flexwatt wiring help

[ozzyman778]

quick question..... trying to wire a dimmer switch to my flexwatt.... here is my dilema. switch has 2 black wires and 1 green wire..... now I am only hooking it up inline on one wire to the flexwatt.... how does this get hooked up?

here are some pics to help clarify

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[Pork Chops N' Corn Bread]

Heres what I found

http://www.arbreptiles.com/cages/flexwire.shtml

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[RioBravoReptiles]

Originally Posted by ozzyman778

quick question..... trying to wire a dimmer switch to my flexwatt.... here is my dilema. switch has 2 black wires and 1 green wire..... now I am only hooking it up inline on one wire to the flexwatt.... how does this get hooked up?
here are some pics to help clarify

That dimmer you have is not the best way to control heat-tape.. there is no compensation for ambient temp changes, you can get a good-quality temp control at Bean Farm or a lot of places for about $30 and it has a probe that allows you to set the actual temp of the tape.. much better.
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To answer your question..Most modern household electrical devices include a ground wire or other connection.. these are green. You should connect that for safety and it will also invcrease the life of a toroid-type current control.
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The two black wires are power-in and power-out.. you have to know which wire on your power sourse is the hot or positive.. and which is the neutral. That dimmer is placed in your power line to the tape, one black is from the plug or power source, the other is to the tape. The neutral wire of you power source or cord is wired directly to the other contact of the tape.
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You have to know also how many total watts your tape system will be needing.. multiply the watts-per-foot rating of the tape by the number of feet, that's total watts. Assume you have 28 feet of tape 12 watts per foot, that's 336 watts.. compare that to the watt-rating on your controller.. if it is even close you need a controller with a higher rating (say 500watts).
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Don't forget that your cord has a maximum safe rating and it might not be as much as you think.. I will give you the info to convert watts to current if you need it to check your cord ratings.
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Be careful.

[ozzyman778]

but it was my understanding that a on/off thermostat was not reccomended for heat tape

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[iLLwiLL]

hook it to the 2 black wires. the green is a ground. from the heat tape, 1 wire goes through the dimmer, the other goes straight to the outlet.

~Will.

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[Torin]

Originally Posted by ozzyman778

but it was my understanding that a on/off thermostat was not reccomended for heat tape

There are people who are on both sides of the issue. The thermostat side says that it won't adjust to ambient at all, and on warm days you may overheat your snake and on cool days you won't get them warm enough.

The other side says that the on/off can lead to earlier failure of the heat tape, and if the thermometer goes bad you can have the heat tape on full blast and cook your snakes.

I don't have a preference myself at the moment, I've got a cage set up with each style right now. However I also use an IR heat gun to check the surface temps regularly in both setups.

[CraigC]

Hi here is a response to thermostat questions I posted in another forum.

When dealing with thermostats, you must keep in mind that there are two types commonly used for reptiles, proportional and nonproportional. Both have remote sensors (probes) and allow you to set the temps. However, they function differently.

The nonproportional thermostat is basically an on/off switch for the heating devices. They allow full power to the heater(s) until the set temperature is achieved and then turn it off. Depending on the sensitivity, when the temperature drops 1-5 degrees, it turns the heater back on at full bore. This could cause the "light bulb" style heaters to burn out prematurely, especially where the temperature drop is rapid. Sort of like turning a light in your house on and off constantly 24/7. These are the least expensive types and if you have some basic electrical wiring knowledge, can be had for around $70.00 and will handle up to 500 watts of heating equipment. W. W. Grainger has them and they are made by Ranco. One of these plus a cheap extension cord and your in business.

Proportional thermostats work like a temperature maintaining rheostat. They provide a constant power supply to the heating equipment to maintain the set temperature, requiring only enough wattage to keep the heater at a constant temperature. Say you have a 150 watt heating device, but once the set temperature is reached it only requires 75 watts to maintain. The proportional thermostat will regulate the power out put to do so. Remember the nonproportional thermostat requires a 1-5 degree drop in temperature to activate, meaning that a temperature drop must occur to activate it. Proportional thermostats are more expensive.

We keep emerald tree boas exclusively. We don't have the luxury of a snakeroom, yet. Our adult and sub-adult cages are kept in an air conditioned environment. We use proportional thermostats in this situation as we don't want the temperature fluctuation required to activate the nonproportional type. We do use nonproportionals when we have neonates as we dedicate an unused bathroom as a nursery. We close off the AC vent and heat the whole room (when needed). The nonproportionals are used more as a back up.

BTW, when you are heating numerous cages, proportionals are a lot easier on the electric bill as less power is required to maintain temperature than to constantly have 150+ watt heating devices turn on full bore.

Craig

[toker]

Dimmers is all I use with heat tape, and has always worked well.

You should have got a document with that dimmer, in it has a diagram that tells you how to hook it up.

Green is a ground. Simple

the black wires split the hot, one gets hooked into your cord, the other goes into the plug-in. Take the other wire from your cord and hook it to the other side of the plug in. All the dimmer does is split the hot side and reduce the amps.

Again, read the docs that came with your dimmer.

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[justcage]

http://www.mgreptiles.com/dimmerwire.html
Thought this might help in the future...

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