Quote Originally Posted by nevohraalnavnoj View Post

I found that the tape I use to hold the probe to the heat tape actually keeps in some heat as well. So if I temp gun over the exact area that the probe is taped to it will only say, roughly, 96/97 even though that probe thinks it is at 99 since it is insulated by the tape used to hold it down.

JonV
Okay, I rechecked this and I was actually wrong. The temp gun does say exactly 99 right on the heat tape. I still only get 90 degrees surface temp in my hottest tub though. I wondered how the tub could be 9 degrees cooler than the heat tape. I think it's probably a combo of 3" heat tape and the fact that the racks from Reptile basics have little risers in the back to keep the tub up and off the heat tape...so there is probably more clearance between the tub and the tape than I had initially thought.

JonV