New Rack Design

Not sure if anyone thought of this or not but this will be my next rack for the hatchlings. if i like it ill be doing it to all my racks.




Being enclosed itll help keep temps up even if room temps happen to drop.

http://i577.photobucket.com/albums/s...chlingrack.jpg
http://i577.photobucket.com/albums/s...hlingrack1.jpg

Back is for more ventilation to allow excess heat to escape and for flexwatt/tstat wires to run.
http://i577.photobucket.com/albums/s...hlingrack2.jpg

Its a smart idea and all, but if you look a the pictures you will see that if you open the door all of the slots are exposed. So if you open the door to try and get one of your snakes, that means that they could all get out. Unless you were going to putt a tub into each slot.

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Originally Posted by warman0712

Its a smart idea and all, but if you look a the pictures you will see that if you open the door all of the slots are exposed. So if you open the door to try and get one of your snakes, that means that they could all get out. Unless you were going to putt a tub into each slot.

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Umm yes there will be a tub in each slot. its a rack with a door.

I may use 11" back heat to keep is 80 in the rack and 4" belly heat to keep them at 90. doing this will reduce energy bill for not having to keep space heater up all the time.

So its a closed front rack? hmm, and the tubs still go in each slot?

Edit, should have read the replys!

Habitat systems makes a similar design with hollow core pvc and a nice looking door with a pop out work station. Pretty cool! If you do make one, im excited to see the end results!:gj: Good luck

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Originally Posted by Beardedragon

So its a closed front rack? hmm, and the tubs still go in each slot?

Edit, should have read the replys!

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Yes with the back having 2" gap down the back on each side to ventilation and holes in front as well.

I could always just use peg boardo n back for all the ventilation to make it lighter.

Cool, sounds good.

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Originally Posted by juddb

Habitat systems makes a similar design with hollow core pvc and a nice looking door with a pop out work station. Pretty cool! If you do make one, im excited to see the end results!:gj: Good luck

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I could do the same and make the middle shelf on a rail to slide out when cleaning tubs and so forth.

Will there be much of a heat gradient between the front and rear of the tub? I'm just wondering if there will be, for the most part, one temp throughout the whole rack similar to an incubator.

Good luck with the build though. :gj: Let us know how it turns out.

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Originally Posted by flameethrower

I could do the same and make the middle shelf on a rail to slide out when cleaning tubs and so forth.

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I like where your heads at;) Get to work there hotshot!

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Originally Posted by JMartin

Will there be much of a heat gradient between the front and rear of the tub? I'm just wondering if there will be, for the most part, one temp throughout the whole rack similar to an incubator.

Good luck with the build though. :gj: Let us know how it turns out.

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Sure there will be. Room will still be heated until i figure out the bottom line room temp to still keep them at 80 inside.

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Originally Posted by juddb

I like where your heads at;) Get to work there hotshot!

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Once i get time and back heals up ill get right on it:banana:

Love the design. I suggest adding little plastic stoppers at the front of each tub that you can twist down and allow the tubs to come out, and twist up to lock them in place.

Let us know how it works. I'm wondering if the glass will trap any extra humidity?

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Originally Posted by spitfireashlea

Love the design. I suggest adding little plastic stoppers at the front of each tub that you can twist down and allow the tubs to come out, and twist up to lock them in place.

Let us know how it works. I'm wondering if the glass will trap any extra humidity?

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Thats why im testing this out as in winter my humidity is in the 20s in the house. So this should help hold it better by cutting down air flow.

Once i get this rolling i will be sure to post pictures. As it sits right now my back is not going to allow me to do this

I would be concerned about elevated temps on the upper shelves. I know you've got ventilation in the back, but isn't that where your heat source is located? Wouldn't that cause the system to be inefficient? If anything, the ventilation should be on the cooler end of your tubs, not the warmer end.

Sorry to be rough on your design, but I think I've hit on some issues you need to address.

Jim Smith

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Originally Posted by j_h_smith

I would be concerned about elevated temps on the upper shelves. I know you've got ventilation in the back, but isn't that where your heat source is located? Wouldn't that cause the system to be inefficient? If anything, the ventilation should be on the cooler end of your tubs, not the warmer end.

Sorry to be rough on your design, but I think I've hit on some issues you need to address.

Jim Smith

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Not sure if you mis read but room will still be heated to a certain point so each shelf section is able to be in the low 80s. And no the top will not get hot like you think as each section will be just that, a section separate of the other shelves. Which in tern will have their own amb temp depending on outside room temp.

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Originally Posted by flameethrower

Not sure if you mis read but room will still be heated to a certain point so each shelf section is able to be in the low 80s. And no the top will not get hot like you think as each section will be just that, a section separate of the other shelves. Which in tern will have their own amb temp depending on outside room temp.

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Even in an open rack, heat rises, and the top will be warmer than the bottom and that's why people put the probe in the middle. I would suggest adding some adhesive backed weatherstripping to the front edge of the shelfs so the door seals up and doesn't allow hot air transfer in the front. What you might have to do is put more holes in the plexi-glass front at the top shelf and taper the number of holes downwards.

The back heat tape should be consistant top to bottom and the consistant venting there should keep hot spots equal, but ambient temps are going to increase from bottom to top.

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Originally Posted by withonor

Even in an open rack, heat rises, and the top will be warmer than the bottom and that's why people put the probe in the middle. I would suggest adding some adhesive backed weatherstripping to the front edge of the shelfs so the door seals up and doesn't allow hot air transfer in the front. What you might have to do is put more holes in the plexi-glass front at the top shelf and taper the number of holes downwards.

The back heat tape should be consistant top to bottom and the consistant venting there should keep hot spots equal, but ambient temps are going to increase from bottom to top.

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I see where your coming from, but i run a ceiling fan in the room where the floor of the room is 80 and the top shelf in my tallest racks(6'6'') are 82. So i dont see this design being one problem at all with the way i have it figured out since its going to be a smaller rack for hatchlings of only 4' tall.

Once i get it built ill update everyone on how it worked.

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Originally Posted by flameethrower

I see where your coming from, but i run a ceiling fan in the room where the floor of the room is 80 and the top shelf in my tallest racks(6'6'') are 82. So i dont see this design being one problem at all with the way i have it figured out since its going to be a smaller rack for hatchlings of only 4' tall.

Once i get it built ill update everyone on how it worked.

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Are your current racks sealed? The main problem I see is that hatchlings are usually kept in 6qt tubs which are ~12-13" long and at the back end your making it 91-92* so with a sealed front there isn't enough heat transfer, especially if the room is 80*.

I think the best thing is if you can complete this a month or two before you need it. Then you can measure temps and add holes to the front slowly until you reach the desired temps. Just because of the small amount of airspace in hatchling tubs and the needed hot spot, this build seems like it would be better in a room without so much outside heating.

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Originally Posted by withonor

Are your current racks sealed? The main problem I see is that hatchlings are usually kept in 6qt tubs which are ~12-13" long and at the back end your making it 91-92* so with a sealed front there isn't enough heat transfer, especially if the room is 80*.

I think the best thing is if you can complete this a month or two before you need it. Then you can measure temps and add holes to the front slowly until you reach the desired temps. Just because of the small amount of airspace in hatchling tubs and the needed hot spot, this build seems like it would be better in a room without so much outside heating.

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I think you overlooked the image. The door will have holes in the plexiglass for front to back ventilation. And this rack will not be needed once built. It will be tested long before i use it with hatchlings.

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Originally Posted by flameethrower

I think you overlooked the image. The door will have holes in the plexiglass for front to back ventilation. And this rack will not be needed once built. It will be tested long before i use it with hatchlings.

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I didn't overlook the image. You have the same amount of holes at the top as at the bottom and half the holes of the top/bottom in the middle. Instead of an 'X' pattern of holes you should probably have a 'V' pattern and the bottom level may not need any holes at all.

You just said you are going to test it so I don't want to squabble with you. Results are far more important than speculation. It could very well work perfect for you in your environment, just keep an open mind to the outcome.