Wiring Flexwatt ???

[BalloonzForU]

I've got two new racks I need to wire with flexwatt.....not looking forward to soldering again. Here's my question, don't laugh I got this idea after remembering someone screwing the wires into place on the rack right through the flexwatt. (I think it was Paul Sage, correct me if I'm wrong) What about stapling the wires to the flexwatt, then using electrical tape over it. I have a super duper stapler that can staple up to 60 pages so I'd use that one not just an every day one. I was thinking stripping the wire about an inch, staple at the .5 inch mark then fold the wire over the staple then staple again so it locks it into place. Oh I forgot after melting away the plastic on the flexwatt as you would do when you solder. What do you think? And yes I'm blonde, but I'm also sick and have a massive schedule to deal with and I'm trying to find a faster but still safe way to do this.

 

[BalloonzForU]

ok, nvm it works! I tried it out on a scrap piece of flexwatt, and it't much smoother under the electical tape then my messy soldering, and will most likely hold much better too.. LOL

 

[brandy101010]

Are you serious? My husband just spent a whole day building and wiring racks for me the other day. I was under the impresion that you can not staple, nail, or screw through flexwatt. At least thats what it said on the instructions. This would have saved alot of time.

 

[okapi]

Did you staple so that the top part of the staple is over the wire and the two ends are folded under the flexwatt (like when you staple a piece of paper.) and then cover that with tape? Or did you go into the wood?

Brandy, you can staple the clear parts that run along the edges of the flexwatt to the wood but if the part with the current running through it is pierced then there is a fire hazzard.

 

[BalloonzForU]

I'm doing it right now I'll take some pics, before I tape it up.

 

[BalloonzForU]

I just stapled the wire to the flexwatt. I want this to be easy to remove if I ever need to replace it. This picture is before I used the pliers to make it a tighter fit. OH! And if you saw my soldering you'd know why I said this was better. When I moved my other rack that I soldered, I lost a few wires and had to redo the soldering. ggrrrr

 

[Reptile_le00man7mm]

Last week my snake rack is wired with 47ft of 11" flex watt. Its a nightmare! One of the solder joints broke loose. I lost heat on the whole shelf. I was trying to figure out what was happening, i traced the wires down and the one wire was barely making contact on the contact strip. It was arcing and getting hot on the wire. The power wire should not get hot!!! This could be a serious problem. The stapled wire will not make a good electrical conduction point i think... i know you know all this.. i just think that it needs to be stationary just from my recent experience!!!!! I see were you said it was working.. just keep a good eye on it!! Let me know how it turns out!!!

 

[BalloonzForU]

At least I'm not the only one that is having soldering pop loose. LOL I don't have any wires touching what they shouldn't be touching and everything is covered with thick electrical tape so that no staples pop through it. Before I even decided this route, I talked it over with my father that is an electrician for Disney World. As long as the wires don't come loose, and I can say with certainty they will not, and they are not touching anything they shouldn't there shouldn't be any issues.

 

[BalloonzForU]

I've had both sections for the hatchling rack plugged in without a thermostat for about 2 hours now, the tape is the only thing that gets hot, wires are fine. I'm going to go put it into the rack now, and hook up a thermostat to it. I think this way of conecting at least for me cause my soldering skill lack big time, is much tighter. I've pulled on the wires to the point that the flexwatt started to fold, so it's not going anywhere. I would not have been able to do this with soldering. So everything is looking good.

 

[Franks_Geckos]

Felicia,
You could always just get the special connectors that are made for the Flexwatt. I think Beam Farm or LLL sells them. You can fill the plastic covers for the connectors with silicone so that the wire ends and connectors are insulated and then crimp dowm with pliers. The plastic covers then snap together over the connector and rarely come loose if used on a nice fresh piece of Flexwatt. Your idea is good for securing the wire, I just hope it gives you the right amount of heat. If the wires are contacting the bare metal of the flexwatt you should be in business. Good Luck with the rest of your Herp Room. I can't wait to see pictures of it filled with your geckos.

 

[BalloonzForU]

Frank,
Thanks! I've tried the clips and I do have some left over from the last time I tried to use them. I had to hammer them to get them to pierce the plastic covering then the plastic clips were too big and kept my end tub from going into place. So I gave up on the clips and covers.

Funny thing about using the staples is that without the thermostat it's hotter than when I soldered them last time. I always test without a thermostat to make sure they are all working, and this time I had no issues where I had to go back and solder again cause it came up. The bad thing about soldering is that when you melt away the plastic there is a residue left behind that doesn't seem to allow the soldering to take hold as well as you'd like. I've tried using a piece of sand paper where I removed the plastic and that doesn't help either.

 

[NaughtyDawg]

Last week my snake rack is wired with 47ft of 11" flex watt. Its a nightmare! One of the solder joints broke loose. I lost heat on the whole shelf. I was trying to figure out what was happening, i traced the wires down and the one wire was barely making contact on the contact strip. It was arcing and getting hot on the wire. The power wire should not get hot!!! This could be a serious problem. The stapled wire will not make a good electrical conduction point i think... i know you know all this.. i just think that it needs to be stationary just from my recent experience!!!!! I see were you said it was working.. just keep a good eye on it!! Let me know how it turns out!!!

I tend to agree.

If this was a lamp you were wiring would you do it the same way?

 

[ByRandom]

According to Tremper's book -- when you wire heattape you should let it heat up full-force for a few hours because it expands....

 

[dragonflyreptiles]

Heck Im about to wire quite a bit of flex watt this weekend, Im goign to try this to try and save some time!

 

[trizzypballr]

heh, i love the foil tape junk they try to sell you, that stuff doesnt hold at all on plywood, i staple my flexwatt down to the rack

 

[brandy101010]

heh, i love the foil tape junk they try to sell you, that stuff doesnt hold at all on plywood, i staple my flexwatt down to the rack

I'm finding that out now... lol

 

[BalloonzForU]

LOL It doesn't stick to wood. And it won't stick to the shelfing I used for my rack either, if there is oil from your hands on it. Must be a clean dry surface.

 

[Sunrise Reptile]

There is actually a tool to crimp the connectors for sale at beanfarm.com, but it's wicked expensive. None the less, I would use the clamps as suggested.

If your solder joint is not holding, then chances are one of two things is happening. Either the things you are trying to solder together are not clean enough, or the iron is not getting hot enough. Are you using flux (its a pine tar specificly made for soldering) when you solder? It will raise the temperature of the iron if you use it. Just a suggestion.

 

[trizzypballr]

lol yeah dont waiste the money on the tape, just make sure to have a good staple gun on hand, and staple the tape down, make sure to only staple threw clear parts of the flexwatt though, going threw the black could possibly start a fire

 

[dragonflyreptiles]

You can also use, as I did, vise grips to put on the metal clips but they are not "cheap" nor are the plastic covers and if a connection does come undone or a piece needs to be replaced for some reason you have to break the plastic cover off to get to the wiring and at last I remember $1.25 per pair of metal clips and $2.70 per pair for plastic covers it can get expensive to piggy back connections. Id went that route last year and it was quite costly.