Wiring Heat Tape to a dimmer?

End Times · 10-03-05, 05:12 PM

Hey all,

Can someone please help me with this? I know how to wire heat tape, that's simple enough, but how do I hook it up to be controlled by a dimmer? Is there a site with pics anywhere that might show me how to go about doing this?

Any replies will be much appreciated. I got to get this done before the end of the week!

peterm15 · 10-03-05, 05:26 PM

there is actually instructions on how to wire a dimmer right on the dimmer...

hook the negitave wire(black) from the heat tape to one of the black wires from the dimmer. then hook the negative from the wire that will come from the wall ( the part that plugs in) onto the other available negative wire on the dimmer... hook the grounds up to eachother and then the positive to eachother... as long as you dont mix colours youll do fine...

oh and p.s. i know it sounds like i wrote it for a 4yr old to understand but first time i wrote it i couldnt even understand it so... lol.. i wrote it so i could understand it...

End Times · 10-03-05, 05:28 PM

Hmmm. Well... maybe I'll just buy a dimmer and see how it goes.... don't I need some type of box thing too? I don't know anything about wiring....

EDIT: Oh, and I get that the black on the dimmer is the negative... but the heat tape doesn't come with a wire already on it... you have to cut the female end off of an extension cord... so how do I know which is negative?

spidergecko · 10-03-05, 05:29 PM

You have two options. The first (and easiest) is to just wire the tape to a plug and then just plug it into a lamp dimmer. The second option is to wire directly to a dimmer. Wiring in a dimmer is just as easy as wiring in a dimmer for a lamp. Basically, a dimmer works by splicing the rheostat into either the black or white wire in the plug. Any dimmer you buy will have the instructions on exactly how to do this but it is actually extremely easy to do.

The best reason for just wiring to a plug is that you can swap the rheostat (dimmer) for a thermostat and have absolute control of temps.

End Times · 10-03-05, 05:34 PM

Quote:

You have two options. The first (and easiest) is to just wire the tape to a plug and then just plug it into a lamp dimmer.

That's what I wanted to do, but after hitting every hardware store in town, I can't find a "plug and play" type dimmer! When I ask for one, they look at me like I'm speaking martian or something! lol.

peterm15 · 10-03-05, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by End Times

That's what I wanted to do, but after hitting every hardware store in town, I can't find a "plug and play" type dimmer! When I ask for one, they look at me like I'm speaking martian or something! lol.

its called a lamp dimmer..... walmart crappytire ect ect

End Times · 10-03-05, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peterm15

its called a lamp dimmer..... walmart crappytire ect ect

LOL! I know, but seriously, they have no idea what I'm talking about when I got to the lighting section of any of those places. Whenever I describe what it is and what it does (or is supposed to do seeing as I'll be using for something other than ordinary) they all say they've never heard of it! lol.

peterm15 · 10-03-05, 05:39 PM

i agree with spidergecko...

but i either mark which is negative ( only had to do once) after my run in with that episode i decided to use wire that had different colour wires on the inside...

heres a pic of the back of one of my dimmers... but id honestly suggest if its just for one cage.... dont bother learning how to wire.. ive been electricuting myself since i was like 10.( you can tell by my spelling... i learned the hard way..

peterm15 · 10-03-05, 05:57 PM

if you go the the section where the lamps and stuff are or the section where the dimmers are it should be there.. its thin and black and has a slide on it...

iLLwiLL · 10-03-05, 06:06 PM

when wiring up an AC unit that does not have a 3rd ground wire, it dosent matter what wire you hook up into the dimmer. AC stands for Alternating Current and will work just fine hooked up either way. on a dimmer switch there should be 3 wires comming from it, 2 white and 1 black. dont worry about the black wire for this application. go from the flexwatt to one white end on the dimmer . . . then go from the other white wire on the dimmer to the outlet.

your basically putting a variable resistor in series with one on the 2 power wires. it should look something like this.

Heat __________________l Dimmer l________________ Wall
Tape __________________________________________ Outlet

make sure you use butt connectors and a good ammount of electrical tape just to be on the safe side. also make sure you have a good thermostat or digital thermometer with a probe located right on the hottest part of the cage your snake can potentialy access.

hope this helps.

~Will.

End Times · 10-03-05, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iLLwiLL

go from the flexwatt to one white end on the dimmer . . . then go from the other white wire on the dimmer to the outlet.

your basically putting a variable resistor in series with one on the 2 power wires. it should look something like this.

Heat __________________l Dimmer l________________ Wall
Tape __________________________________________ Outlet

hope this helps.

~Will.

Thanks, Will. That does help. Just to be clear then... Only one wire from the heat tape gets wired into the dimmer.......? Not both? And it doesn't matter which one?

EDIT: Oh, and I don't need to ground it all? What if I just plug it into a surge protector power bar? Would that be adequate?

End Times · 10-03-05, 06:35 PM

Oh, look what I found! Seems like this guy overcomplcated things though when compared to Will's explanation.... Or is this exactly what you meant Will? This guy seems to have one wire too many to me... maybe I'm just suffering from head trauma....

http://www.herpo.com/cages/wiring.html

iLLwiLL · 10-03-05, 11:12 PM

herpo has it setup the same as i described above, only really long winded. there diagram is also basically the same as mine only with a few zig-zags. it does not matter wich wire you splice the dimmer into (IF theres only 2 wires in your circuit which there is when wiring heat tape). when you have an old AC plug that is not keyed to fit an outlet a certain way it will work no matter how its plugged in. this applies to wiring the heat tape.

all your doing is creating a variable resistance in a circuit. and yes, only one of the two wires goes through the dimmer.

~Will.

End Times · 10-04-05, 08:34 AM

Thanks for the replies, guys. Much appreciated. I think I'm confident enough to do this on my own now. God bless!