heating melamine enclosure?????

[mark129er]

Right now I have a human heatpad, the one with l,m, and h settings. The melamine (5/8") enclosure is 36x18x18. I have the enclosure raised approx 1 inch. As of now I am having a helluva time getting the gradient where I want it. At present it is too low. Should I perhaps go buy one of the UTH at the petstore??Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Mark

[HetForHuman]

lower the cage down enough for the bottom to just touch the heating pad, i do this and i get a hot spot of about 92-93 degrees when the heat pad is on medium.

actually on 1 of my cages i have the cage sitting right on top of the heat pad and it still works fine but i think i will raise it a little to let some air flow.

and in my opinion the human heat pads work way better than the ones from the pet store.

[Grant vg]

any undertank heater ive used on 5/8 melamine has always heated above 100 degrees. So you shouldn't have a problem with heat if you decide to go with a UTH.

gvg

[Linds]

Originally posted by HetForHuman

actually on 1 of my cages i have the cage sitting right on top of the heat pad and it still works fine but i think i will raise it a little to let some air flow.

Eep! Definitely raise it up off the heat pad. Human heat pads already were not designed to be left on 24/7, and it specifically states on the package that no weight should be applied to the device... IMHO that's looking for fire... :firestart

[GI Joe]

That's just what I was thinking Linds. I use a human heating pad under one of my aquarium cages which has some space between the pad and the bottom, but I still wouldn't leave it on when away from home for any length of time. I add a second heat light if necessary if I will be gone.

jeff

[mark129er]

Thanks all.

het, it seems high so after posting I lowered it worked great (high 80s low90s) for the hot spot and the gradient came along too.

thanks for input all