# Building A Rack



## Bexie (Dec 20, 2007)

Hello

my OH is building a big rack. to hold 32ltr tubs, the whole length of the rack will be 6ft high by 12ft long and 2ft depth

it will be split up in 3 sections all of which will be 6' high, 4' long, 2' deep. it will have 8 levels al together and will hold 72 tubs total.

what we need to find is, how would be the best way to control the 24 heat mats it will take to heat the rack. obviously i dont want to buy a mat stat for each one. i was wondering wether it is possible to fuse some of them together. or wether the only way to do it would be to use heat cable? in which case i need to find out how it works lol

bexie


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## sharpstrain (May 24, 2008)

You dont need 1 stat per mat - you can work to the capacity of the stat - so if you have 60 watt mats and a 600 watt capacity stat you can use 1 stat per 10 mats. They all need to be the same wattage mats and in the same size tubs.

So you would prob be better to use pulse stats or dimmers because they have a higher capacity that mat stats which only have 100 watt

Hope that helps


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## bret1789 (Aug 2, 2008)

hi i build a rack last week for my burm hatchling and i only used one stat to run 17 heat mats and they work great here is a pic of my rack.


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## biglad52002 (Mar 9, 2007)

the lucky reptile thermo conrol stats can handle 1200 watts and are really good


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## Bexie (Dec 20, 2007)

thanks for that.

i was going to use pulse stats, but the thing im confused about is how do i put 14 mats in 1 thermostat? basically how do i plug them all into it? lol


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## mask-of-sanity (Dec 27, 2006)

either use junction boxes to wire the mats into ( prob need a few ) max number of mats to one stat i had was 8 so i plugged all the mats into an 8 point extension lead then that was plugged into the stat ...


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## Bexie (Dec 20, 2007)

mask-of-sanity said:


> either use junction boxes to wire the mats into ( prob need a few ) max number of mats to one stat i had was 8 so i plugged all the mats into an 8 point extension lead then that was plugged into the stat ...


hmm not a job for my oh then he will just have to build the rack. is it a simple job for somebody who knows what theyre doing?


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## Meko (Apr 29, 2007)

plugging 8 plugs into an 8 way extension block?? 

yep, fairly easy. Just plug one in, then another, then another :whistling2:


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## bbav (Oct 17, 2007)

Just use something like this Buy Masterplug 8 Way Surge Protector. at Argos.co.uk - Your Online Shop for . surge protection will make it safer too.


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## smart1 (Oct 16, 2007)

love that rack,dont fancey doing me one:2thumb:


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## Bexie (Dec 20, 2007)

Meko said:


> plugging 8 plugs into an 8 way extension block??
> 
> yep, fairly easy. Just plug one in, then another, then another :whistling2:


obviously that is easy, what i mean is how do you get 17 heat mats onto 1 stat, use 3 extension leads? i dont think so, what i meant was the junction boxes?


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## Caz (May 24, 2007)

Just plug a 6 way extension lead to the thermostat 'heat' then use one of the 6 sockets for another extension lead etc etc. As long as the watts are not greater than the max load (17 heat mats - approx 20w each 340watts) on the thermostat and each extension lead is fitted with a 3 amp fuse and the wires are kept as short as poss with no coiling then no problems should occur.

Probably a lot safer than wiring junction boxes in series.

Personally i'd divide them into 3 thermostats so that you can more easily change the temps - perhaps lowering some for breeding etc etc?


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## Bexie (Dec 20, 2007)

Caz said:


> Just plug a 6 way extension lead to the thermostat 'heat' then use one of the 6 sockets for another extension lead etc etc. As long as the watts are not greater than the max load (17 heat mats - approx 20w each 340watts) on the thermostat and each extension lead is fitted with a 3 amp fuse and the wires are kept as short as poss with no coiling then no problems should occur.
> 
> Probably a lot safer than wiring junction boxes in series.
> 
> Personally i'd divide them into 3 thermostats so that you can more easily change the temps - perhaps lowering some for breeding etc etc?


Hey

Yeh thats what i was going to do, each stat will control 8 levels so 8 heatmats to 1 thermostat, so thats 1 per extension lead.


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## Caz (May 24, 2007)

Sounds like the best and easiest idea :2thumb:


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## Bexie (Dec 20, 2007)

thanks everyone who posted! i was dreading having to use heat cable!

im got it all sorted now, updated my shopping list;

24 47" x 11" heat mats
3 pulse thermostats
3 8 point extension leads


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## Reptacular Ltd (Nov 1, 2008)

Hi

We use cable on all of ours, you can buy that in long lengths, therefore will only need to get one maybe two stats.

They are just as effective and it does probably work out cheaper. The best way to use the cable is to router a grove in the back of the rack shelves for the cable to fit into so its all smooth. Then have no tight turns as this can cause the wire to burn.

Otherwise we have had no trouble. Its a case of one stat, per cable. Think were currently running three 7.5 metre cables off three stats. So the whole lot cost us around £160

Hope this is of some help.

Regards


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## Bexie (Dec 20, 2007)

I can get the 47" x 11" heatmats for £23 a piece. so it will work out about 500 for the heat mats altogether. but i prefer heatmats to the cables personally. it will hold 72 32ltr tubs. and then i will be building a seperate rack of about 30 70ltr tubs but that will all be in time.


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## johne.ev (Sep 14, 2008)

Can you use a dimming stat with heat mats?


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## rachel132002 (Dec 4, 2006)

You can use dimming stats on mats, although designed for lighting they are effectively a 1up from pulse stats.

Regards heatmats, Cornish Crispa are the cheapest i've found, packs of 4 6x47" for like £60 or 47x11" for £17-18each

Heat mats - Cornish Crispa Co.


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## Bexie (Dec 20, 2007)

rachel132002 said:


> You can use dimming stats on mats, although designed for lighting they are effectively a 1up from pulse stats.
> 
> Regards heatmats, Cornish Crispa are the cheapest i've found, packs of 4 6x47" for like £60 or 47x11" for £17-18each
> 
> Heat mats - Cornish Crispa Co.


the 47 x 11 are £27???


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