Heat tape hotspots: any way to dampen?

[jplehmann]

On my rack, there are some shelves with spots on my heat tape that seem to get hotter than others. This either results in having to lower my overall temps more than I want to, to get these within range, or having some unusable shelves. Not really relevant but I am using a Herpstat 2.

Are there any tricks to dampen the heat by a few degrees in these spots to reduce it relative to the other shelves?

(I am aware of the obvious answer of replacing the heat tape completely.)

[Benji1987]

Try putting the probe on thermostat on a different shelf, I've got 3 heat mats on one thermostat. Obviously 3 shelves, probe in my rack is in the middle of the 3 shelves.


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[Eric Alan]

How much hotter are we talking about? What range are you seeing?

[jplehmann]

Eric, the hot spots are 4-5 degrees hotter than most of the other hottest spots. So if I have my shelves dialed in at max of 95 degrees on inside of tub directly on plastic (targetting 90 on top of newspaper), these have spots of what I consider unsafe 100ish on plastic. I am measuring by opening the tub and and quickly finding hottest spot directly on plastic, with heat gun.

I have one of the DIY shelving systems, and I've added window shims so the tubs don't sit directly on the tape. Even the shims conduct however, so there's variance on any shelf. But on most shelves I deem it acceptable; these 2 are the outliers. The heat tape is admittedly aged, but I am trying to manage it until I can replace/upgrade.

[Eric Alan]

I'm also curious about Benji's question - where do you have the probe located? Which tub in your rack and at what location relative to the heat tape?

[jplehmann]

I have the probe almost directly on the heat tape. I have it separated by a thin plastic "o-ring" from a drink, which sets it off a few mm. I also have it covered with cardboard/tape so that drafts don't artificially cool down the probe. Currently my herpstat 2 is set to 99 degrees which gets a good range (hotspot of ~95 inside plastic) on most of my shelves.

It's not clear to me how relocating it to another shelf will affect much, except causing me to potentially recalibrate by a few degrees but ultimately delivering the same average power to all shelves. I'm willing to try it if someone can provide a good reason.

I did think of one thing I could do on the hotter shelves which might work. Replace the shim with something taller, and/or something thinner. Taller to get it further from the tape. Thinner to conduct less heat -- I'm thinking the shims may be what are creating some of my hotspots, since they make direct contact.

[PitOnTheProwl]

So if I have my shelves dialed in at max of 95 degrees on inside of tub directly on plastic (targetting 90 on top of newspaper

No, not on top. You always want the temp of the surface your snake can touch.
Don't worry about on top of the substrate.

[Eric Alan]

Brainstorming thoughts:

• If your probe is on the bottom and you're seeing the temp difference on top, moving the probe to the middle could reduce the variation in temperatures from bottom to top.
• Removing the o-ring may be a solution as well. When it comes to heat tape, thermostat probes tend to work best with direct contact.
• What about simply turning down your Herpstat by 5 degrees (and reducing the number of layers of newspaper you have)?
• Maybe the variation is due to the newspaper. Do you see the same variation in temperatures on the plastic itself?

[jplehmann]

So if I have my shelves dialed in at max of 95 degrees on inside of tub directly on plastic (targetting 90 on top of newspaper

No, not on top. You always want the temp of the surface your snake can touch.
Don't worry about on top of the substrate.

I believe I should care about both of those temperatures. The direct plastic is for safety and not exceeding a temp, say 95 is top priority. But of second and still high priority is getting top of substrate to the ideal range for general health (e.g. 90). Not trying to argue, but why do you say I shouldn't care about that also?

[PitOnTheProwl]

I believe I should care about both of those temperatures.

Most of my snakes will move or lay under the paper towels, the most important reading is on the surface they can touch.