DIY heat mat.

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I will be using mine like a heat panel and attaching it to the roof of the enclosure, but I think the polycarbonate is holding most of the heat inside with the heat cord, I was thinking about putting some holes on the bottom side of it, so the heat can pass through the plastic easier and heat things a little further from the heat source, what do you guys think? Is it worth doing or won't it make much difference?
 
Seeing as the use of the polycarbonate sheeting is still "in trial" I would suggest trying anything and everything to stop the apparent heat build up. If drilling holes makes no difference then you've lost nothing, but it may just be all that it needs.
Maybe start with a few holes around the mid-length of each occupied channel, if it seems to drop the temp then add holes until it's stable at the temp you want.
Give each set of holes a full 24 hrs to give a semi accurate point of difference.

I'm asking everyone at work if they have offcuts of the polycarbonate so I can play around too :)
 
Radiated heat is what you are after in terms of transfering heat to a material - the slate/tile. Ambient heat is inefficient in this application and compounds the heat tolerance of the system. You have to focus on the transferral of heat to the medium that requires the heating and to minimise the ambient (accumulated volume based heat).

Think of one single 15w heat cord, it radiates heat in all directions and it's ambient heat is projected upwards from the cord (hot air rises). Now get 1000 15w cords and bunch them into one larger cord. Singularly they are 15w but together would be equal to theoretically 15000w (however there are some other factors that mean this number is far less, although it would still be accurate to say that it is far more then 15w). The heat is compounded and has no means of escape, the radiating heat of each cord absorbs into its neighbour and thus makes the neighbour emit more heat, heating the previous neighbour and so forth. The whole mass of cords will eventually get so hot that the material fails (catching fire etc). This is why the cords generate hotter temps when the cords are spaced closer together.

The way to ensure that you can make a heat mat that works to the way you need it is to ensure that this thermal compounding is limited or doesn't occur. This comes down to spacing, the material used to distribute the heat and the mechanical/physical components that help with dissipation of acumulated heat. Holes will only help if it is on the top surface where the heat can escape upwards. Holes on the side will only help the side of the cord at the edges, unless aided by a source of airflow - ie. a fan. Other materials might need to be taken into consideration.

A bit of an essay - but there is far more to it than just the idea :)
 
Stick a thermometer probe into the coreflute. Sandwiched between the tiles you will find it gets really hot. I did the same thing too. The bottom tile was too hot to touch. I think the heat needs a chance to disapate from somewhere.
I'm using an IR thermometer so can't stick a probe in the unoccupied holes but last night I lifted it up and measured the bottom tile. It was still only a bit over 40 as well. I think having the larger tile on the bottom helps to act like a heat sink so the issue you're describing doesn't happen so badly. You could get an even better heat sink action by enveloping the tiles in alfoil. I think this may be getting a little over the top though
 
I will be using mine like a heat panel and attaching it to the roof of the enclosure, but I think the polycarbonate is holding most of the heat inside with the heat cord, I was thinking about putting some holes on the bottom side of it, so the heat can pass through the plastic easier and heat things a little further from the heat source, what do you guys think? Is it worth doing or won't it make much difference?

I would put some sort of reflective tape on the top surface to try and direct the heat down.
 
Now where do we source 10mm corflute? Maybe sign shops?

Maybe try your local bottleo .... the signs they use out the front (the ones that advertise beer prices etc) theyre all made of coreflute (and useless once the promos are over) dont know if its 10mm tho.
 
I would put some sort of reflective tape on the top surface to try and direct the heat down.

I have insulation tape on one side already, the side with the tape gets so hot that it will burn your hand if you touch it.

I have made a box for the panel to sit in, I'm hoping the box will focus the heat down more and also make it a little more safe.
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I started with a peace of 16mm melamine for the top (bottom in the photo), then cut a hole in some industrial grade foam for the panel to sit in (the foam only touches the sides of the panel, not any of the faces) and screwed it all together with some thin bits of wood.
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Because of how hot the surface of the panel gets, I added some shade cloth in-between the foam and wood strips, so the snake wont get burnt.
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I'm in the proses of testing it now.
This panel won't be used with any snakes, this is my mockup panel, made from what ever scrap I had laying around.
If this works then I will be remaking the whole thing, I will router the whole box out of timber, so the panel box will only be made from 2 peaces (front and back) and there will be no foam in it (I only used foam in my mockup panel because I needed something to fill that gap with).

If this mockup panel doesn't work properly, then I suppose I could try moving the heat cord closer to itself and maybe put a couple of holes in the polycarbonate.
 
I made a similar frame for the coreflute. Will put some pics up tonight. Though I'm trying to create a heat mat rather than a panel.
 
I think u chanell Plastic or aluminium would be the easiest way to make a frame
 
I'm thinking heat panel is the way to go with core flute and a 50w cord. A melamine shelf 400x400 with the heat panel underneath. The top will get to low 30's easily enough and if the shelf is 200 high you will get heat radiated to the floor. it would be simple enough to drill a hole in the melamine to insert the probe of your thermostat to ensure the shelf doesn't get too hot. The max I've recorded with no thermostat on the shelf is 36 degrees in a 22 degree room. Inside the coreflute is 70 degrees. I have not measured the temp under the panel as it's too high up from the floor at present. You would need a cage or something around the panel. Shade cloth would be fine at a 50mm distance.
 
have you noticed any softening of the coreflute at the temp of 70c ? i wouldn't think that it was designed for those sorts of temps longterm.
 
Nope it's still strong. However having it as a heat panel at these temps it will never bare any weight. As it will be fixed to a ceiling or shelf. I will make something on the weekend and post pictures. I need a new enclosure for my yearling bhp anyway, he's getting too big for a click clack :)
 
Hey Snowman I had a go measuring the tile underneath again and also measuring the gaps (still with the IR thermo though) and it's quite consistent through the whole thing. I just had a thought - what size are you using? I could only get the 5mm stuff so the cord is in direct contact with the polycarbonate. If you guys are using the 10mm stuff and getting it that hot it might be the extra air gap between the corrugations and the cord itself
 
That's is interesting. I am using the 10mm coreflute and threading every second hole.
I clamped it to the ceiling of an enclosure last night. The top of the enclosure (13mm melamine) held a stedy 35 degress. And inside the coreflute was 70. Holding my hand under it I could feel the heat radiating. I need to set up a probe underneath and measure the air temps that it is generating. 50w per enclosure isn't fantastic, but it's better than a 100w ceramic. For smaller snakes 15w is more than enough for a basking pad with coreflute.
Well done to the bloke in the video!
 
does anyone know how this will go as a heat mat if placed under the substrate. I have a styrofoam hide/basking spot at one end directly beneath a heat lamp. As a result the substrate directly beneath the basking spot is shaded and although the basking spot temp is high, the sand is quiet cool to the touch. As my basking spot is made from styrofoam, covered in grout, I dont want to place a traditional heat mat under it as im worried it will melt the foam. Im thinking about cutting the coreflute to shape and "fitting" it into the base of the hide/basking spot. Would this be a better option then having a heat mat fully under the styrofoam structure, almost with direct contact??
Heres a pic to show where Im talking about.
 

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I don't keep lizards. But the idea of a heated hide sounds strange. They wouldn't have heated hides in the wild they would need to come out to bask. Wouldn't you want to encourage exercise and have your animal come out to get warm?
 
I don't keep lizards. But the idea of a heated hide sounds strange. They wouldn't have heated hides in the wild they would need to come out to bask. Wouldn't you want to encourage exercise and have your animal come out to get warm?

Agreed.
Plus I'd be hesitant to put it under the sand. There wouldn't be anywhere for the heat to go and as some people have found, they can get incredibly hot without enough air flow. Maybe with a thermostat but even then I wouldn't do it personally
 
Agreed.
Plus I'd be hesitant to put it under the sand. There wouldn't be anywhere for the heat to go and as some people have found, they can get incredibly hot without enough air flow. Maybe with a thermostat but even then I wouldn't do it personally

I'm only using a 15w heat cord so my temps are a lot lower. I'm using this in my gecko enclosure and they choose to sleep in there during the day as it is currently quite cool where I am. They are still plenty active at night
 
I want it placed outside the entrance to the hide. Its hard to tell in that photo but because of the basking spot, half the enclosure is put in shade and that decreases the temp of the enclosure dramitically.
I wouldnt place the heat mat under the hide, it just has to fit around that knoby looking piece of the structure at the bottom of the photo, the right hand section of the structure.
 
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