Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recently came accross a product designed for keeping pipes and drain pans from freezing. It's a 1/2 inch wide cable that has a proprietary self regulating design that can be bought in bulk rolls, or pre wired in 6, 12, 18, and 24 foot lengths. The manufacturer claims the surface temp of the cable can not exceed 115 degrees farenheit due to the super secret heating design of the cable. The cable is flexable and waterproof to boot.

Would this make a good heat system for a rack if it were laid in a routed groove towards the back of the rack? Or is it too small to be effective and would need to be criss-crossed several times accross the shelf to form a wider heated area?

I know a thermostat would have to be used, but it sounded too good to be true, and being in the field I can get it from the supply house for a good price.

Any input greatly apreciated.
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"Colubrid-aphilia", adj; An inordinate love of Colubrids.

It woudl really depend on the type of material the rack was made out of.. It woudl probably be good in plactics but wood might not be so good. I have used it before and prefer the flat elements...
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www.MGReptiles.com
Professional Reptile Heating Supplies

>>It woudl really depend on the type of material the rack was made out of.. It woudl probably be good in plactics but wood might not be so good. I have used it before and prefer the flat elements...
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>>www.MGReptiles.com
>>Professional Reptile Heating Supplies

Was leaning towards melamine with sterilite tubs, and running a single cable along the back of the rack, approx 3-4 inches from the back wall of the sterilite tub.

Would it be better to route a half inch groove and have the cable fit exactly in the groove (blocking the heat from the bottom and sides of the cable), or to route a one inch groove and then put the aluminum tape down, and secure the heat cable in the center of the larger groove. This would leave the edges of the cable exposed and therefore give you more effective heating surface area????

I don't want to use the flat "flexwatt" to do away with the clips and also the chance of wearing through the covering and shorting down the heating elements due to sliding the drawers in and out all the time, so I was looking for an alternative and came up with the cable, it's plug and play.

One of the benefits is it can be cut to any length without having to rewire it or come up with fancy terminating caps due to the way the voltage goes accross the two wires instead of down one side and back the other.

Anyone else have experience with cable, please post pro's and con's?

Thanks.
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"Colubrid-aphilia", adj; An inordinate love of Colubrids.

It sounds like it is very similar to other heat cables. If so, it will work fine just like those other products. I would use a controller and I would router the groove further from the back edge so it sits under the box about 2-3 inches from the back edge of the box. I use heat cable that gets much hotter and is positioned under the back edge of the box. The racks are plastic and the cable heats the shelf and creates a good gradient. Since the cable your talking about only gets up to 115 degrees, I would place it directly under the box so it heats up the back 2-3 inches of the box. I'm keeping balls and like the temps higher.

I've used this stuff. There are a few mfgrs of it. Basically, it won't overheat itself, as for example if crissed-crossed over itself.

The most effective way to use it is to use a router or dado blade and cut the goove across the shelf (usually 3/4" wide is sufficient). Cut it deep enough to not only lay the heater in there but also an extra 1/8" deep. Then, get the extruded aluminum flat bar 1/8" thick x 3/4" wide and cut pieces to lay across the shelves over the heater. The aluminum will transfer the heat to the boxes gently and better than not using it.

One thing I've found: You want the heater density to be 5 watts/ft or more. 3 watts/ft is fine in summer but not in cooler times.
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Mark G
Montane snakes are the coolest...