I've looked at the connections and as far as I can tell they're fine. When I ordered the 3 strips from Rich at reptilebasics.com I had him do all the connections for me along with the slips and protectors.
For the setup, I have 3 shelfs each with its own individual strip of flexwatt. # pieces of 11"x12" strips of flexwatt connected with its own probe to the herpstat. I am using all 4 outlets on my herpstat for a 3 snake rack because of the 4 heating elements I have ( if your curious, the explanation of my rack is under the thread that shelliebear made concerning temps recently)
The rack itself holds heat better than anything I've seen. Professionally made by a friend who has his own furniture business, its made out of 2 sheets of melamine put together with each shelf completely sealed off from the others. Like a bookshelf. So there is no way to run a single strip unless down the back of the rack outside of the shelves.
Now, how would I check the thermostat? It is a herpstat PRO that I just bought brand new so I would hope that its working properly. I have adjusted the power levels just as Dion recommends and have got it to the point where it goes 10%-0% constantly to maintain temps.
My roommate's 1 foot strip of flexwatt for his burm does the same thing on his herpstat pro. Goes from 88-92.
Go figure?