i hooked up 6 strips of heat tape parallel myself on a rack i built. the process itself was fairly simple (once u get the hang of it) but it's easy to mix-up the wires. make sure the wires from one end of one heat tape matches with the end on the second, third and so on. don't cross wires!
also make sure the heat tape is of the same size, length and manufacture to keep the wattage uniform so that u may run the whole set (if parallel/all connected) off the same thermostat.
once u get heat tape running, it works great!
Edit: also don't feel bad! u underestimated the height of the tub + heat pad but u know how to fix it now. lots of great advice here.![]()