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  • 08-25-2017, 01:16 PM
    Christiane
    Belly heat- FlexWatt help!!! Pleaseee
    I recently purchased an animal plastics t8. I put it all together and taped on the flex watt that I ordered with the t8. The ambient temps and humidity is great, but the belly heat is not where it needs to be at all. It is running about 80 F and I have even turned my thermostat controlling the flexwatt up to 105! When using the heat gun directly on the flexxwat it is reading about 100 but it is not making its way through the tank to get any higher of a hot spot for my buddy.

    Any advice or solutions greatly appreciated, I want my boy to be happy, healthy, and comfortable!!


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  • 08-25-2017, 01:18 PM
    jmcrook
    Re: Belly heat- FlexWatt help!!! Pleaseee
    Give it a little while to heat up and keep checking it. You may have to set it to 110-115* to get a 90* hotspot


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  • 08-25-2017, 01:20 PM
    Christiane
    Re: Belly heat- FlexWatt help!!! Pleaseee
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by jmcrook View Post
    Give it a little while to heat up and keep checking it. You may have to set it to 110-115* to get a 90* hotspot


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    I have had it running for about 24 hours and the last number the thermostat reads is 105 and it's past that for sure, as far as it goes really. Still only reading 83 at hottest inside tank hotspot


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  • 08-25-2017, 01:25 PM
    jmcrook
    Re: Belly heat- FlexWatt help!!! Pleaseee
    Hmm... is the heat tape in full contact with the bottom of the cage? What is the cage supported by/sitting on? If there's any space between the tape and the cage floor it might not get up to temp. You may need to put a board or something else firm underneath the cage to prevent the heat tape from sagging and not making full contact with the cage.


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  • 08-25-2017, 01:30 PM
    BPGator
    Re: Belly heat- FlexWatt help!!! Pleaseee
    What temperature is your room?


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  • 08-25-2017, 01:36 PM
    Christiane
    Re: Belly heat- FlexWatt help!!! Pleaseee
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by jmcrook View Post
    Hmm... is the heat tape in full contact with the bottom of the cage? What is the cage supported by/sitting on? If there's any space between the tape and the cage floor it might not get up to temp. You may need to put a board or something else firm underneath the cage to prevent the heat tape from sagging and not making full contact with the cage.


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    The cage is actually just being held up by two A frame wooden stands right now. So the flexwatt is not in contact with anything besides the tank, I tried to make sure it was in full contact but I'll take a better look and possibly put a board under it to secure it further. Is there any fire hazard to doing this?


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  • 08-25-2017, 01:37 PM
    Christiane
    Re: Belly heat- FlexWatt help!!! Pleaseee
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by BPGator View Post
    What temperature is your room?


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    The ambient temperature in the tank is 80 F. Humidity at 55%


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  • 08-25-2017, 01:38 PM
    BPGator
    Re: Belly heat- FlexWatt help!!! Pleaseee
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Christiane View Post
    The ambient temperature in the tank is 80 F. Humidity at 55%


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    But what's the room temp?


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  • 08-25-2017, 01:43 PM
    Christiane
    Re: Belly heat- FlexWatt help!!! Pleaseee
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by BPGator View Post
    But what's the room temp?


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    Right around 70


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  • 08-25-2017, 01:51 PM
    jmcrook
    Re: Belly heat- FlexWatt help!!! Pleaseee
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Christiane View Post
    The cage is actually just being held up by two A frame wooden stands right now. So the flexwatt is not in contact with anything besides the tank, I tried to make sure it was in full contact but I'll take a better look and possibly put a board under it to secure it further. Is there any fire hazard to doing this?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

    So long as it's thermostat regulated it will be fine. The heat tape won't ignite anything as long as it's in a safe temp range. I had mine pressed against the cage with a sheet of plywood when I used belly heat previous with no issue.


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