SPLICING UTH MATS?

[Spotty Tails]

I have a rack going for my aquariums all of them have under tank heaters which are all hooked up to 1000 w thermostats, each... My question is this, Can I splice all the mats into one cord which would go into one thermostat? I have had some electrical experience as an apprentice and based on wattage it makes sense electrically. However in theory it sounds good in practice I don't want to buy 3 new heaters if it doesn't work. Electrically speaking it makes sense like wiring heat tape (flex watt).
Has anyone out there ever done this. As many answers as possible would be great. I am new to Leos and have made a few purchasing mistakes along the way. please guide with some experiences.

 

[favrielle]

I'm not experienced in electrical work, but one thing to consider... where is your thermostat's temperature probe going to go, and is it going to be able to keep ALL of the tanks at a similar temp, or are the individual mats going to vary in temp enough that the ones not being read by the thermostat will be too cold or too hot?

 

[tb144050]

never done it, but I agree with your theory....basically like chaining flexwatt. I also agree with the 1st reply^^.....different shelf-height and definitely different size mats may vary in temps. So if you do it, verify proper floor temps on all the warm sides.

Since you have experience, I think you have already considered this...if not, get some tech specs: don't splice more mats together than the "weakest" (smallest gauge) wiring or component can safely handle. I think most heat mats are low-wattage (somewhere between 4watt and 20watt, just guessing randomly) but I don't know the "watt-rating" or whatever for your __gauge power wiring. To summarize, make sure you don't overload your wiring and burn the house down..lol :0

 

[DrCarrotTail]

if the matts are the same wattage then it can be done. personally I would just get an extension cord with several plugs on the end for your thermostat and plug several mats into the same thermostat rather than messing with the wiring. You'll have to keep a close eye on the temperatures to make sure one isn't hotter than the others.

 

[jemjdragon]

The only issue I think, would be what would happen if one of the mats that didn't have a probe touching it, had a malfunction? If it suddenly got too hot, then the thermostat wouldn't detect it since its only "regulating" the temperature on one mat and just turning the other mats on and off based on how hot or cold that one mat is.

 

[Spotty Tails]

That sounds genius and way safer! i need to do some research to see if a thermostat will function properly if an extension cord gets plugged into it. Like if it can fluctuate power via a power strip. It would only be three heat mats, so its possible! I think I can keep a relatively constant floor temp. So like flex watt I would put my probe on the bottom tank because heat rises and just run digital thermometers in all tanks and then check them neurotically with a heat gun. Either way extension cord = $5.00 three new mats = $45.00 - $70.00 # No dead Geckos! or a house fire. lol

 

[Spotty Tails]

That sounds genius and way safer! i need to do some research to see if a thermostat will function properly if an extension cord gets plugged into it. Like if it can fluctuate power via a power strip. It would only be three heat mats, so its possible! I think I can keep a relatively constant floor temp. So like flex watt I would put my probe on the bottom tank because heat rises and just run digital thermometers in all tanks and then check them neurotically with a heat gun. Either way extension cord = $5.00 three new mats = $45.00 - $70.00 # No dead Geckos! or a house fire. lol