Flexwatt?????

These instances were probably caused by improper installation or exceeding the recommended maximum temperature. Be sure to also cover the cut ends with electrical tape. I silicone all my connections also.

Flexwatt can be very safe if properly maintained. When buying flexwatt you should consider getting a 2 (thats right 2) thermostats, one as the main thermostat and one as the backup just in case the first one fails. I personally use the ranco and I love it. There are 4 main brands that you should really be looking at. Ranco's, johnson controls, helix, and herpstat. Any of these will do just fine for you.
Flexwatt is the best material to use if you are heating multiple enclosures due to its low cost. It can get very hot (130 degrees?) and do lots of damage to your snakes, this is why i reccomended running 2 thermomstats. You can get by with 1 but theres a very small risk that it will fail (very small actually) one that i do not personally wanna take.

p.s.: any of the 4 thermostats i listed can run multiple flexwatt strips with ease.

First off............... All of my racks are heated with flexwatt and I have never had a prob with any of them. What causes a failure most of the time is if your probe gets knocked loose , The tstat will continue to increase the power going to the tape which will inturn can cause a meltdown, and or fire or the tstat itself could fail ( you can also buy a cheaper tstat such as a johnson's etc for back up if the main stat were to fail. Fire hazards can be caused by it not being wired right i.e. exposed wire etc. I have had helix stats that have many years of use with no trouble at all. Personally I have switched over to the Herpstats, they are just as awesome as the helix but a bit better in price and I just like the design better.You can go with a johnson or ranco which are prob the lowest in price range and are an on off tstat to run your system. The helix and herpstat are both proportional tstats which means they constantly adjust the power usage to maintain a set temp.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by iCandiBallPythons

You can go with a johnson or ranco which are prob the lowest in price range and are an on off tstat to run your system. The helix and herpstat are both proportional tstats which means they constantly adjust the power usage to maintain a set temp.

---

Exactly, The clicking gets kinda annoying, but other than that i love my Ranco. I think they work great for the price you pay.