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Heating a Rack

I

InFocus

and I will lift my hands
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Okay, I've got everything I need to build a new rack except the heating issues. I need some advice on using heat tape.

What I want to be able to do is place a three inch strip across the back of each shelf. Lets say the shelves are 30" wide and there are 8 total. I would have 8 - 30" long heat tape strips, one on each shelf. I want to be able to wire them together so I have one power cord and one temperature control. Either a thermostat or I guess a dimmer switch would work. I could play with the setting on the dimmer switch and check the temps with a temp gun until it was say at 80*. Anybody have any recommendations on how to do this or a better idea?
 
Bob, I completed a similar project using heat tape a few months ago and I documented the whole thing step-by-step with pictures. You're more than welcome to check out the d.i.y. article I made about it on my website. If you're interested, go to www.paulsagereptiles.com and click on "articles and caresheets" Then click on the icon for "hard-wiring heat tape". One thing not mentioned in the article is the thermostat issue. I had piggy-backed the line cords into a single plug and plugged it into a Ranco thermostat that's mounted underneath the bottom shelf.

I hope that helps a little. Good luck with your project.

Here's a picture of the thermostat mounted underneath the bottom shelf (and no, I didn't finish the underside of the bottom shelf! :raspberry )
 

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Thanks Paul,
That is a great help. Question...With the Ranco thermostat did you get it pre-wired with a plug and the powerstrip? Also when using the thermostat you put the temp probe under or on the heat tape on one of the shelves and the thermostat monitors the probe and adjusts the temperature by changing the amount of power going to the powerstrip?
 
I would suggest getting the ranco with the powerstrip.. The "raw" units are cheaper but you will then have to wire them yourself and it can be a pain if you dont do it often...
 
InFocus said:
Thanks Paul,
That is a great help. Question...With the Ranco thermostat did you get it pre-wired with a plug and the powerstrip? Also when using the thermostat you put the temp probe under or on the heat tape on one of the shelves and the thermostat monitors the probe and adjusts the temperature by changing the amount of power going to the powerstrip?
Click to expand...
Sorry Bob, I totally missed this.
I got the Ranco pre-wired just as it's shown in the pic. All I had to do was 'plug-n-play'. heh heh I placed the probe on TOP of the heat tape in between two of the cages. That way, you're monitoring a temp as close as possible to where the animals will actually be. The Rancos are an on/off thermostat (as far as I know) so when it drops to a certain point, it turns it on. You can adjust how much of a temperature deviation you want by programming it in the thermostat. It's pretty simple and self-explanatory once you start playing with it.

(I got the Ranco from Matt (post above)) Hi Matt!
 
Howdy Paul!! Paul is right on, the rancos are an on/off thermostat..
 
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