New Furniture Grade Rack

Hello All,

My names Lee. I have been an extreme lurker around here for the last couple of years. There is so much info all my questions pretty much have been answered just running through the forums. I have gotten into ball pythons around three years ago with my first ball Python Chaos. I thought I liked snakes then but my excitement for them has blown up recently. My "collection" has increased from him to Ghost (my ghost pastel) at the end of last year. This year my collection has jumped up 6 more beautiful snakes with 5 more on the way!! Frankly plastic totes all over the house is no longer an option(fiance hates it as it is)...time to move up to a rack system! :cool:

I am building a rack that will fit into the dining room (lol which is only used for holidays) that will fit in with the rest of the room. It is to look like a book shelf and be made out of cabinet grade hardwood plywood. The design is to have 7 levels to house snakes and a small level on the bottom for storage. The outside dimensions are 4.5'H X 3'W X 19"D. This will hold 3 15qt sterilte clearview tubs on each level.

So far we (my father and I) have gotten the wood. It took 3- 3/4" Sheets of 4X8 Maple hardwood Plywood to get all of the panels we need we had most of the cuts made at the store but had to make a few of our own.

3' X 19"- 9 (top bottom and shelves)
4.5' X 19"- 2 (side panels)
4.5' X 3ft -1 (back panel made of thin board found laying around garage)

I have also already started coating the wood with clear Varathane Satin Water-based Interior Polyurathane. I am using clear as the natural maple color looks nice to me :). I will take some pictures this evening of the work so far and update as we move along.

:welcome:

sounds like a plan. have fun building! don't forget to post pix.

Thanks...I will post as many pics as I can. Its fun building things like this. I have also built a 4 level rat rack a few months back that I am very happy with. Can't wait to see this beauty when it is done. :gj:

i built one. it wasn't fancy. got some pix of it and some advice here - http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-a-Rack-System

also dont forget to post your snake pix in the Picture forum. :)

Thanks a lot that is kind of where i am going with mine. :gj: I am going to have it fully enclose though (except the front) i figure it would hold the heat better. I am also going to be putting toggle switches in line with the different levels of heat tape so that i can turn off levels not in use (no point in heating those). I really want to get rid of the lids for these tubs so my gapping is going to be a tad tighter. Thanks again.

yeah, I was debating whether or not to put a sheet in the back of my rack. but then i thought 1) they will be in tubs, 2) the rack will be against a wall. i think those two points addresses heating/humidity and security, but going the extra step is to providing a fully enclosed space provides extra assurance.

u should provide a DIY/how to how the on-off toggle switches. i would love to know how to add that to my next rack when my BP's outgrow this one. :)

Update from last night:

Didn't do much but continue staining the panels. Took a few pictures of that. I will be sanding down these last layers with steel wool tonight to get a good smooth finish on the panels. Taking tomorrow off for Turkey Day but should have it assembled on Friday and have it wired up! Can't wait till its done!:D

tried to add pics but didnt work from photobucket. :taz: going to use tapatalk.

My Dad has some thin board laying in the garage so I am just going to slap that on. As the toggles go i will definitely be taking pics of that. I am going to wire the heat tape from the bottom shelves to the top. So the toggles will allow me to turn off the three bottom shelves that are unused. I think i am going to cut holes in the side towards the back to have easy access to them.

Pics
This is a pick of me sealing the wood with poly the right side is stationed the left is not
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This is the poly I'm using
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One side finished
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More pics when putting it together!!

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Not my ad but I saw this on craigslist and it looks like a similar project! Good lick with your own!

http://nwct.craigslist.org/for/5293873080.html

That is actually a nice setup there...but mine is more like a fully enclosed bookshelf (minus a front door or panel). Very similar to Ax01's setup. http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-a-Rack-System
My shelves will be closer together due to me not wanting to use the lids for the bins i'm using.

Updates!! [emoji2] [emoji2] [emoji2]

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Got the top bottom and sides put together

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Items: drill, drill bit, counter sink, stainless steel screws (shiny lol)
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Oops bad measurement on my part...took measurements from manufacturers website witch included lid lol... Shelf for beg snakes only!!
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All put together... Now to wiring the heat tape and thermostat!
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did you route out a channel for the heat tape?

Nope i am just putting heat tape down and will add aluminum tape to keep it secured

Tonight I am hoping to have this bad boy all finished and testing will commence! I still have to add the veneer to the edges to hide the plywood edges to give it a nice clean look. I also have to wire the heat tape, thermostat, and toggle switches. I am only putting toggle switches in the last four slots\shelves. I figure that if i am not at least using three of the shelves at any given time then this whole rack is a waste of space :D. I will continue to post pics through the end. Any suggestions or questions are welcome as always! :gj:

Hey all an update. No pictures right now...i got the heat tape wired and place at the back of the rack for belly heat... but ran into a snag :tears:. The heat tape will not heat when attached to the thermostat! We tested the heat tape with just plugging into an extension cord and it starts to heat. My dad had us go with 18 gauge wire to the heat tape (3" thg - 7 runs at 34"). Do you think the wire gauge is too small? The thermostat powers on and reads temps just fine and it does switch on and off when it hits the proper temperature (tested with water and two handheld thermometers). I am using the STC-1000 Fahrenheit thermostat. This is so simple to wire that I am 100% we have it correct. Any ideas would be great. Thanks.

i used and chopped up a simple extension cord i bought from Lowe's to wire my homemade rack with heat tape running parallel (6" THG x 20" long x 6 shelves). this one here - http://www.lowes.com/pd_70290-66906-...tId=3129337&Ns. i guess it's 16 gaage. i recall i bought a 15 ft one to give me plenty of cord to work with. i think 18 gauge is enough to run 3" THG.

anyway, let's do some math with your set-up.


3" THG is 4 watts/ft


34" x 7 strips = 238" or 19.83 ft of total heat tape


19.83 ft x 4 watts/ft = 79.32 or roughly 80 watts of total heat tape


lol is my math correct? i'm sure any thermostat would be able to handle 80 watts. but i'm not familiar with the brand of thermostat u are using. a quick search online says it can be used to heat and cool. lol is there a possibility that your thermostat is set to cool?

nonetheless, i think your thermostat is the issue. if the heat tape heats up and runs fine unregulated into an extension cord or outlet, it shows that it works. i guess just fiddle around with the thermostat a bit more? also what about your toggle switches?

anyway i'm just trying to help u bounce ideas off the wall. i may not have the solution. :/

thanks for the reply. Yes i did get the toggle switches in i just have not gotten around to posting the pics (finished at midnight last night). The thermostat is set to heat or cool meaning that in the case of heat tape you can have it set to heat when it reaches a low temp. In the case of cooling once it reaches a high temp (like in a fridge) it will switch on like if you were running a cooler. It is definitely set to heat and during testing we set it to just heat to 80 degrees. it would not get over room temp. I plan on fiddling with it more tonight. thanks for the math it looks at about what i got from the tape the thermostat should run it no problem...

what is your room temp? where did u place the probe for the thermostat? set the thermostat higher than 80degrees. ideally the heat tape is supposed to provide a hot spot between 89-91 degrees.

i would set the thermostat higher, measure the temp over the heat tape from inside the tub. do a few spot checks. get it between 89-90.

it was just a dry run...my parents house temp is set to 60 degrees so 80 degrees was more than enough to get it up to temp. i placed it directly on the heat tape and placed some of the plastic bins in for heat retention. The probe never got past the 60 degree room temperature and the thermostat was on as if it was trying to heat but the temp never increase per the thermostat. I gripped the probe in my hand and the temp shot up immediately to around body temp so i do know it is reading correctly. Just weird. Ill have to do some tinkering tonight. Anyone else use the stc-1000 that may have any ideas? i got the simple fahrenheit model

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281294885235...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

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Originally Posted by ItsAllNew2Me!

it was just a dry run...my parents house temp is set to 60 degrees so 80 degrees was more than enough to get it up to temp. i placed it directly on the heat tape and placed some of the plastic bins in for heat retention. The probe never got past the 60 degree room temperature and the thermostat was on as if it was trying to heat but the temp never increase per the thermostat. I gripped the probe in my hand and the temp shot up immediately to around body temp so i do know it is reading correctly. Just weird. Ill have to do some tinkering tonight. Anyone else use the stc-1000 that may have any ideas? i got the simple fahrenheit model

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281294885235...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

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Do you have a volt meter that you can use to check to see if the output on the thermostat has voltage when cycled on? If not, you can plug in a lamp to see if the light goes on and off when cycled.


Edit... Just looked at the controller on the Ebay link you posted. It is just an simple on/off relay type PID controller. Do you have your heat span set up correctly? Looks like it can be set from 1°-24°. Meaning, if you have the temp span set to 20°, the relay wont engage (energize) unless the temperature of the probe is more than 20° lower than the setpoint and wont disengage (de-energize) until the temp is more than 20° above the setpoint. You need to really make sure you only have your temp differential set to 2-3°.

Hi thanks for the replies. I finally figured it out :gj:. We had a couple of things wrong. First was that when plugging the tape in directly to an extension cord we found that the tape would heat and then after a few minutes it would pop the circuit breaker! We found that during our initial wiring job (late night and maybe a couple of beers :cool:) we wired the switches in parallel with all of the other wiring. Basically turning them into butt splices! This increased the amperage across the load and pop goes the breaker. We rewired the switches (to the original designed configuration before beers) so that now they are an interrupt on the neutral side therefore breaking the circuit. So switches are good! (pictures later). Finally i took bproffer's advice and grabbed my dad's multimeter. We found that the power going to the thermostat was 120volts ac and coming out to the load...absolutely ZERO!! :taz: I tried all the settings and could get nothing to come out of the load end either for heating or cooling. Ordering a new stat...well...stat lol(corny i know). I will update when i get it in. In the meantime I will be putting the edge banding(veneer) on to cover the exposed edges and tuck the wires. Thanks all for support and viewing my project!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ItsAllNew2Me!

Hi thanks for the replies. I finally figured it out :gj:. We had a couple of things wrong. First was that when plugging the tape in directly to an extension cord we found that the tape would heat and then after a few minutes it would pop the circuit breaker! We found that during our initial wiring job (late night and maybe a couple of beers :cool:) we wired the switches in parallel with all of the other wiring. Basically turning them into butt splices! This increased the amperage across the load and pop goes the breaker. We rewired the switches (to the original designed configuration before beers) so that now they are an interrupt on the neutral side therefore breaking the circuit. So switches are good! (pictures later). Finally i took bproffer's advice and grabbed my dad's multimeter. We found that the power going to the thermostat was 120volts ac and coming out to the load...absolutely ZERO!! :taz: I tried all the settings and could get nothing to come out of the load end either for heating or cooling. Ordering a new stat...well...stat lol(corny i know). I will update when i get it in. In the meantime I will be putting the edge banding(veneer) on to cover the exposed edges and tuck the wires. Thanks all for support and viewing my project!

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sounds like you are on the right track. Could be that because you had them wired wrong you could have damaged the relay or the controller board, Or it was defective from the get go. Either way, good luck going forward.

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Originally Posted by bproffer

sounds like you are on the right track. Could be that because you had them wired wrong you could have damaged the relay or the controller board, Or it was defective from the get go. Either way, good luck going forward.

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Thanks...I spoke with the ebay seller today and found out that the model i have does not power the load at all! :colbert: It is just to be used as a switch. They finally sent some examples of wiring (the ones they package aren't very clear at all). I am going to be trying this tonight.

Finally! We got it working!! :gj: Thermostat is installed and the heat tape is warming. We got all the switches wired correctly and the levels only start to heat when they are in the on position. Man i'm excited. All that is left is to move it to my house, put on the back panel, Route the remaining wires, and a week of testing before the big move! :dance:

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Picture of the stc-1000 thermostat

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/12...f3aa5acdb4.jpg

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My dad happens to have a biscuit cutter which was perfect for making the grooves to route the wires

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Also courtesy of my dad he made some metal plates to secure the switches we will still need to drill holes in the back panel to access them (he likes to go ask out lol)

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/12...83407c8af8.jpg
Sorry for the duplicate pic
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Just the back with the heat tape wired and taped with Aluminum tape

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/12...9532a7286b.jpg

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i'm glad everything worked out. :)

cutting a a channel for the wiring is a nice touch esp. if u are adding a back panel. it will help everything be flush.

the toggle switches. u just run wires in and out of them in between each level of heat tape? another nice idea. :gj:

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Originally Posted by Ax01

i'm glad everything worked out. :)

cutting a a channel for the wiring is a nice touch esp. if u are adding a back panel. it will help everything be flush.

the toggle switches. u just run wires in and out of them in between each level of heat tape? another nice idea. :gj:

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Thanks me too! Yes for the toggle switches we just put them on the neutral so that when you flip the switch you break the circuit between that shelf and the ones below it. I plan to fill the rack from the top down. That way a few weeks before any new animals come out of quarantine i just flip a switch to allow the tape to get up to temp and stabilize. This will also help to save a few pennies when not in use lol.

The toggles are a great idea. I may have steal that idea when I get a rack. Nice work!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bproffer

The toggles are a great idea. I may have steal that idea when I get a rack. Nice work!

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I put this on for everyone to so so steal away my friend! :gj:

Just got this baby home... Putting on the edging now so we can make her pretty [emoji2]

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Would Love to see how this turns out!

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Originally Posted by --RoyalReps--

Would Love to see how this turns out!

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Well here it is then [emoji2]

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/12...3e068721e6.jpg

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Back panel is on. I ended up buying some precut sheets of 1/4" oak plywood for the back

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/12...6c4db7575b.jpg

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Switches are in and look nice!!

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/12...2272e5c143.jpg

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I'm overall happy about the project and it does look really nice... If \when I do this again I would do a couple of things differently... First would be get an actual veneer cutter because a razor blade free hand doesn't make easy straight cuts. I would wait to poly the out side until everything is together to prevent a few of the blemishes. Other than that I'm totally happy!! :gj:

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awesome! it was fun to see u build. i enjoyed this thread.

now it's time to post some BP pix! :)

Very NICE build, SIR....:gj: :gj: