Heat Tape

[Reptilebasics]

Recently a youtube video has surfaced questioning the quality and safety of the new heat tape element that myself and Pro Exotics has brought to the US market. Not sure who this guy is or what his expertise/background in these matters is but here is the response I emailed him:

David-
I just heard about your youtube video. A few inaccuracies in your video that you may want to amend:
1- The Calorique heat tape uses nickel plated copper, not silver for its buss bars. They also use copper without the plating from time to time as well. It is equally easy to solder to each using any rosin core solder.
2- The Calorique heat tape, in my experience, is not all that consistent whether they have a patented computer set up or not. It generally runs about +/- 5% and always has. The new material we are having manufactured does as well.
3-Also, we have had the UL listing done on our element, same as Calorique. The manufacturer being used has an extremely modern facility with extremely modern machinery and standards. A long way from sweatshops. In fact, a very large percentage of homes in S. Korea are heated with this type of element and because of this they have a very well developed element manufacturing industry.
4-The new element has a sturdier, thicker, stiffer laminate material. It is consistent through the entire roll, unlike Calorique who rolls the finished product still hot which leaves it wrinkled and unusable for the last several feet of the roll.
5- I believe you will find the components used in the Calorique element are coming from China.
6- Calorique treats the reptile hobby as an afterthought. I have gone for weeks unable to get element in 2012 because they were too busy to print it. I have been dealing with Calorique for several years and as they have changed ownership the past couple of years all of the problems with them have become steadily worse.
IF there was a manufacturer of this type of element here in the USA OTHER than Calorique I would be happy to consider them, but there is not. The monopoly that they have held has led to an over priced, difficult to get element that is really not all that superior. Have you looked at or tried the new element?

If you would like to discuss this I will be happy to.

Regards-
Rich Goldzung
Reptile Basics Inc


Again, not sure how he comes up with his claims but I will be happy to answer any questions anyone has any time!

[1nstinct]

Rich- don't sweat it, there will always be the "Internet" experts that think they know everything about any given topic. I have had questions about heat tape and came to you through email and in person, because you are probably one of the most knowledgable people in the reptile world when it comes to heat tape. And I will still come to you if I have questions, because you are known for your knowledge, customer service and amazing racks(that work perfectly).

[The Serpent Merchant]

I recently switched all of my cages to the new heat tape. It gives me much more consistent heating than my old heat tape did. I will also say that it feels like significantly higher quality product.

Another A+ product from RBI!

[kitedemon]

Rich, what is the uncontrolled running temp, and the max sustained operational temp? Have you specs on this yet?

[The Serpent Merchant]

Rich, what is the uncontrolled running temp, and the max sustained operational temp? Have you specs on this yet?

I just got an order in this morning for some spare strips, I'll plug them in for awhile and see what they hit.

[kitedemon]

Cool thanks Aaron. Do keep a close eye on it however! Flexwatt has a max operational temp substantially lower the max temp and well it can catch itself on fire the RB stuff isn't the exact same but similar so do be cautious.

For my curiosity, if it hits 120+ there is no point in continuing.

[The Serpent Merchant]

For sure, unregulated heat sources aren't something to mess around with.

I have it setup on my computer test bench. And am monitoring it with a probe from my herpstat

I'll post full results along with room temps etc. Once it hits 120 Which shouldn't be too much longer.

[Reptilebasics]

I expected some questions to be sure. I am also very familiar with the self appointed know it all on the net. Went through this with the heat panels and a self proclaimed master of everything a few years ago. I came here immediately with this to start a dialog on the topic that makes some sense, not hysterical, made up internet "facts". I have often opened up dialog on this here in the past for the sole purpose of getting people to pay attention to what they are doing!

Our goal on the unregulated temp was to keep it under 120 and closer to 110-115. There are a huge number of variables that can make a difference in that, biggest ones being room temp and the surface the tape is sitting on. We used an MDF bench top with a 70-72 surface temp. After letting it warm up for 30 minutes we were at 115 +/- 3. In an open air state like that it can run indefinitely at that temp. That is why back heat setup will almost never go bad. When covered by an insulator (tub with bedding) that temp can rise dramatically if unregulated. This will be the same no matter what element you are using. This is where you get into trouble if you are not paying attention.

[The Serpent Merchant]

Test Procedure: 2 feet of 12" 23 Watt per foot THG heat tape was placed on a glass desk then a 1/2" piece of plywood was placed on top (simulating the worst case scenario). I placed a probe from my herpstat in between the flexwatt and the plywood. (in a routed slot) All fans & central heat/AC have been turned off and room temperatures have been recorded with a second herpstat probe along with humidity just for good measure. (herpstat humidity probe)

Time	Heat Tape Temperature in Degrees F	Room Temperature in Degrees F	Room Humidity
12:15	78	78	59%
12:22	100	78	59%
12:28	105	79	59%
12:35	110	79	61%
12:42	115	79	61%
12:48	120	79	61%
12:56	125	79	61%

The temps are still climbing at a fairly consistent rate I will post the highest temperature I get and how long it took to achieve said temperature once the test is complete.

[The Serpent Merchant]

Well it seems to have leveled off at 138 it hasn't changed in 5 minutes so I will call it there. It took about an hour to achieve this temperature.