heat cable issue?

K-TRAIN

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 7, 2006
Messages
359
its been awhile since i posted here but i figured somebody may be able to help with my problem.


i went to a expo on saturday (supereastcoast reptile expo in PA) and purchased some supplies, 3 fat tailed geckos, and a leopard gecko.

one of the supplies i bought was 23 foot of zoomed heat cable, and at the same time i bought a zoomed 500 thermostat.

i was told the cable needs a thermostat to work, so i hooked it all up to metal shelving i keep my tanks on, by weaving it through the bars on the shelves and then doubling it, so that i have two lines of cable on each shelf about 1 inch-2 inch apart.

my problem is that the cable doesnt seem to be warm enough for the tanks, even when the thermostat is as high as it can be set, though the cable is warm. it just doesnt seem to be heating the bottom of my ten gallon tanks enough. i havent set up a temp gauge yet to check it, but it doesnt seem warm at all compared to the heat mats i use.

can anyone help me with this? i have fat tailed geckos leopard geckos and two young cornsnakes on my shelves, and the reason i bought cable was to save on electic since they were all on uth before.

heres a picture of the shelving and tanks im heating (tanks are empty for the most part because im testing the cable)

 

Introvertebrate

Arachnoprince
Arachnosupporter
Joined
Dec 18, 2010
Messages
1,198
Maybe you should lay some sheets of insulation down first. Then cables on top of the insulation, then the tanks, in order to direct all the heat upwards into the tanks.
 

StephanieH

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 1, 2009
Messages
53
I've used vinyl tile or ceramic tile under the flexwatt, then use foil tape to keep it attached.

Steph
 

K-TRAIN

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 7, 2006
Messages
359
update:


got the problem solved i believe. i added plastic sheeting underneath the cable and doubled it over to about 3-4 coils per tank (basically five lines of cable on each tank) and its reading approx. 104 degrees when set on the highest temp my thermostat reaches. now to just adjust the heat and im good to go.


thanks for the advice. :)
 
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