Reptile & Amphibian Forums

what is better heat cable or heat mats for my racks, i have seen many home made ones on the net with heat mats, and many commercially made ones wit heat cable, any one got some pros and cons towards either? Im guessing heat cable will end up being a lot cheaper, but the health of the animals come first. Guess just dont want to put in heat mats, if cables would do the same job.

Also read on some guys site about, having a back up thermostat that the main one runs thru, ie set on say 92degrees. The chance of both stuffing up up is pretty non existent. Does anyone else use backups?

Cheers
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Dave

2.2 Normal BRBs
0.1 Anery BRB
2.1 66% poss het anery BRB
1.1 het hypo BRB

Paid for, but stuck in europe somewhere hope to get from next german show
1.0 Anery BRB
0.1 66% poss het anery BRB
2.5 66% poss het new european line hypo

All my racks use heat tape except one that has heat cable.

Backp T-Stat is useful only for mechanical t-stats. Like Ranco although I'm sure there are others. The digital proportional ones are very unlikely to stick on, they are programmed to cshot uff in the event of failure. Of course the one situation that can affect both is a probe knocked loose.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

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

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Dave,
...I have most of my thermostats and heaters hooked up with a dimmer cbetween the thermstat and the heater. With the dimmer set not too high if the thermostat failed or as Dave C. mentioned the probe was to come loose the dimmer would keep the heater from getting way too hot. Look at Flexwatt brand heat tape. The 3 or 4 inch wide sizes work good in racks. One of my older racks has heat cable and it works okay but the hot area on the bottom of each box is pretty small. IMO it is better to have a larger warm area than a smaller hot area.
Jeff

>>what is better heat cable or heat mats for my racks, i have seen many home made ones on the net with heat mats, and many commercially made ones wit heat cable, any one got some pros and cons towards either? Im guessing heat cable will end up being a lot cheaper, but the health of the animals come first. Guess just dont want to put in heat mats, if cables would do the same job.
>>
>>Also read on some guys site about, having a back up thermostat that the main one runs thru, ie set on say 92degrees. The chance of both stuffing up up is pretty non existent. Does anyone else use backups?
>>
>>Cheers
>>-----
>>Dave
>>
>>2.2 Normal BRBs
>>0.1 Anery BRB
>>2.1 66% poss het anery BRB
>>1.1 het hypo BRB
>>
>>Paid for, but stuck in europe somewhere hope to get from next german show
>>1.0 Anery BRB
>>0.1 66% poss het anery BRB
>>2.5 66% poss het new european line hypo

i cant for my life find any style of heat tape as such in europe. Only heat mats, where i need a power socket for each mat. Flexwatt etc, all runs of one power source does it not? and you just wire up yourself? from what i have seen its very cheap this heat tape in the states, but im not really keen on having everything on US adapters. Guess i have to keep looking, must be something here.
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Dave

2.2 Normal BRBs
0.1 Anery BRB
2.1 66% poss het anery BRB
1.1 het hypo BRB

Paid for, but stuck in europe somewhere hope to get from next german show
1.0 Anery BRB
0.1 66% poss het anery BRB
2.5 66% poss het new european line hypo

If you wire it up yourself, you could use your own cords. That way you wouldn't need adapters. I assume the only difference between in the European plugs is the way they plug in, right?
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Aubrey Ross

©
www.SlipstreamSerpents.com

well i not so sure. You guys on 120volts arent you? and we are on 230volts here in finland. So i think they means i need more than just a an adapter, i need a converter aswell. It was hard enough wiring up my new stove in the apartment, im not sure how i would cope with a whole rack with US equipment!!! Also as i already have heaps of thermostats etc for european plugs, i think it will just be much easier and safer to try and stick with euro products, just wish i could find what im looking for here.

if anyone out there is an electrician though, i would love to hear you opinion on this topic though!!!
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Dave

2.2 Normal BRBs
0.1 Anery BRB
2.1 66% poss het anery BRB
1.1 het hypo BRB

Paid for, but stuck in europe somewhere hope to get from next german show
1.0 Anery BRB
0.1 66% poss het anery BRB
2.5 66% poss het new european line hypo

here is how the flexwatt works i just did one myself and im going to do a few more....

first off you unroll it and cut to size, the wiering part is easy there are two aluminum strips running the length of your piece this is what you attatch your connectors to.

now here i took a simple inexpensive extension cord and cut the female end off, then expose the two wires inside and hook those up to your connectors..... make sure everything is crimped on and plug it in... that easy....

now i dont know what your outlets looks like or anything but get yourself a cheap extension cord and do the same, if you can get a cord with two wires (a hot and a neutral) i bet it would work just the same.

i plan on running mine through a dimmer plus a thermostat, now depending on what order i put them in determines how it get put together. mean if i run heat tape into a dimmer and have the dimmer controlled buy a thermostat, i would first run wire right to the dimmer and hard wire it together, no extension cords plugs or outlets. i can then cut the female end of the outlet on the thremostat and wire it to the dimmer as well to feed it, now just plug the male end of the thermostat into the wall for your power

either way will work so the question is, can you get wire or a cord that has a hot line and a neutral?
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-Stephen-

0.1 soon to be wifey (hopefully)
1.0 rotwiler/chow (Boomer-wifey's pooch)
1.0 norm corn (Jake aka grumpy old terdhead)
0.1 col redtail boa (Dixie-my baby girl)
0.1 ball python (Bella- wifey's baby girl)

hopeful for not to distant future:
--brazillian rainbow boas 1 female for sure
2 or 3? maybe a breeding pair?
-- bearded dragon for the wifey my list got to big...

Yes, we're on 120v. My guess is 230v will be a bad influence and cause the flexiwatt to start smoking if you were to wire it with a compatible end and plug it straight into the wall.

It may be worth your efforts to consult an electrician or two. Its possible that they can wire up some sort of regulator or main converter to handle your entire application, plus room to grow, of course! I sure wouldnt want to trust my entire collection to one of those crappy converter plugs.

Do people use US voltage thermostats over there or do you have something that works on local voltage without conversion? I can plug several racks in my 120v Helix thermostats. If you could find a sound way to regulate the voltage going to one of those, you'd be able to plug quite a few lengths of flexiwatt into one and only be stuck with one adapter on the thermostat itself.

Just brainstorming..

microclimate and habistat seem to be the main ones over here. Are they sold in the US aswell?

http://www.habistat.net/ click on this link then go to heating, then heat strips. This seems to be what i may have to go for. Just means, that i will have say 8 powerpoints needed in a power block i guess all connected thru the habistat proportional thermostat.

just really liked the look of the flexiwatt and the fact you can cut and do what you want with it

cheers for the info though, think i will contact an electrician though, and enquire about the US ones, just in case i do end up buying a rack from the US. Although the finnish electrician doing some stuff in my house at the moment, struggles to even say hello in english, the language barrier might be interesting
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Dave

2.2 Normal BRBs
0.1 Anery BRB
2.1 66% poss het anery BRB
1.1 het hypo BRB

Paid for, but stuck in europe somewhere hope to get from next german show
1.0 Anery BRB
0.1 66% poss het anery BRB
2.5 66% poss het new european line hypo