heat cable with wooden rack

[reptile4me]

I am in the process of building a rack made of plywood and melamine. I will be using heat cable that will sit in a groove created from a router.
The wood is stained with water based stain and then coated with a water based polycrylic. It has been allowed to have significant time to dry.
I am still unsure whether I would like to use bins or tanks that are made entirely from stained wood or melamine.

Questions:
1. If the heat cable is placed in the groove and covered with foil tape should there be concern of it burning the wood or even the polycrylic? With the temperature on top of the tile substrate needing to be around 92-95 I would think the actual heat cable would need to be nearing 100.

2. What type substrates are people using for bins within the rack systems?
I have read many threads and so far it seems that shelf liner and paper towels are commonly used.

 

[MonteQ's]

I did a few hatchling racks out of melamine similar to what you're describing...dados for the cable covered with foil tape. I've had them running for almost two years with out issue...knock on wood. One think to keep in mind when running the dado is that the head of most heat cable is a little thicker. I opened my edges up a bit more with a dremel so I could fit the cable through the uprights.

I really can't help you with the stains. Just the thought of the chemicals would make me nervous. Though I really don't have any experience to base that on.

 

[Taquiq]

I use heat tape on a wood shelf. I carefully manage it with a thermmostat and put aluminum foil underneath.

 

[gixxer3420]

I use paper towel in all my racks