Rack Shelves Not Consistent Temps Help?

So heres my setup: Im testing temps before I put any snakes in

Ranco hooked up to a Delonghi oil filled heater. It is set to 80, with a 4 degree buffer. So when it hits 80 it turns it off, and when it hits 76 it turns it on again.

My pvc rack fits 8 tubs in 4 shelves. Has belly heat at the back. My herpstat probe is taped to the hottest shelf on the heat tape. I've been testing the temps and I thought that having the oil filled heater would fix my temp issues with the rack but there still seems to be a problem.

Temps on shelves:
Top: 87-89 hot spot, 78-80 cool
2nd Row: 90-95 hot spot, 78-80 cool
3rd Row: 90-92 hot spot,78- 80 cool
4rth Row: No tubs in yet

So now my problem is the top shelf doesnt have a temp of 90 or above. Dont bp's need a certain temp to digest food? Why is there such a range in my temps still, even though I have the room between 76-80 at all times? It doesnt matter too much at the moment because I wont have more than four snakes in that rack, but it still bothers me a bit.

Any help is good :)

Yes they do but 88-94 is an acceptable range. That is odd however the top is usually the hottest. I'd look for a fault in the top strip of flexwatt.

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

Yes they do but 88-94 is an acceptable range. That is odd however the top is usually the hottest. I'd look for a fault in the top strip of flexwatt.

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Yeah thats what I thought at first. I used my temp gun and pointed it directly on the flexwatt. The top row was the same consistent temperature as the other flexwatt on the other shelves.

Was the original measurement with an IR gun? If so they reflect off of shiny surfaces sometimes it might have been measuring the body of the rack rather than the flexwatt you pointed at.

Do you have a separate strip of flexwatt on each shelf or is it one long piece for the whole rack?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

Was the original measurement with an IR gun? If so they reflect off of shiny surfaces sometimes it might have been measuring the body of the rack rather than the flexwatt you pointed at.

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Yea it was with an IR gun. I am going to put my probe thermometers on there and see what the temp reads and get back to you. Hopefully its not faulty

@Steve Its one long piece snaked through 4 shelves, similar to rbi racks

Mine is the same thing. I have a snake in the top shelf of my rack and the hot spot is 88. I have another snake in the shelf below and the hot spot is 94. It bothers the hell out of me.

This is how it was explained to me, some folks may disagree but anyway. . .because flexwatt is resistance based heating, the length of the strip can affect performance, I was told that the middle of a length of flexwatt would tend to be the hottest when compared to the ends. This is why it was recommended to me that I run individual strips for each shelf, and it's also why I had some probe placement issues initially when I put the probe at the end right between the AC connections. Each of my shelves has a consistent reading at the middle. . .hope this helps and I hope it doesn't stir up too much trouble from the flexwatt experts. . .