Flexwatt & Thermostats for dummies

Okay, so I'm posting a picture of my current setup. I'm going to be purchasing more shelves and some wood and making it into a rack that houses 10-12 adult size tubs. Due to the difficulty I'd have making it a lid-less rack, I'm going to just put a wood back on, as well as sides and bottoms of the shelves to have something to put the heat tape on. The heat mats/dimmers/probes have worked for me thus far but with a growing collection of snakes (and wires) I'm getting fed up. NOW, I'm super noob when it comes to flexwatt and thermostats so I have a few questions. 1) What would be the best option in terms of the heat tape? 11"? 4"? Should I snake it across/down each shelf or have separate pieces? 2) What thermostat would you guys suggest? I want something that's reliable but not too crazy price wise. I really have no idea about the wiring from the tape to the t-stat either. I don't want to have more than 1, so is there a specific stat that has enough connectors?https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.n...00152976_n.jpg

For 41qt adult tubs I would use 11/12 inch heat tape. For 28/32qt tubs I would use 6 inch heat tape. For hatchling tubs 16 qt and smaller I would use 4 inch heat tape.

I would snake the heat tape and only use a single piece.

I would get a herpstat intro + or herpstat 1.

If you need more than 1 outlet/probe the herpstat 2 and the herpstat 4 are great options.

http://spyderrobotics.com/home/products.html

+1 on the herpstat, I run seperate pieces of the flexwatt and wire them together to one plug as the wire is cheap and heattape isn't, and i don't want to waste 6-8" per level.

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Originally Posted by Darkbird

+1 on the herpstat, I run seperate pieces of the flexwatt and wire them together to one plug as the wire is cheap and heattape isn't, and i don't want to waste 6-8" per level.

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how does one use separate pieces and wire them together? lol...flexxwatt for dummies, remember!

I haven't done it myself yet, but in looking into how to do it in preparation a few weeks back, I found [[this guide]] that seems really thorough and precise. =] Hope this helps, as well as taking tips from any seasoned herp-electricians on here!

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Originally Posted by M&NSnakeDen

how does one use separate pieces and wire them together? lol...flexxwatt for dummies, remember!

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There are 2 ways to do this:

1. Wire each individual piece with a plug and then plug them all into a power strip and then plug the power strip into the thermostat (this is the simplest method and generally is less likely to fail than #2)

2. Wire the first piece with a plug, then add on each additional piece with regular wire.

I don't like doing either of these as there are a lot of electrical connections that can fail. These methods also leave multiple heat sources without a thermostat directly monitoring them. Yes they are all being controlled by the thermostat but it is still possible for one of the pieces of heat tape without the thermostat probe attached to it to short out and overheat/cool off/start a fire. This is why I only use single strips of heat tape. 1 heat source per thermostat probe. Some people might think I am being overcautious, but to me it is worth the extra cost.

So, the connectors on the thermostat are essentially like a wall plug?

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Originally Posted by M&NSnakeDen

So, the connectors on the thermostat are essentially like a wall plug?

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Yes, a standard 3 prong Edison plug (US wall plug)

This is the back of a herpstat 1:

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...ps527cc0c3.gif

Thank you so much! I'm sure I'll have other questions soon enough lol

Once you decide on what size of heat tape you want, I would also suggest looking at buying from Reptile Basics. Rich will put the wires and plugs on for you and you simply just mount the heat tape and plug it in to a power strip and then to your thermostat. Rich does not charge extra for putting on the clips. It is not hard to do, but when its free, might as well let him do it. Just an idea. Also, we use the Vivarium Electronics VE-300 thermostat. We love them and have never had any issues with them. Good luck!