Question on heat tape under tubs in rack

[Jonnyb]

Fast question !!

gonna build a 28qt tub racking system two questions .

doing under tank heating . how thick of tape should i use like a 6inch ? or go a bit bigger , also i was told after building my first rack and showing it to a breeder / friend i just places the heat tape on the shelf and im slidding the tubs ontop of the heat tap so they are touching the head tape i was told this is a fire hazard !! this true ? he told me to grove out a slot in every shelf and sit the heat tape in it so the tub slides over it with out touching it do i need to do this ? also can this heat tape be set to over 95F ? i was told there not ment to run that how and cause risk fire

[771subliminal]

Fast question !!

gonna build a 28qt tub racking system two questions .

doing under tank heating . how thick of tape should i use like a 6inch ? or go a bit bigger , also i was told after building my first rack and showing it to a breeder / friend i just places the heat tape on the shelf and im slidding the tubs ontop of the heat tap so they are touching the head tape i was told this is a fire hazard !! this true ? he told me to grove out a slot in every shelf and sit the heat tape in it so the tub slides over it with out touching it do i need to do this ? also can this heat tape be set to over 95F ? i was told there not ment to run that how and cause risk fire

how thick of tape? you mean size of flexwatt? i use 11 inch on my rack and my tubs are sitting right on it. if you wire it right and keep it on a thermostat it should never get hot enough to melt the tub or cause a fire if it gets that hot them your gonna fry your snake anyway

[MarkS]

Fast question !!

gonna build a 28qt tub racking system two questions .

doing under tank heating . how thick of tape should i use like a 6inch ? or go a bit bigger , also i was told after building my first rack and showing it to a breeder / friend i just places the heat tape on the shelf and im slidding the tubs ontop of the heat tap so they are touching the head tape i was told this is a fire hazard !! this true ? he told me to grove out a slot in every shelf and sit the heat tape in it so the tub slides over it with out touching it do i need to do this ? also can this heat tape be set to over 95F ? i was told there not ment to run that how and cause risk fire

I've usually used the 3" tape for 28qt tubs. Heat tape is just a heating element encased inside a very thin layer of plastic. Just placing the tape on the shelf and sliding the boxes over it can scratch the plastic and over time can even wear the plastic coating down enough so that the heating element is exposed. That's when it can become a fire hazard. Routing a groove in the shelf so that the tape is below the bottom of the box and not touching it is a good idea, but I also like to cover it up with some kind of aluminum flashing so that it's even better protected.

[Jonnyb]

Yes sorry its flexwatt

[Old_School]

Fast question !!

gonna build a 28qt tub racking system two questions .

doing under tank heating . how thick of tape should i use like a 6inch ? or go a bit bigger , also i was told after building my first rack and showing it to a breeder / friend i just places the heat tape on the shelf and im slidding the tubs ontop of the heat tap so they are touching the head tape i was told this is a fire hazard !! this true ? he told me to grove out a slot in every shelf and sit the heat tape in it so the tub slides over it with out touching it do i need to do this ? also can this heat tape be set to over 95F ? i was told there not ment to run that how and cause risk fire

As MarkS stated,.Tubs should not sit directly on the flexwatt.. over time the tub sliding over the tape will wear the protective coating off the tape and problems will arise. If you take a close look at the racks made commercially, such as Reptile Basics or Boaphile, the shelves are grooved so the the Flexwatt sits recessed in the grove preventing direct contact of the tub and tape.
If you do not have the means to groove the shelves, you could remove it and go with Back Heat.