| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Lixra |
Posted - 15/10/2010 : 13:03:00
My husband and I finished building this and some people were asking about it, so here it is!
Each row is split up into two columns. So there are two thermostats. One controls the 5 tubs on the left, the other controls the 5 tubs on the right.
First job was to figure out how to attach these to the rack in a way that we could keep all the wires neat. Off came the moulded plug and the socket into which the heatpad normally plugs, and all three cables were fed through holes drilled directly below where we would mount the thermostat. Then simple PVA glue was used to stick the stat to the back above the top.
A clamp was loosely fitted simply to hold it in place while the glue dried while we got to work on attaching the electrics. Here's the back view of the same piece of wood with the wires coming through cut to length and stripped.
And a better view of the wires screwed together.
There's one at the other side too, which is where the other thermostat controlling the other 5 heatpads will go. You can also see here how we neatened up all the cables going from each of the heatpads into the junction boxes.
On the back of each shelf, near each heat pad's power cable a hole was drilled. The plug was removed from the heatpad, and the power cable was fed through this hole in order to help reduce any strain that was made on the heatpad itself where it connects to the cable. This was then pulled straight to the center column where it was cable tied to the wire coming from its neighbouring heatpad, and then fed upwards.
Once all of the cables were cable tied to each other, they were then tied to the rear center support column.
This is how that chunk of cable started off with just the two heatpads on the bottom shelf. The center support's base also acts as another foot to help ensure each shelf stays level and doesn't bow or dip with the weight of the tubs, water bowls, hides & inhabitants.
A slightly better view of the back of the heatpad, and the cable going through the shelf.
Each shelf was fixed to the sides with a piece of 2x1 running the entire length from the front to the back. The shelf was screwed down onto the 2x1, then the side panel of the rack was screwed into the wide side of the 2x1 - using a spacer we'd pre-cut to give the required height between each shelf.
The shelves were numbered to keep them in order because of the way we'd cut out the notch for the front and rear center supports. My husband basically clamped all 5 shelves together and just ran the circular saw across the ends to notch out what we needed. Keeping the shelves in the same order as they were clamped together just helped to ensure everything lined up properly.
Each shelf was numbered due to the way they were cut. When cutting the holes for the front and rear center columns, all 5 shelves were clamped together to form a thick solid chunk of wood, and the center column slots were cut away with a circular saw.
Numbering them and putting them in the rack in the same order they were clamped together just helped to ensure that everything lined up perfectly.
The view of the shelves from the front.
Here you can see the radiator reflector stuck down to the shelf with gaffer tape along the front, back and sides. The heatpads were stuck to the reflector with gaffer tape too (proper gaffer tape, from a theatrical chandler & stage supply company - not the cheappoopthey sell in the pound shop)
The radiator reflector was about 6 quid for a roll from B&Q (50cm x 5m), and the single roll was (just) enough to cover all 5 shelves (we have about 8 inches of the roll spare).
The center support running vertically from the floor to the top on the front and back were each screwed into a piece of 2x2 that runs under the middle of each shelf. Just a single 2" screw holds these in place at the front and back.
The glue has dried, and the electrics are all wired up, and here's the left side thermostat being tested.
LED came on and all heat pads got warm, success!
The rear view once all the cables were cut, tidied up and set in place. The thermostat comes with a moulded plug on the end of the power cable that you can't remove. So, I just used one of the plugs that came with the heat pads.
The same setup was done on the right with the electrics to feed the other 5 tubs.
On came the LED, 5 minutes later the heatpads were toasty. Another success!
We designed it so that the top of the rack could be a bit functional. So, it has a back and sides. Right now it's just the thermostats on there, eventually we'll attach the towel rail holder, and somewhere to store forceps, small hooks, etc. It's just a handy height for working in the tubs, cleaning them out, feeding, weighing them, etc.
And here's the entire rack. At the moment, only the top two are 33L RUBs. The rest are generic 32L tubs from the local Wilkinson's, but they'll all eventually get replaced.
So, that's it pretty much done. It's functional, it's rock solid and weighs a ton. 
Boas in the top 2, corns in the 6 below those, and nobody in the bottom two at the moment.
Eventually we'll make up a fascia for it, so it fits in more with the decor this room will eventually have, and we'll probably cover the top with some kind of vinyl flooring and seal the edges with silicon to give it a bit more durability. |
| 9 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Sta~ple |
Posted - 15/10/2010 : 17:12:24
Wow very nice! |
| kdlang |
Posted - 15/10/2010 : 16:11:41
That looks fabulous. You have done a great job |
| drchino |
Posted - 15/10/2010 : 15:34:36
Awesome job I will certainly take some inspiration from your design when I get my own flat/house and can have as many pets as I like! |
| Lixra |
Posted - 15/10/2010 : 14:56:16
Thanks guys... yeah we were really pleased as to how it turned out. There's 7 snakes in there at the moment. My 6 corns and my husband's Hypo Boa, Pepper. He's got an Albino Motley coming Sunday night (named Crue, get it?!?!) so he's well chuffed 
We did notice that the top heat pads seem to stay warmer and heat up quicker which is why we decided to have the boas in there. But two empty spaces... what to do, oh what to do... |
| clintham |
Posted - 15/10/2010 : 14:49:47
looks awesome - thanks for sharing |
| herriotfan |
Posted - 15/10/2010 : 14:07:16
Looks really good.  |
| lee2308 |
Posted - 15/10/2010 : 13:59:50
nice job,done a very good job there |
| gingerpony |
Posted - 15/10/2010 : 13:30:22
that's fantastic hun!
we're going to do something similar and RUB all the corns and just have the boas and pythons in vivs...........you've got me all inspired now lol |
| FiestaSTLou |
Posted - 15/10/2010 : 13:09:54
that is brilliant! thanks for posting it up!! i would love to have something like this would save soo much space! |
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