Heat tape wiring question...

[theNotoriousDUD]

I am in the process of building my 1st Melamine rack and I has a small heat tape question. I have seen 2 types of wiring setups that have interested me. One is the standard continuous strip of tape wired at the top and threaded through the rack. The one that I am questioning is a setup I saw last night. The build was done using 11" tape seated front to back. All the pices were connected with wire at the back of the bin. Instead of having to thread the tape through the rack, you merely had to connect them with a small section of wire I hope my poor description is clear. I am wondering if this is an efficient method of connecting tape and is it safe?

[Robyn@SYR]

I prefer separate pieces per level. You can either wire them separately, and use a power strip to tie everything together, or wire them in parallel.

Some folks also set up heat tape for back heating. I am not sure that is what you describing.

My least favorite choice is one long piece S-wired through the shelving. I think that gives the most uneven heating result.

[PitOnTheProwl]

Sorry its the only pic I have in my photobucket at the moment but yes it works great, all soldered.
Top to bottom and the plug coming off of the bottom shelf.

[scooter11]

I have multiple racks I built and I have used all three methods. The most simple way of doing it is one long piece. The negative being that it costs a lot more in heat tape. I like the least amount of wire leaving the rack as possible. So for me the method using a full wire and plug with each piece is out. The method I prefer is to wire a piece for each level together to make a long strand of connected pieces. This is what I use for my racks that hold larger cages, 28-41 quarts. This is much more of a pita in my opinion. Its a lot more work, but It works better for my purposes on larger racks. The racks I've built for babies and grow outs I employ one long strip.

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[killswitch]

I don't remember where I pulled this image from but I hope it helps. This is the method I am currently using.