foot of extension stuff!

The instructions I'm following for an incubator:
http://www.kingsnake.com/salceies/Incubator.htm

Sugests 16' of heat cable. So~ I have a couple options~ buy new shorter cables or:

1. Can I cut this stuff to the length I want and just seal the end good with electrical tape (making sure none of the wires touch? What kind of circuit is in there?

2. Can I coil 60' of the stuff around a couple PVC peices like in the instructions for the incubator~ but with the coils so tight they would have to touch each other (I can't see any way to get 60' of this stuff in there without the wires creating almost a complete coverage of the area) and then count on the Helix to keep the cable from heating up enough to actually melt itself or over heat the incubator?

Any clues?
Thanks!
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Cheryl Marchek
AKA JM
The Red Dragons Den

Always best to consult the manufacturer but I believe these work by creating resitance in the cable which then translates to generating heat. The length creates teh amount of resistance to get teh heat rating noted that's why they sell different lenghts that equate to different wattage ratings (heat)...at least those I have seen.
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Mike and David at 3-D Pythons
www.3dpythons.com

I'm not entirely sure who the manufacturer is~ I got this stuff in a trade~ there is HUGE black coil and a HUGE grey cable~ and ONE box that says it contained a "frost king brand" 60' cable (neither cable was IN the box) and another bag still sealed that tells me it is an "extension" to plug into another heat cable.

I've looked it up online~ and pretty much what I'm finding says don't cut it~ that will void the warranty. Okay~ I didn't buy it and don't know where it came from~ I can't use any warranties anyway!! LOL!

Thanks for the tip~ I'm asking over at the caging forum now too~ maybe someone there knows for sure whats IN there before I go clipping off the ends!
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Cheryl Marchek
AKA JM
The Red Dragons Den

Hi - You might try posting this in the Caging Forum, too.

I didn't think of that~ thanks! I'll try that right now!
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Cheryl Marchek
AKA JM
The Red Dragons Den