helix and flexwatt??

When I build a rack im going to use flexwatt with a helix dbs1000 to heat the rack. What I wanted to know is do I have to use one piece of flexwatt for the whole rack or can the helix have multiple pieces of flexwatt hookup to the one helix?The rack is going to house 4-6 adults (i havent made up my mind)and later i will build a juvinile rack.

You can hook up several flexwatt strips to a common power strip and then connect the power strip to the helix. I would not recommend "daisy-chaining" more than one or two strips to the helix though.

I believe you can wire flexwatt in parallel. In electrical aspests this is no different than plugging all the pieces in using their own cord. The disadvantage is they are either all on, or all off. Here is a link to a pdf ...
http://www.beanfarm.com/heating/Flexwatt_parallel.pdf

Neil

Flexwatt can be used in pretty much any confriguration you need.. If you need all the same temps and it sounds like you do then the parallel setup would work well for you..

so 3 strips of flexwatt to a power cord to a helix would be ok

Sure, they will "handle" 500 watts.. What size element and length of each are you using?

does anyone have pids of flexwatt on there cage thing cause when i googled it it should this tape stuff is that what it's supposed to look like

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Originally Posted by justcage

Sure, they will "handle" 500 watts.. What size element and length of each are you using?

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I dont have any yet im making plans for a rack.im going to have 3 shelfs around 36" long each

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Originally Posted by slipknot666

does anyone have pids of flexwatt on there cage thing cause when i googled it it should this tape stuff is that what it's supposed to look like

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here is a good pic and info on flexwatt
http://www.mgreptiles.com/flexwatt.html

Sorry to hijack, but is the parallel setup a better means than one unbroken strip of flexwatt "snaked" from top to bottom or vice versa?

one advantage to routing one piece through the rack is less connections. less connections= less possibility of bad connections/potential problems. either way done correctly is fine though. it's your choice.




vaughn

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Originally Posted by MARCUS ANTONIUS

Sorry to hijack, but is the parallel setup a better means than one unbroken strip of flexwatt "snaked" from top to bottom or vice versa?

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My first plan was to "snake" the flexwatt but i was thinking that the shelfs would pinch the flexwatt.Has this happend to anyone?

The only advantage I can think of wiring parallel is that if you had one "bad" connection, all the others would still work. Same principle as light bulb wiring, in parallel one can be removed and the others still work. If they are wired in series, and one goes out they all go out. I think the snaking idea (one long piece of flexwatt) is also good for the reasons mentioned.

I am building two 5 shelf racks to hold my vision cages, so I will post some pics in a thread as it progresses.

Neil

You will use alot more flexwatt "snaking" through the shelves than you would to put strips on each shelf. You can buy your flexwatt prewired and cut to length. They also make handy little crimp connectors if you decide to do it yourself. The longer the flexwatt the more power it will draw also. :)

I have also wired racks in a series and parallel(sp?) before, as long as you turn on your thermostat and test to make sure each piece of flexwatt is working before use. You shouldnt have any problems. I use a tempgun to verify each is working properly.

im going to use melamine for the rack.can i put the flexwatt directly on the melamine or would i need some kind of heat tape(i dont know if thats right:confuzd: but its the silver stuff

I put my flexwatt directly on the melamine and tape it down with the silver(aluminum) tape.

Does your cage sit directly on the heat tape, or do you have something to keep the cage off of it?

Neil

My tubs sit directly on the flexwatt. :)

Thanks Vaughn, that's what I had envisioned as being a possible reason to "snake" it.

KrackerJack - What I had thought about trying was a design like Jeff Ronne (Boaphile Plastics)... Here's a link to a page so you can see what I mean... http://www.boaphileplastics.com/rhin...xwatt_Rear.jpg
You'll probably have to enlarge the pic by clicking the bottom-right corner on that icon that comes up to reallly see it. I haven't actually tried making one like this but I think I can handle it... But being my first attempt at rack building, it may prove a daunting task... ;)

Wild Bill - That's something else I have to take into account is whether the design warrants the extra flexwatt or whether it would be better just to do strips and save the $ for something else... Like possibly some nice Hets for those tubs!! :)

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Originally Posted by kavmon

one advantage to routing one piece through the rack is less connections. less connections= less possibility of bad connections/potential problems. either way done correctly is fine though. it's your choice.

vaughn

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Less connections also means that if your one connection happens to go bad, you lose heat to the whole rack instead of just one row.

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Originally Posted by SnakeySnakeSnake

Less connections also means that if your one connection happens to go bad, you lose heat to the whole rack instead of just one row.

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so you might notice the problem quicker than losing just one level/tub. 2 sides to a coin i guess. i just follow basic mechanical layout like in electrical,plumbing,hvac,framing most designs use the least amount of joints/splices/junctions in construction. just my thoughts.



vaughn

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Originally Posted by MARCUS ANTONIUS

Wild Bill - That's something else I have to take into account is whether the design warrants the extra flexwatt or whether it would be better just to do strips and save the $ for something else... Like possibly some nice Hets for those tubs!! :)

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Another thing, I have heard some people that "snake" a continuous piece of flexwatt complain of a large difference in temps from the beginning and the end of the flexwatt. Some as many as 5 degrees. Just some food for thought.

Thanks I'm usually pretty hungy for thought food, especially from all the nice folks on here!! ;)