# Heat Cable



## Lostcorn (Dec 12, 2005)

Hi

anyone use heat cable in rack systems?

If so do you mount it on the the inside of the back of the rack?

Does it heat the air?

Can it be used in small vivs?

Is it better than heat mats?

thanks for the help

John


----------



## tricky (Sep 29, 2007)

bump since i want to see answers lol


----------



## bezy bee (May 13, 2008)

hi we use heat cable on our rack, we have groves in the shelve's of the racks and have the cable in the groves with rubs on top.

hope this helps


----------



## tricky (Sep 29, 2007)

do u have a type of tape stuck over it? ive seen somewhere that peeps have use a tape that spreads the heat out i think
the heat doesnt melt the rubs at all?
so you just have the cable under the rubs? not on the back wall? (i want my system to be mainly for royals so thinking of trying to heat the air somewhat - also thinking if i set cable at appropriate places/pull rubs forward/put then on lower shelves that i can keep corns and hognose in racks )


----------



## leo-bob (Jul 1, 2007)

We use heat cable in our rack system, its set to just over 90F so it wont burn the rubs/tubs. We actually use it inside the tub with a tile over the top, you have to wait for 3 or 4 days for the adhesive on the tile to stop smelling before you put any reptiles in (im not sure if its toxic fumes but better safe than sorry)

And we use aluminium tape for ducting to help stick down the cable and spread the heat, works perfect!

I would say order more than you need tho, i worked out we needed 3.4m but luckily got 7m (we used 6.2m lol!)


----------



## tricky (Sep 29, 2007)

thanks so far guys.

so can you cut it? (think i spotted something said like that b4) 
if so is that the same heat cable as the zoo med ones ive seen on ebay? and do you have to rewire ends or something?

that tape doesnt reflet heat or something then? sorry if i sound stupid , is because i was searching for this tape (but didnt include "aluminium" and got all stuff about great for reflecting heat but was obviously wrong stuff)

how about where i said :
so you just have the cable under the rubs? not on the back wall? (i want my system to be mainly for royals so thinking of trying to heat the air somewhat - also thinking if i set cable at appropriate places/pull rubs forward/put then on lower shelves that i can keep corns and hognose in racks )

thanks guys


----------



## leo-bob (Jul 1, 2007)

Yeah my setup is for leos so it may differ to yours, the idea about cutting a grove into the back wall sounds like a better idea.

And no you can't cut it, i loop excess cable at the back of the unit to allow me to pull out tubs individually.

Theres pleanty of info if you google DIY snake / lizard rack system

***Oh and the aluminium tape in my experiences is a pretty good conductor of heat, so no i dont think it reflects heat back***


----------



## tricky (Sep 29, 2007)

thanks very much


----------



## fixitsan (Apr 15, 2008)

tricky said:


> thanks so far guys.
> 
> so can you cut it? (think i spotted something said like that b4)
> if so is that the same heat cable as the zoo med ones ive seen on ebay? and do you have to rewire ends or something?
> ...



The discussion aboiut cutting it is to do with changing the supply voltage.
I will be experimenting later this year wioth making a complete low voltage ( possibly safer) viv controller, with low energy led lighting and a high efficiency dc-dc converter, driving cut lengths of heat cable with 24V.

Heat cable is bought from the manufacturers and then cut to length to work on 240V by the distributors and repackagers. There is nothing special about heat cable, mostly it is just a resistance wire in a sheath with a resistance specially chosen so that it can be said to dissipate a particular amount of power (measured in watts)

But essentially, if you are using mains voltage of 240V then your heat cable is already cut to the right length for 240V, and if you shorten it it would dissipate more power than it was designed to handle


----------

