Heat Tape Mishap (pics and questions)

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Originally Posted by Sputnik

It's not written anywhere that I know of, it's based purely on first hand experience.

Below is a plastic container that bore the brunt of 3 inch.... nothing shorting out, it's the length of time that can cause damage if flex watt is touching something else. 3 Inch Flexwatt is more then capable of melting itself and containers.

We leave a quarter inch gap now for all shelved racks where the containers sit on a shelf and are heated from under and or above.

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s...s/100_2051.jpg

Again, this is purely my own experience with 3 inch.

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Thanks Scott...

Just for my own information I sent Clorique an email (and will post the response) asking about heating temps, air gaps and their recommendations. I will keep everyone posted once I get a response back.

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Originally Posted by lord jackel

Thanks Scott...

Just for my own information I sent Clorique an email (and will post the response) asking about heating temps, air gaps and their recommendations. I will keep everyone posted once I get a response back.

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No prob, they may even have a simple solution to these and or similar problems. I'll be interested to see the response. :)

i taped the ends of the different levels, also i relocated my probe to directly on top of the metal (as opposed to inside the tank) this way i can monitor each tanks temp and adjust accordingly... without the risk of another similar incident. (that is assuming that it wasnt a power surge)

and i got a surge protector on the wall that the thermo is now plugged in to.

thanks for the help. i will let you know if anything goes wrong... if i say nothing... problem solved! :D

I will go ahead and chime in here. However, the only comment that I can interject has been mentioned already, but I will reiterate it anyway. The 10 watt/ft 3" flexwatt does have a tendancy to overheat when it is sandwiched. In the setup that is being used from what I can see, that is with the reflectix, I would opt for the 6 watt flexwatt. I do use a very similar setup as that pictured, and do use the 10 watt Flexwatt, however I do not have the reflectix on my heat panels.

My suggestion would be to either remove the reflectix or change your 10 watt Flexwatt (if that is indeed what you are using) to 6 watt flexwatt. However, if your flexwatt is 6 watt already, there is another problem somewhere. (p.s. I am not good at trouble shooting electrical problems over the net).