Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Can heat tape be cut at any legnth? Or always have to be by the per foot marks? My shelves are something like 32", and I'd like to cut the tape so it fits perfect. Thanks to any who reply, I've asked a million times and no one ever answers...
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-|.... -Kris ....|-

..........You know you're sick..........
....................When your Leo collection..........
.............................Is worth more than your car..........

...... Kris' Crosses will be Kings .....

if you use 3 in heat tape ,yes you can cut anywhere but the 3 in tape, heat is not quite as stable and can overheat easily because all the heat is in one small spot. 11 in can only be cut by the foot but is safer because the heat is distributed over a larger area,which helps to avoid over heating and hotspots.
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-robin day
Geckoheads And Geeks

Thanks for the reply... I thought it'd be a dead post forever. Heh heh. So, would you reccomend using 4 inch tape instead? It'd be heating babies and juvies in 6 quart containers. If I ever fill the rack to full occupancy, it'll hold 40 containers that size, over 10 shelves, every two shelves is going to be a different zone for heating. One strip about 6 feet long for every two shelves, each two shelves with a dimmer. Making a total of 5 heat zones, 5 strips, 5 dimmers, 10 shelves.

So, 3 or 4 inch tape? With this many zones, are hot spots still likely? Or do hot spots go "by the inch" with problems?

Thanks. Sorry if this was confusing.
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-|.... -Kris ....|-

..........You know you're sick..........
....................When your Leo collection..........
.............................Is worth more than your car..........

...... Kris' Crosses will be Kings .....

for a baby rack i would use the 4 inch. it is less watts for a larger serface area and more likely not to overheat or get hot spots.. the rack sounds good... may i suggest one thing?? get a raytek temp gun.. best 100 youll ever spend... they have them at the bean farm . it is extremely easy to use and very accurate and one of the most helpful herp tools you will ever have, especially since you are using rheostats and not thermostats... rheostats will fluctuate with the ambient room temps where as a thermostat will turn off and turn on to keep it at a preset tempature. also when a rheostat goes bad it turns full on, so make sure and check your temps often (hence the reason of getting a raytek)
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-robin day
Geckoheads And Geeks