Heat Cable

I'm getting ready to put together a DIY rack and was considering using heat cable like in the video below. Anyone have experience with this? How safe is it? What is the best way to connect the thermostat probe to the cable? Can I just tape it to the cable? I plan on making a 3 shelf rack. Any input would be great!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_Lnu_pHIpI&t=11s

Looks like you could probably just zip tie the probe to the heat cable?


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I do not recommend them at all, the heat is VERY uneven throughout the cable, so one shelf might be at the right temp while the rest can be way above or below and I am not talking about a small differential either that is acceptable with other heat sources.

I used to have racks (vision racks) that were using this type of heat and I would never use that again.

The way I had the probe was zip tied and than I had foil tape wrapping the cable and the probe.

In addition keeping the lids on a rack will get old fast so doing it with a plastic shelf unit like this https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...r-s-Snake-Rack would make your life easier and allow you to use heat tape as well, they have different depth when it comes to shelves so one for bigger tubs than those used in this DIY can be done as well.

Thanks for the info. I will stay away from the cable.

Of course if you speak with bob at pro products, he will tell you the exact opposite. He has a personal vendetta against heat tape lol.


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Thanks for the input guys. I'm going to just go with 6 inch heat tape. I'll have 4 shelves total and I'll prob daisy chain them in pairs of two. Decided to go with a Herpstat 2. Thinking about enclosing the back and sides to try to retain some heat.

Keep us posted with pics!

Heat tape FTW. :)


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Any updates? I managed to get one of the large metal wire racks for free and am considering making it a rack system for my small but growing collection.