Need some UTH help asap

[Akari_32]

I have this UTH on my 20 long, and it's always not wanted to stick very well, despite the glass being cleaned prior to application and very meticulously making sure there were no bubbles when it was out on. I've taken precautions on my newest tank (which I built), with a wood frame under the tank, and supports running under the pad. That one shouldn't budge.

I was hoping something like this could salvage this one. It heats great, it just doesn't touch the glass very much, making pretty well useless. The tank as been empty for about a week, and I've decided to reuse it again, and wanted to make sure I got the pad straitened out before putting my boy back in the tank. The adhesive has stuck itself to the tank, and the pad left it behind. The tank used to be on an opened top stand, that supported only the edged of the tank, and the cord pulled on it some, so that never helped any. It's now on a normal stand. The pad is slightly bent, but it honestly doesn't look abnormally so. Just looks like heated plastic. It's not damaged in any way.

Pictures:

Is there something thin enough that can go under the tank, and keep it pushed onto the glass? Can I remove it, and place it between two pieces of slate, and the other side of the tank can just have sand under the slate to even it out? Can it just be placed right under the sand, with the slate on top, or maybe on top of the sand but under the slate? Any other ideas? I really hate to scrap it, but if there is not safe way to salvage it, I will with no second thought. I do have a replacement (complained to Zoo Med and they sent me a new one). But let's keep that on the back burner for now...

 

[acpart]

I have read on another forum (and seen copies of correspondance with ZooMed) that Zoomed states their UTH's do not work if removed and replaced because the adhesive is crucial to proper heating and taking the UTH off the glass can disrupt some of the electronics making the UTH work.
That said, I do re-use my ZooMed UTH's. I have 2 methods for keeping them well-adhered to the glass:
--push them as flat as I can and then use Nashua tape over the whole UTH
--install the UTH and put a block of wood between it and the surface the tank is sitting on to push the UTH up at the saggiest part (I wouldn't cover the whole UTH with wood because there won't be any way for the heat to vent).

Still, if it's that bent up, you may want to junk it and get something else. Consider a ZooMed heat cable which can be installed and re-installed in a variety of configurations.

Aliza

 

[Akari_32]

It's bent from laying on the surface of the stand, hanging by a thread from the bottom of the tank. It easily squishes up back into place (only the edges are sticky these days), but falls off slowly over the next few days. Do you really think its that bad? The glass above anywhere it's touching is hot, so it's still working properly. It just doesn't like to touch the glass on its own lol

The wood thing is basically what we did for the other tank. I built it, so it doesn't have a rim or anything. Then mom built a wooden frame to hold the tank off the stand for the heater, and the cross bars are not nailed into place so I could move them to where they supported the pad the best. Seems to be working great so far, and I love it. But this tank (the 20 long) has such a small rim at the bottom, maybe 1/4 inch, and then you have to account for whatever thickness the heating pad is... It'd be hard to find any wood thin enough to fit under there. Hmmmm....

 

[lisa127]

I do not like the heat pads with adhesive. I only use ultratherms from Reptile Basics. They have no adhesive and I adhere them to tanks using gorilla duct tape.

 

[Akari_32]

Could I stick this one back on with some duct tape? They say it fixes everything

 

[Phantom240]

If you had some thin polystyrene foam (white, messy, ice chest type foam), you could put that underneath. It compresses just enough to not be an issue. I have my enclosure's heat pad on top of the foam to keep it from damaging the dresser's wood.

 

[Akari_32]

I thought about foam but I wasn't sure if that'd be a fire hazard or not. I do like that idea, though. It'd be easier to find a piece of foam the size and thickness I needed than it would a piece of wood.

 

[acpart]

Regardless of whether you use something like wood or foam under it, you'll need to stick it on. Duct tape and electrical tape will eventually sag. I use Nashua tape, which is the same shape as duct tape but is basically aluminum foil with adhesive and a paper backing you tear off. I get it at Home Depot. I use dominoes under the corners of my tanks to vent the UTH. That will raise the tank enough so you should be able to fit something under it, which is fine as long as you don't cover the entire UTH.

Aliza

 

[Akari_32]

Could I use the Nashua tape to re-stick the heating pad? I've got the rubber feet the pads all come with on the corners. The tank is in the living room, it it has to look nice.

 

[lisa127]

The gorilla tape works....regular duct tape will not hold for long, but gorilla tape holds pretty much anything for good.