Defective flexwatt?

[TimNA]

I have 2 pieces of 4" flexwatt approx 28" long each, daisy chained & the wire is soldered on. I have the thermostat probe in the middle of the flexwatt set to 92.5 degrees. From the probe toward the thermostat the flexwatt is reading 99.4-101. From the probe away from the thermostat it reads 91.5-92. Now I am assuming the piece of flexwatt that is reading 100 on half 91 on the other half is defective? It never had these readings before, so unsure why it is doing it all of the sudden.

Thanks for your replies!

[TimNA]

Well I am stumped as well.. I have changed out the flexwatt & have the same results. I am using a VE-200. I currently have the flexwatt on 3 shelves top one reads 94, next one reads 90, bottom reads 85 (all inside tub temps). I have the wires soldered on & have checked with a meter to make sure all are getting good contact. I have the probe taped down with electrical tape & it is fully covered with tape (not sure if that is the right way or not)??

This is really frustrating, if anyone has had issues like this please let me know how to solve it.

I have a email into reptile basics so maybe they can enlighten me.

[alkibp]

I have a similar problem with my temps as well. I also use the VE 200.

My top shelf temp reading is 86-87 degrees, middle shelf is 88-89, bottom shelf is 90-91.

Probe is on the middle shelf and is taped directly to the 4" flexwatt.

VE 200 is set to 93 degrees.

I'm not sure what the problem is either.

[TimNA]

Thanks for the reply, at least I am not alone.

Only thing I didn't try was to wire each shelf with it's own plug, so I went and got several extension cords & wired each. I plugged a power strip into the VE-200 & plugged in each extension cord. As of now I am within about 3-4 degrees. The lower shelf is finally heating up it's reading 90 inside & the top is 93 with the VE-200 set to 93. Going to lower it to 92 and hopefully everything will be perfect.

[meeistom]

Sounds like the wiring is bad. Also I have noticed with flex watt that when it's soldered unless your really good the cooper strip under the plastic gets burned and doesn't work as well as it should. Since I wire so much flexwatt I bought the tool to crimp the connectors on. Since i've been using that all my heat tape no matter how many I daisy chain are with .5 of a degree of each other.

[alkibp]

Thanks for the reply, at least I am not alone.

Only thing I didn't try was to wire each shelf with it's own plug, so I went and got several extension cords & wired each. I plugged a power strip into the VE-200 & plugged in each extension cord. As of now I am within about 3-4 degrees. The lower shelf is finally heating up it's reading 90 inside & the top is 93 with the VE-200 set to 93. Going to lower it to 92 and hopefully everything will be perfect.

How is it working now?

[TimNA]

How is it working now?

Hey sorry I really haven't been on here much in the last few days. It is working perfectly now that I just have each wired with it's own plug. Temps are pretty close as well top is 91, middle is 90.5, bottom is 89.