5 Questions Re: Heat Cord

[Cypher69]

I've never used a heat cord & I was wondering;

i) Can you use silicon to secure heat cord to a tile or ply wood board?

ii) I understand plywood may not be the best medium to conduct heat through but do you think there would be sufficient enough heat to go through 8mm plywood flush against the glass bottom of a fish tank?

iii) Would the heat cord be damaged at all under the full weight of a fish tank/ vivarium... & with OR without a sheet of styrofoam?

iv) Would it be safe to lay the heat cord inside the viv with simply pebbles on top of it?

v) Can I cable tie the thermostat probe to the actual heat cord & if so, at the beginning of the cord or more to the mid-length of the cord?

Cheers in advance.

 

[gaboonviper85]

Securing the cable with silicone is fine.

the hear transfer threw wood will be very low no matter how thin...best to secure it directly to glass if you put it on the bottom outside of the tank and put small risers under the tank to let air circulate

yes it can pinch the cable...rises as stated above will solve that.

you can put the cable in the cage but I would use a ceramic tile that can be cleaned and will distribute heat better than stones.

put the probe anywhere on the cable as long as the snake can't touch it and give it false readings but the probe needs to be set on the cable that will be the actual part of cable heating the snake

 

[Paintbrushturkey]

i) yes
ii) no, have the heatcord in direct contact with the glass of the tank
iii) yes, use feet on the tank to avoid damaging the heatcord
iv) yes, has worked for me so far (not sure if there are non waterproof heatcords, wouldn't recommend it for those)
v) I wouldn't, simply bury your thermostat probe in your substrate (provided it is water proof)

 

[Cypher69]

Any issues with styrofoam touching the heat cord?

 

[gaboonviper85]

Any issues with styrofoam touching the heat cord?

its flammable and has a low flash point...i would highly advise against it!

 

[andynic07]

its flammable and has a low flash point...i would highly advise against it!

Melting point is 75 degrees celsius , flash point is 346 degrees celsius and auto ignition point is 491 degrees celsius for styrofoam brand polystyrene.

 

[gaboonviper85]

Melting point is 75 degrees celsius , flash point is 346 degrees celsius and auto ignition point is 491 degrees celsius for styrofoam brand polystyrene.

electrical heat cable i could see getting to 346 deg easy in a malfunction...

 

[Skeptic]

Heres a little stand I made up for a 2ft tank that houses a couple of geckos. The glas sits a couple of mm's off the heat cord and it works really well Sorry about the massive pics.

 

[ronhalling]

Very very nice job Skeptic, very professional looking, you could build a heap of these and sell them easy, hmmmm wondering now how a setup like that would go under a melamine enclosure, WTG buddy .....................................Ron

 

[Skeptic]

Very very nice job Skeptic, very professional looking, you could build a heap of these and sell them easy, hmmmm wondering now how a setup like that would go under a melamine enclosure, WTG buddy .....................................Ron

Thanks

 

[andynic07]

electrical heat cable i could see getting to 346 deg easy in a malfunction...

I have not heard of many heat cords catching fire. I would more be worried about the fumes being given off at 75 degrees as this temperature is a lot more achievable than 346 degrees. Either way I would be using a thermostat to greatly reduce the chances of this happening. Check out this thread about heat cords. [h=1]Heat cord timer?[/h]

 

[Cypher69]

Well trial run this afternoon. I've attached the heat cord (15 watt,2 mtr,waterproof) to a mesh with thermostat probe then a layer of pebbles on top, inside the viv.
So far the temp gun is reading various pebbles at 20-24C. I've got the thermostat set at 30C but I've a feeling the temps won't pass 25C.
I'll decide tomorrow whether to scrap the heat cord or not...

 

[Bluetongue1]

You are allowing the heat to spread in all directions, heating both air and pebbles. The pebbles are not in full contact with each other and so conduction of heat is limited. At the same time the air-filled spaces between the pebbles will warm up from contact with the warm pebbles and the heat cord. The heated air will rise (convection), taking the warmth with it... hence your lower temperatures. There are two solutions. The first is to use a higher wattage heat cord – 25 W might do it, otherwise you would need to move up to 40 W or 50 W. The alternative is you change the way you are using it.

A particularly efficient and effective use of heat cord is to sand which it between a thin layer of wood and a slate or ceramic tile. For a 15 W a 30 cm square tile will give you a constant temperature around 35[SUP]o[/SUP]C, without a thermostat. The wood is a good insulator, while the tiles are good conductors of heat. Therefore, the majority of the heat given off by the cord is taken up by the tiles. Their conductive properties allow the heat to spread out through them, providing an even temperature at the surface i.e. no hot spots. Both ceramic and slate have high specific heats. This means they require a lot of heat to raise their temperatures by each 1[SUP]o[/SUP]C. So a large, cold reptile that plonks itself on a tile, will be able to extract a significant amount of heat without unduly dropping the temperature of the tile. It also means if they are turned off of an evening, they continue to give out heat for a significant amount of time. The use of a tile is an extremely effective method of reptiles gaining heat as there is a large amount of body surface in direct contact with the heat source and no loss of heat to the air. To maintain a natural looking vivarium, slate is the go. Just shop around until you find the desired colours.

Blue

 

[Snowman]

electrical heat cable i could see getting to 346 deg easy in a malfunction...

You are dreaming. Care to explain the logistics of a malfunction in which this will happen?

 

[crocodile_dan]

I'm not agreeing with gaboonviper, but being from the states he might be mixing Celsius with Fahrenheit?

 

[slide]

If you place the themostat probe AGAINST the cord you will have trouble reaching the desired temps further away from the cord. By moving the thermostat probe a little further from the heat source it will give a better reading (within reason-dont place it too far away from the cord).
Also the lower ambient temperatures will mean that your heat cord will have to work harder to keep up.

Aaron

 

[andynic07]

I'm not agreeing with gaboonviper, but being from the states he might be mixing Celsius with Fahrenheit?

You may be right but that is still about 175 degrees celsius and my first post was clear in stating celsius.

 

[Rogue5861]

I have insulated my woodies tub heatcord with styrofoam as it was all escaping and not heating enough, i have thermostat prob set just away from the heat cord set at 33c an the plastic tub sits around 28-32c.

I havent had any issues with styrofoam melting at all, as long as the cord doesnt malfunction and the thermostat stays true it shouldnt cause any melting.


Rick

 

[gaboonviper85]

yes i was referring to deg F. there are other non flammable or at least self extinguishing insulation to be had...Styrofoam is a poor choice as is wood...many people have burned their stores and houses down killing all their animals because of failing heat elements and thermostats...its not worth the risk unless your heat cable at full power cant get above a certain temp.

thats just my opinion...not like its hard to find other materials that will be better.

 

[gaboonviper85]

either way do what you want...feel like im being blasted because there are several stories of fires that i know of that could have been avoided and i dont trust products "made for reptiles" as they are made on the cheap!