Having a problem with my racks

[Nagini88]

I've had these racks over 2 years now and almost every 6 months on the dog the heating goes out. I use a herpstat thermostat so that shouldnt be happening. When I first got the rack the heat tape was under warranty but its since gone out every 6 months. 6 months ago ago I asked if they had another option besides the heat tape since it went out every 6 months so they sent me heat tape instead. For some reason even on the herpstat something went wrong and in the same spot down all the racks a certain spot in the tape spiked up in temp and melted the tubs, killing 3 of my snakes in the process. This happened over night b/c I always do a poop check when I go to bed. Luckily at the time I had a leftover heat rope to put in it to keep them heated. Well its been 6 months again and one of the tapes burnt out. And I'm very iffy about what to buy, I dont want the same thing to happen again, but now the company I bought the racks from said they cant warranty the heat tape again b/c the company they get it from wont back it up and I don't want to pay $50 every 6 months per rack for heat, that seems ridiculous.

Any suggestions?

[2kdime]

Yeah I know Flexwatt wont warranty the product for what we use it for

What kind of rack is it?

What kind of heating? Belly? BAck? Side?

[Repsrul]

That stinks! I have had my racks for years and only had one incident where I needed the tape replaced. He replaced it for me and it was only $20. Sorry to hear you lost 3 snakes.

Have you tried a different thermostat? Did you try moving the prob to that spot on the rack? Where on the rack does this keep happening i.e. top, middle or bottom?

[Nagini88]

They're Animal plastics economy racks, I tried a different thermostat same thing. Its belly heat. I don't use flexwatt anymore even though I still have a roll left over from what they sent me when it was under warranty so I haven't moved the probe aside from its in a different tub now

Thanks, and it didnt help they were some of my favorites and one of them I spent close to $300 to get over a RI infection previously

[2kdime]

How cold is the room?

Thats weird

Are your tubs rubbing the heat at all?

[m00kfu]

The probe is IN the tub? That could be part of the problem as you aren't regulating the temp of the heat tape itself, but the temp of the tub. Try putting the probe directly on the heat source itself.

[2kdime]

SHOULDNT be a problem though Chris, I know I've seen people setup like this.

My probes arent on my heat sources, but like 10 inches away and its all wavy gravy.

Again, I wonder what the room temp is. It sounds almost as if the heat tape is running full blast all the time.

We'll figure it out

The probe is IN the tub? That could be part of the problem as you aren't regulating the temp of the heat tape itself, but the temp of the tub. Try putting the probe directly on the heat source itself.

[Nagini88]

I have the probe in the tub dirrectly over where the heat tape sits, the room is 74-80ish I dont really keep track of it but its not all that cold and I have my air go on only 4 hours a day.

The heat rope is in a canal in the rack, but when the heat tape was there it was across the rack so the tubs did rub them but there was no other way to do it. AP told me to put it across the middle of the shelves and since there was one connection for the entire cord that was the only way it would fit the rack

[j_h_smith]

Could you post a few detailed pictures. Maybe this would help us get a better idea what's happening.

Jim Smith

[Nagini88]

what kind of pictures do you want to see?
(not my pic) this is the rack, there's a channel dug in the back for the heat rope that you can see
http://media.photobucket.com/image/A...lespics046.jpg