Heat tape question

[andrew5859]

I have a question and it may have a simple answer or it may not....I recently got a rack made for me that is all wood. The bottom portion has "drawers" that I can keep my leos in. The only issue is that the heat tape keeps folding up and catches on the drawers.

Here is the rack.

This is what I mean by the heat tape folding if the pic helps at all.

I have tried aluminum foil tape to no avail. It simply wont stick to the wood.

My thought is that maybe a hot glue gun would solve the problem? Thinking the heat tape doesnt get that hot to melt the glue maybe it would work?

Any thoughts?:main_huh:

 

[justindh1]

Well I am not so sure I would use hot glue. Unless you have one that you can adjust the temperature on, it will get pretty hot. Have you thought about putting something in the slots where the heat tape goes through to each side? A piece of wood, paper towels, or etc.

 

[andrew5859]

I do have it connected to a thermostat and my temps on just the heat tape are reading around 100 degrees and im not sure how much heat hot glue needs to become sticky again.

I did think maybe some plexi-glass along the trough thats cut out for the tape might work? Not so sure paper towels would keep it down well enough.

 

[BrightReptiles]

Use foil tape. Two strips, one for each side (long ways). Cover the copper wires that run on each side the length of the heat tape and tape it down. You can get it at Walmart.

 

[andrew5859]

Use foil tape. Two strips, one for each side (long ways). Cover the copper wires that run on each side the length of the heat tape and tape it down. You can get it at Walmart.

I think thats what its going to come down to. I tried foil tape before but it wont stick to the wood....I also only tried it on the corners. I think like you said my best bet would be to wipe the wood down getting rid of all the saw dust/dust with a wet cloth and then tape the whole thing down the entire length of the tape. We'll see how that goes.

 

[BrightReptiles]

If you have problems with it sticking, as I did, you can use Gorilla Tape in the same fashion but it makes the tubs harder to slide in and out if it is a tight fit. You could also go to home depot and buy a more "industrial" type that may be a bit better than the duct tape brand "aluminum duct tape" that walmart sells.