Flexwatt

I am making my plans for making a rack because my tanks arre taking up too much room. Question is what size flexwatt do you use? One will be large tubs and the other will be small tubs for the new babies coming next year!

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Originally Posted by seeya205

I am making my plans for making a rack because my tanks arre taking up too much room. Question is what size flexwatt do you use? One will be large tubs and the other will be small tubs for the new babies coming next year!

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I use the 3 inch 10 watt flexwatt tape. Best bang for the buck in my opinion.
Jim Smith

I have heard issues with overheating with the 3" 10 watt flexwatt, is this true or just a rumor?

I use 4" flexwatt.

I use both 3 inch and 11x12 inch

3 or 4 inch is too small for large tubs IMO

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Originally Posted by Sarin

I have heard issues with overheating with the 3" 10 watt flexwatt, is this true or just a rumor?

I use 4" flexwatt.

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What do you mean by overheating? If they are controlled by a Helix or Johnson Controls, they should be fine.

Jim Smith

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Originally Posted by snakesRkewl

I use both 3 inch and 11x12 inch

3 or 4 inch is too small for large tubs IMO

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The idea is to have them radiate heat outward to give you a 7-8 inch x the length of the flexwatt, heated patch. If you're using a 41 qt tub, that may be a little small, but very useable.

Jim Smith

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Originally Posted by j_h_smith

The idea is to have them radiate heat outward to give you a 7-8 inch x the length of the flexwatt, heated patch. If you're using a 41 qt tub, that may be a little small, but very useable.

Jim Smith

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Do you mean by using as a back heat?

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Originally Posted by snakesRkewl

I use both 3 inch and 11x12 inch

3 or 4 inch is too small for large tubs IMO

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I was thinking using 11" X 1 foot for the large tubs and 3" for the small tubs!

We use the 3" 6 watts. It's about the same price to buy, but it will cost you less over the year in electricity.

I have had the probe come off, and the 10 watt tape got to hot and burned a hole in the tubs.

The 6 watts is all you need IMO.

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Originally Posted by boasandballs

We use the 3" 6 watts. It's about the same price to buy, but it will cost you less over the year in electricity.

I have had the probe come off, and the 10 watt tape got to hot and burned a hole in the tubs.

The 6 watts is all you need IMO.

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Isn't 3" space of heat kind of a small space for an adult bp?

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Originally Posted by seeya205

Isn't 3" space of heat kind of a small space for an adult bp?

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You would think so, but it's fine. We have about 300 breeders and they all have the 3" heat tape. All the Freedom breeders and American rodent racks have 3".

Now if your room is cool, you will probably need more than just the 3" belly heat.

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Originally Posted by Sarin

I have heard issues with overheating with the 3" 10 watt flexwatt, is this true or just a rumor?

I use 4" flexwatt.

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in the event of thermostat failure or probe malfunction the 3" 10 watt can get upwards of 150 degrees.the 3" 6 watt will give you all the heat you need with a better margin of safety plus lower operating cost with many racks.

Should I put like one foot strip on each shelf and just weave one whole piece through the whole rack?

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Originally Posted by seeya205

Should I put like one foot strip on each shelf and just weave one whole piece through the whole rack?

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I weave mine, less posibilitys of conection failer. Besides the cost and the work is way less as long as your height between shelves is less than a foot.

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Originally Posted by seeya205

Should I put like one foot strip on each shelf and just weave one whole piece through the whole rack?

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The next rack I build will have flexwatt strips for each level in the rack. I will plug each level into a power strip when in use. If not in use, I will unplug that level and save thousands upon thousand of dollars in electricity.:gj:

Jim Smith

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Originally Posted by twh

in the event of thermostat failure or probe malfunction the 3" 10 watt can get upwards of 150 degrees.the 3" 6 watt will give you all the heat you need with a better margin of safety plus lower operating cost with many racks.

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Thanks for clearing that up. :)

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Originally Posted by seeya205

Should I put like one foot strip on each shelf and just weave one whole piece through the whole rack?

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It's totally up to you... Me personally, I have a separate strip of flexwatt per shelf. It is more costly and time consuming but I prefer it this way because I can turn off any heat I do not need, and have higher/lower temps if I happen to want to house another animal with different heat needs then a Ball.

I have a separate strip for each shelf of 4" flexwatt.

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Originally Posted by j_h_smith

The next rack I build will have flexwatt strips for each level in the rack. I will plug each level into a power strip when in use. If not in use, I will unplug that level and save thousands upon thousand of dollars in electricity.:gj:

Jim Smith

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That's what I was thinking! The rack I plan on building will be half full plus the top two shelves are for the babies when they come! This way I am not heating empty space!

What is the lifespan of Flexwatt?

we kind of copied the reptile basic CB70 rack style when we made our rack. We did 2 rows of 4 inch tape for each shelf.

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Originally Posted by seeya205

What is the lifespan of Flexwatt?

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Last forever as long as you take care of it.

1) Put flashing over it or indent the shelves, so the tubs do not rub over it when you pull them in and out.
2) Make sure the connections don't get pulled or wiggled to much.
3) Make sure you don't run it wide open (without some sort of thermostat) or it will melt or burn out.

Otherwise it will last forever.

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Originally Posted by BPelizabeth

we kind of copied the reptile basic CB70 rack style when we made our rack. We did 2 rows of 4 inch tape for each shelf.

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Should I be doing two rows of 3"?

We use the 3" - 6 watt on smaller, we are in Fl so we use a helix to monitor. The 10 watt would most certainly burn a hole through a tub if your helix(or whatever you use) were to fail, in my experience anyhow.
for larger tubs we dont use bely heat, we use heat panels(solar-energy setup), which helps out on bills in the annual run.
I'd say to aim for at or a little less than 1/3 of their tub being heated.

Im in the process of bldg a rack now. I'm using the 3" 6 watt and going to groove the the sides of each shelf so i dont have to run so many in a 10 shelf rack so i can have more consistency. Alot of people use the 11" when constructing say a cb70 or you should really run 2 rows.

Hi guys,
hope I'm not stealing this thread but would any of you care to share pics or maybe link me to some of your set ups?. I'm planning on building a small rack as well and am a visual learner lol :) I can't seem to picture how one could weave the flexwatt through shelves. I'd really appreciate the pics! Thanks in advance.
-Johnny

You simply go along the back of the first shelf, down the side to the next shelf(notch in shelf to feed the heat tape through) across that shelf and so on!

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Originally Posted by seeya205

You simply go along the back of the first shelf, down the side to the next shelf(notch in shelf to feed the heat tape through) across that shelf and so on!

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I see, so basically zig zagging it along the shelves? Thanks!

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Originally Posted by seeya205

You simply go along the back of the first shelf, down the side to the next shelf(notch in shelf to feed the heat tape through) across that shelf and so on!

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Just wondering how many strips of flexwatt your planning on running ? I figured on about 3 in a 10 shelf "upright". Not sure one real long strip would be feasable. lol

Heres a real good build on BP.net i'm going to base mine on.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=79217

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Originally Posted by WildReptiles

I see, so basically zig zagging it along the shelves? Thanks!

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Ya. that's right!