Heat tape without a thermostat?

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Originally Posted by snakesRkewl

It can be cut anywhere in between the strips that run across it, it doesn't have to be 12 inches long.
I have cut flexwatt into shorter strips many times over the years and as long as the strips on each shelf are the same size they work just fine.

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The 11" size doesn't have straight lines though, it runs in a zig zag pattern. I suppose you could cut it across....in a zig zag!?

This thread shows what I'm going on about.. http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-just-anywhere.

Anyways, to the OP - never use any heating source without a thermostat. Plain and simple.

with 110 watts, if you put thermal isolation around it, you can reach INCREDIBLE temperatures.

only if the heat can get away, lets say you put a passive cooler on it (like in your computer, on the CPU and other things that get hot), and air can circulate, the temperature will stabilize.

the better it is isolated, the higher the temperature will get. it does not depend on the watts at all.

thats why a 5 watt laser can burn and cut stuff like plastic or wood, its just 5 watts, but it is concentrated on a tiny spot, so the energy cannot get dispersed quickly enough. when the energy cannot go away, temperature will go up.

unfortunately plastic and wood are both good thermal isolators, meaning temps can run out of control even with a low amount of watts. burned snakes or even a burned rack/home are real concerns unless you know the physics so well that you can come up with an appropriate heat sink for the excess heat. like a big thick plate of copper that will then actually stabilize at a certain temperature.


so, no, dont run them without a thermostat. heat the whole room, borrow/get a radiator if necessary, but unless you have studied physics or engineering and are solid in your thermodynamics, dont run heat tape without a thermostat.

you need either a properly designed heat sink of known properties capable of passively cooling away the excess heat, and controlled test runs with it, or a thermostat, or bad things are bound to happen.

If you just need something until your thermostat comes in, get a dimmer switch from Home Depot or Lowe's. I would NEVER run heat tape without a tstat. That can get well over 110 degrees. At 20% power it can easily push 98.

For whomever asked I do run my heat mats without a thermostat I've been doing so for over a year, there is no reason they would over heat since they turn off and back on when they reach a certain temperature. They don't even produce enough heat to be able to be the only heat source I usually have to add another heat source in this case since its freezing cold we are running the heat in the house so they are fine with just the mat.

And I have 12" flexwatt not 11" and its not the zig zag kind, it can be cut as long as its between the clear lines.

And I still don't think running it by itself is a good idea no matter what you put over it like I said I didn't realize it gets that hot and I've read that the amount of heat it produces is certain watts a foot I guess I understood wrong :)

Anyways the new baby will not be here till Thursday so that gives me enough time to figure out a solution.

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Originally Posted by joleen

For whomever asked I do run my heat mats without a thermostat I've been doing so for over a year, there is no reason they would over heat since they turn off and back on when they reach a certain temperature. They don't even produce enough heat to be able to be the only heat source I usually have to add another heat source in this case since its freezing cold we are running the heat in the house so they are fine with just the mat.

And I have 12" flexwatt not 11" and its not the zig zag kind, it can be cut as long as its between the clear lines.

And I still don't think running it by itself is a good idea no matter what you put over it like I said I didn't realize it gets that hot and I've read that the amount of heat it produces is certain watts a foot I guess I understood wrong :)

Anyways the new baby will not be here till Thursday so that gives me enough time to figure out a solution.

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Saying that heat mats turn on and off when they reach a certain temp would imply that they have a built in thermostat. Certainly normal commercial ones do not. My ZooMed heat mat can get up to 125F when run on full.

I don't know if they do or don't but the two that I have certainly do they will reach a certain heat which like I said isn't even enough to stand alone and then turn off and back on after a few minutes.. honestly quite annoying.
I did have a small ZooMed heat mat that I gave away that would always stay on.. these don't.

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Originally Posted by joleen

ok thanks guys I just remembered watching a video about heat tait said it only goes up to about 110 watts

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Heat mats are 8 watts (for 10-20 gallon tank)... And about how hot those get! And a 50-60 gal heat mat is like 24 watts.

I have read (on the box lol) that Flukers mats stay a constant 100 degrees but I've never used one so I don't know if true or how it works....

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