Hello guys! Is this normal that heat mat swell/bulge part of the plastic tub?

[MissterDog]

Thank you so much!!! 200F! I feel so safe now lol!Yeah the bottom has a bit of a curve upwards and when I push it from above it will pop back a lot so I was worried is it because some part of the plastic tub is heated and some is cold so the temperature difference makes it transform I just search styrofoam and is it a kind of white board? I'm sorry may I know what does the "help the heat pad flush against the bottom" mean? Do you mean make it heat the bottom faster? So I should put the whole board directly under the tub right? I currently put some books under the four corner of the tub and leave an empty between the pad and the carpet since I always worried it will burn if someday the thermostat lost control lol!! So I can actually don't leave any space between the heat pad and other things right? Oh and I have a temperature gun and it's super awesome!! So convenient lol! Thank you so much for aways answering my stupid questions!!!!!

There are no stupid questions here! Better to ask something you don't know and realize it's nothing to worry about rather than never know at all. We are here to help no matter how simple or silly a question may seem

Yes white styrofoam is fine, the kind of sheets you often see packaging or stryofoam coolers. You can get styrofoam sheets at hardware stores like Lowes or Home Depot.

By 'flush against the bottom' I mean having it press flat against the bottom of the tub, so the styrofoam will fill the gap and press the heat pad against the tub with more direct contact and insulate it. I'd just make sure to either cut a channel or leave a gap where the thermostat probe heat is so it doesn't get squished under the pressure. Does that make sense?

You can cover the entire bottom with stryofoam without needing to leave space. Stryofoam melting point temperature is 460F degress so I doubt it will melt. However if you really are worried, you could always use styrofoam only where the heatpad is and use furnitaure padding or risers to level the rest of the tub. Whatever keeps your mind at ease.

Speaking of thermostats which one are you using? If you really are scared one day yours will break down I would highly reccomend looking into Herpstats by Spyder Robotics! They are more expensive but are worth every penny, super accurate, loads of security features and a very long life span! (10 years +) They recently came out with more affordable models too. Seriously best purchase I've ever made and I know I can always rely on it.