Heat tape: has anyone ever tried using one long piece of heat tape for the whole rack, instead of one piece per shelf? Like a notch at each end of the shelf and it just goes in and out from one shelf to the next.
Yes, reptile basics racks are built this way, and several DIY rack builds also employ this method, notably Morph Mixology on youtube.
The main concern is you need to make sure your thermostat is capable of handling the wattage, which should. not be an issue unless it is a monster sized rack. I don’t remember what that max is x (watts per foot) * y (total length) < z (total watt capacity of thermostat).
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Many PVC racks comes wire that way, in serpentine where your tape run through your rack in one piece from top to bottom, all mine are wired that way.
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It’s a 10 adult tub rack
So each shelf is about 18” wide and a 6” spacing between them approximately. Using 6” heat tape.
Which is what’s recommended for a 33” long tub correct ?
Good to know , however when they transition from one shelf to another it has to stay rounded ? To not break the heat element? Or is your curved pretty flat ?
You definitely do not fold it if this is what you mean but it will lay flat on each shelf.
I use 4 inches on all my racks including 33 long tubs.