Got my heat tape and connectors......

[RPlank]

now I'm working on putting it all together.
I ordered from The Bean Farm. I was pleasantly surprised when they sent me 7' of heat tape for the price of the 6' I ordered, and then didn't even charge me for shipping. A few days later, I ordered 16 of the crimp connectors. The package showed up today, with 32 connectors, 32 plastic insulator sleeves, and a Bean Farm catalog. They included an invoice that itemized everything, and it was $40 worth of stuff they gave me for $16 (including $6 shipping). The shipping cost was extra, because the package was over 2x the weight it would have been, but the extra shipping cost is still cheaper than paying for the extra connectors. I am very happy with Bean Farm, and will use them in the future.
I started out using the plastic insulators, but quickly decided that it will work better for my setup to use electrical tape instead.
Once I got the dimmer switch connected, the max temp was 98 degrees directly on the heat tape, 94 degrees inside the snake enclosures. Why have a dimmer? Cause everyone says to, I guess!

So anyways, does anyone need 32 plastic insulators for heat tape electrical connectors? Pay shipping and they are yours. I am not going to need them, and they didn't cost me anything, so they will probably go in the trash if no one needs them.
Here is a link to the Bean Farm page with a pic of them, if you don't know what I'm talking about. https://secure.ioncart.net/beanfarm/...ating+Supplies

[BallKingdom]

What are you using? Flexwatt? I'd get it myself if I wasn't araid I'd burn my house down with crappy wiring. Get us some pics.

[RPlank]

Ok, here's a basic rundown of how I wired the flexwatt.
I didn't know what flexwatt looked like until recently, so here is a pic of a strip of flexwatt:

Next is a pic of the tools I used. Nothing fancy, just basic stuff:

Here is a closeup of how the connectors go onto the flexwatt:

A generous amount of electrical tape to cover everything up:

And it's done! Certainly not worthy of an electrician, but it has been running for 48 hours with no problems. I also connected a dimmer switch. In my above post, I said it wasn't getting the flexwatt very hot, but for whatever reason, that has now changed. Max temp now is 120.
The great thing about using the flexwatt is you can cut it to any length you need, and pretty much put it anywhere. If you waterproof it with silicone, you could even use it inside the enclosure. Always with a temperature regulator, of course.

[BallKingdom]

Is there a special way you need to cut it? Hmmm, i might buy some of the 11 inch stuff, it's really cheap compared to 25$ 2 foot heat pads bought at stores.

[RPlank]

Just cut it with scissors. The only special consideration is that if you cut through one of the dark middle strips, cut completely through it from one side to the other. Don't cut only part of one of the strips. Hard to explain, here is a pic to help show what I mean.

The stuff is really easy to work with. If I can do it, anyone can! (even you, Peter!)

[Ben]

Could you explain a bit about how you are you using the flexwatt? Where are you putting it and how are you gauging what temp it should be at?

[RPlank]

They say a picture is worth a 1,000 words, so here are a couple thousand words for ya......

This is my first time using heat tape, so there are some things I will do different next time, but it is working fine.
There is a dimmer switch connected to the heat tape that I use to control the temperature. A thermometer placed directly over the heat tape inside the enclosure shows me the temp inside.

The next rack I build, I will leave more room between the top of the containers and the shelf above, since it is a tight fit on the end with the heat tape. The cord pretty much takes up what gap I had between the container and the shelf above. The other option is to use longer strips of heat tape, so the cord doesn't go under the container at all. I like having part of the cord under there, however, because it acts as a spacer, so the heat doesn't build up too much under there. Don't want any cooked snakies!