FlexWatt question

[Neo.Reptiliac]

I have a small issue with figuring out how to wire my flexwatt. I know how to wire flexwatt but I was wondering if there was a way I could link each strip together. I was thinking of doing 3 strips (each is 2ft long 3" tape) out of 6 linked together. That would be 60 watts total for 3 strips. Is that safe?

 

[Neo.Reptiliac]

Of course I will have a thermostat too hooked up to them.

 

[T-ReXx]

I'd say thats fine. I normally wire 4 shelves in parallel of 3", with about 3 feet per shelf, using 12gauge wire and basic extension cord. I run several of these off a Johnson's thermostat(1500 watt capacity) and haven't had any issues.

 

[Neo.Reptiliac]

How do you go about linking your strips of flexwatt? I suck at wiring anything up. I usually avoid it lol

 

[T-ReXx]

How do you go about linking your strips of flexwatt? I suck at wiring anything up. I usually avoid it lol

It's actually not that complicated. Basically what I do is cut the heat tape strips, attach them to the shelves with aluminum tape(I find it's easier than wiring then attaching), then attach the connecter clips. I then cut 2 pieces of 12gauge wire, equal length(long enough to run the gap between shelves, with a couple inches extra for wiring space) strip both ends, and then insert them into the connectors on the top piece of flexwatt(we'll call it piece A) and clamp them in and put on the insulators. Then I cut two more pieces of wire, strip ends again, and twist the free ends of the wires attached to Flexwatt piece A and insert the two ends twisted together into the connectors on piece B and put on the insulators. Repeat for piece C, then the final two ends of free wire(running from piece C) are twisted with a cut extension cord(cut off the head of the cord, split the two wires and strip them, wire one with each piece of wire from piece C) and those are inserted into the connectors from piece D. Put on the insulators and plug into your thermostat. What you end up with is a sort of "daisy chain" of wires going from shelf to shelf, one line for each side of the heat tape clips, with the bottom(or last piece, you can do this in reverse if you choose to have your power cord closer to the top of the rack) attached to a cut extension cord which serves as the plug.

 

[Neo.Reptiliac]

T.T could you explain that with photos. I fail lol

 

[Neo.Reptiliac]

Also I just realized I got the wattage wrong. It wasnt 10 watts per a ft it is 6 watts. I was looking at the wrong site. XD I got mine from big apple, not the bean farm.

 

[T-ReXx]

Don't actually have any pics of me going through the wiring process, but here's a few resources:

http://www.herpcenter.com/wiring-heat-tape.html (the section here on wiring in parallel is how I do it)

Reptilebasics.com (lots of good heat tape info here)

Oh, and theres not much difference between wiring 6wtt and 10wtt, I just use 12g wire for everything(except for 11" flexwatt) and your basic extension cord. As long as your thermostat can handle the combined wattage, you're golden.