Heating racks with Flexwatt

[Cubby23]

I see alot of racks with flexwatt just running along the back of the rack. Does this provide heat correctly? The back verticle side of the tub would be hotter than the rear floor of the tub. Running it down the back is obviously easier but is this OK?

[ladywhipple02]

As long as you have a warm side and a cool side of the tub, it shoudn't make much of a difference. I know a lot people prefer the belly heat, but back heat fulfills the requirements the snake needs, too.

[kavmon]

i've used both back and belly heat in racks. i much prefer belly heat. the back does work but i find i have to crank up the thermostats alot higher to get the temps right. for example my adult tubs are set at 94 on belly heat to get 90-94 deg on the hot side. on my baby rack with back heat, i set the stat to 100 to get the tubs in the high 80's. if i had belly heat on my baby rack, i know i would not have to set my stat anywhere near 100 deg. my next baby rack will be belly heat!


vaughn

[Cubby23]

Yeah I thought belly heat would be better. How do you run the belly heat flexwatt? How many pieces do you use?

[kavmon]

the racks have the flexwatt built in. basically a channel is routered out and the flexwatt is installed in this channel. i use proportional thermostats like helix and herpstat, tape the probe directly to the flex and set my temp. the flexwatt in my racks are one complete strip. some bigger racks run pieces or multiple strips.


vaughn