Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am trying to heat a large rubermaid, I would like to use heat tape. How do I do it? How much do I need is it hard to put on?

You want the heat tape to cover about 25% or less of the bottom of the tub. Here is a link to help with installing it.

http://www.arbreptiles.com/cages/flexwire.shtml

How big is the tub you are using? If it is only the one tub, it may be easier to just get a heat pad. To find heat tape... there are many more but here is a couple links.

http://www.bigappleherp.com/
http://www.beanfarm.com/

Roxanne

I've soldered many peices of flexwatt. It's definately my preferred method. If you've done soldering before you should be fine but get a cheap low wattage iron. This is definately one of those jobs where a bigger iron is NOT better.

1) wet the tip with some fresh rosin core solder.
2) Rub the tip around on the area you want to solder a wire to. When the plastic rubs away, the solder will flow onto the copper conductor. As soon as it flows, pull the soldering iron away so the copper conductor does not melt away from the flexwatt.
3) repeat for the other side of the flexwatt (and any additional pieces you're soldering up)
4) strip a short lenght of the insulation from both conductors.
5) tin the ends of the wires with solder.
6) place the tinned wire on top of the tinned area on the flexwatt. Place the iron on top until the solder flows, remove the soldering iron and hold the wire still, will harden almost immediately.
7) repeat for the other side and any additional pieces of flexwatt.
8) electrical tape over all exposed conductors (both ends of the flexwatt)

I have made several racks and I wired each shelf with it's own piece of flexwatt so they can be individually plugged and any shelves not in use can be turned off.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB, selectively bred from good stock)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
11.24 BRB
10.16 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Thanx Dave. I have been considering using my solder iron for the next set of heat tape I have to hook up. Going to have to save your post for future reference.

You can take a look at our site for some pics on how to solder flexwatt. Dave is right, a low wattage iron is your best bet. Also I always recommend coving half of the tub if possible. Hope this helps,
-Matt
Flexwatt soldering how to

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www.MGReptiles.com
Professional Reptile Heating Supplies