Reptile & Amphibian Forums

In my breeding rack I have three shelves and with each one the flexwatt strips in the back seems to have gone haywire and started to burn and crinkle up. Just curious if anyone has had this problem before and what was your approach to fix it? Thanks!

Are you running it full out or do you have it hooked up to a thermostat?
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www.strictlyballs.ca

no its hooked up to a thermostat.

I had a similar experience- mine was hooked up to a tstat- which was working fine- except where the flexwatt was crinkling up and it burned a hole in a tub, burned 1 snake, got another high from the fumes, and burned a hole in the rack...

all of it went in the trash...

good luck- and get a smoke detector!!

beth
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The rescue site: www.freewebs.com/okreptilerescue

that if not done right, it can be a pain. There are so many things that can go wrong if you don't hook it up right. My solution is to use Animal Plastics racks with the heat rope that is pre-made into the rack. If you are gong to use flexwatt, get an experienced person in your area that may be willing to teach you how to set it up so you don't have any problems.
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Happy Herping,
Jody Barnes
Royal Kreationz

My snakes aren't fat, they're big boned.

Flexwatt is really awesome stuff, however, you need to wire it up properly and then cover the exposed connections the right way. Also, in under the tub applications, I think alot of people wear away the milar coating by placing the tub in direct contact with the flexwatt and the drawer getting pulled in and out wears the coating away, exposing bare electrified wires...

If heatrope is easier for some people, that is fine, but dont blame the flexwatt for your inablilty to connect and operate it properly? Flexwatt is cheap, because you are required to supply the line cords and make the electrical connections yourself...thats the whole idea - no?

Make sure you draw out your wiring diagram and verify the circuit is correctbefore you begin the wiring process, get rid of the stupid clips and solder directly to the Flexwatt matt, cover the exposed wire and solder joints with both a liquid insulator and electric tape, use a high quality termostat.

Flexwatt Rules!

I agree. Flex Watt is great stuff when you use it properly!