Flexwatt

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Originally Posted by jonesy72

oh i also order the clips and insulators.. should i soder the clips to the wire?
or is it fine just pinching the clips.
thanks for all the advice people ..

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You can solder them but I don't.
I like to be able to re-use the flexwatt elsewhere if needed so I just pinch them closed.
You do have to pinch them tightly closed for a good contact so the temps are consistent pad to pad.

To the guys who use different width heat tape in the same rack, how do you control them all? You cant run them all to the same thermostat because of the difference in wattage or can you?

im going to go out on a limb here and say 2 diffrent thermostats.. while i was shopping they advertise 3in @ 10watts 4in@ 8watts and 11in @ 20watts ..

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Originally Posted by SnakeKB

To the guys who use different width heat tape in the same rack, how do you control them all? You cant run them all to the same thermostat because of the difference in wattage or can you?

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I'm not sure people do this

I have gotten away with running different watt flexwatt off the same thermostat but they will usually run at different temps.

I order from bean farm but I would suggest to get a larger flex I got 4 inch on a bucnh of shelves and had to run 2 strips per shelve cause iy was not raisingthe temps enough for the snakes, and i have a space heater set to run year round most the time for when the ac causes it to drop. I will be ordering enough 11 inch to do both my racks ( the new one and redo the old one that has 4 inch. )

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Originally Posted by snakesRkewl

I'm not sure people do this

I have gotten away with running different watt flexwatt off the same thermostat but they will usually run at different temps.

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After reading the Flexwatt FAQ, It looks like 3" 6 Watt and 4" 8 Watt will be able to run together on the same thermostat. The 11" 20 Watt stuff would end up running a touch cooler if the thermostat was controlling temps off the 3" stuff. Which might not be too bad. Thinking if the thermostat is reading the 3" stuff and its set to 93*, the 11" areas might register around 90-91*. Im only basing this off the Watts/sq in. The 3" 10 watt stuff is what gets really hot and doesnt run anywhere close to the other stuff.

3"/6watt= .17 watts/sq.in.
3"/10watt= .27 watts/sq.in.
4"/8watt= .17 watts/sq.in.
11"/20watt= .15 watts/sq.in

Order for hotspot size; whatever it's potential temperature or how fast it heats up, it's still only going to be limited by the thermostat. And I would never use more than one type of flexwatt on one thermostat (unless you've got a super fancy herpstat with 4-in1). If you get it from reptile basics, they will put the clips on for you if you ask.