THG Heat Tape help??

I have a quick question for anyone that can help.
I got my THG Heat tape delivered from fed ex the other day, and in the instructions it talked about leaving a 1/8" gap when taping it down to keep from over heating. Can you explain it to me? cause I'm not really sure where I'm supposed to leave the gap at. Am I supposed to leave it at the end, or on the sides? The instructions do not really explain it very well.
:O

You don't want to sandwich the heat tape directly between two surfaces. Best to have a bit of an air gap between the tape and one of those surfaces.

So then this tape would not be good for racks? Any suggestions on what to use for a rack setup?

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Originally Posted by aLittleLessButter

So then this tape would not be good for racks? Any suggestions on what to use for a rack setup?

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It works great for racks. Tubs often have a bit of a foot to them, but there is also plenty of air space between tubs. The sandwiching effect is more on something like a 6 ft cage, stacked, where there are many linear feet of tape tightly sandwiched between two heavy cages. Sorry, I didn't understand the context/aaplication of the question.

:oops: Sorry that I wasn't very specific about my question. I am building a 5 slot rack out of melamine. the shelf dimensions are 23 3/4" wide by 35" long. I am bought 4" THG Heat Tape, and a roll of aluminum foil tape. When reptile basics sent my order they also sent a do's and do not's list. this list was talking about the 1/8" gap that I was referring to in this post. However, they weren't very clear as to what they were talking about. Thank you, for clearing that up for me though. I appreciate it!!