Eheim Jager Problems

[michfish5]

I am having the hardest time getting my EJ heater to function properly. I bought (2) 150watt EJ Tru Temp heaters. EJ says a 150watt is good for up to 79 gallons. My plan was to place one in each corner of the tank with one set slightly lower than the other for redundancy. I plan to get a controller but I don't have one at the moment. I have no sump. Not pretty, I know. I started with the first heater and placed it in an area of high flow - right next to my Aquaclear in the left corner of the tank. On the left side wall is my WP25 running the W1 wave pattern and providing good flow throughout the tank. My two thermometers are placed on the right side of the tank. I have my skimmer on the right side of the tank but I have not started it yet as I just finished cycling and have no livestock, only rock.

I know they need to be calibrated and I followed the directions to a T. Out of the box I let it start with the factory setting (79). My tank got up to 81.5 and the light never went out. So I unplugged, let it cool for 15 minutes, recalibrated it and set the temp to 78. Put it back in for another 15 minutes, plugged it in. Waited a day and the temp STILL went back up over 81. I repeated the whole procedure again, this time setting the temp to 77. Waited another day, and the same thing. The light NEVER goes out. Even if I set the temp several degrees lower than the actual temperature (reported from two thermometers) like 71, as soon as I plug it back in, the light comes on and stays on even though the water temp is already pushing 81.

I tried putting both the blue ring and the red pointer back to where it started, with the red arrow at 79(allowing for 4 clicks to both left and right) and tried again but it still happens. I have done this repeatedly over this past week. Should I assume this heater is faulty? I mean the light SHOULD go out at some point right? I even tried moving the heater to the opposite side of the tank next to the skimmer (that is not plugged in yet) but the WP25 is moving the water really well, and moved one of the thermometers to the opposite side but I got the same results.

I pulled the heater out and am about to try the second one I bought. I will start testing that one out in 15 minutes or so. Has anyone else had a problem like this? Am I doing something wrong? Sorry so long!


65g DT, 60lb LR (Real Reef), 30lbs CaribSea Ocean Direct 'Live' Sand,
AquaticLife T5HO, 150watt Eheim Jager heater, Jaebo WP25 wavemaker, AquaClear70 HOB, AquaMaxx HOB skimmer
Temp 80.1 (currently), pH 8.2, NH3 0, NO2 0, NO3 0, kH 8.4, SG 1.024

 

[nlgill13]

I had a similar issue when I started out. I ended up switching to ViaAqua digital heaters.

http://www.marinedepot.com/ViaAqua_...uarium_Heaters-ViaAqua-VA73334-FIHTTH-vi.html

 

[colortrilogy]

I run 2 150w jagers in 100 gallon water column and one runs does run a lot....

Sounds funny about the calibration.

You'll know for sure once you test the second one. Good luck.

 

[Lostinthedark]

Mine is now sitting in the garage to be used for mixing water in the winter. I had the exact
same problem you did. No matter what temp I set it would slowly creep up and never shut off.

 

[ocellaris123]

Are you running the heater through a temperature controller? If not you may want to look into it since heaters have been known to cook tanks.

As for calibrating the EJ I set the red arrow to the current tank temp and would than adjust the blue ring to the setpoint I wanted. Seems to work for me, but I now run the heater through a reef keeper controller.

 

[Reefmedic79]

I calibrated in a smaller volume of water (5 gallon bucket) with a small PH moving the water with the lid on it. I wait a couple hours before I check the water temp, and make adjustments as needed.

Trying to calibrate it in 70 gallons of water will be very difficult, due to it competing with natural fluctuations in temp caused by lights, pumps and ambient room temp.

I've always used Eheim heaters and found them to be very durable and accurate once calibrated.

 

[michfish5]

Thanks! I finally did get two of the four heaters I purchased to work. One in my QT and one in my DT. I have backups for both and I plan to put the second heater in the DT when it cools down here in Austin. Dr. Fosters and Smith took back the one that would never turn off. And yes I too had a better time calibrating when I tried it in the 5 gallon bucket instead of the display tank. That's how I finally got them to calibrate properly. Right now the heaters are not so much of a concern but when winter comes I want to be ready. I do plan on getting a controller for my heaters. Can anyone recommend a good heater controller?

 

[ocellaris123]

Thanks! I finally did get two of the four heaters I purchased to work. One in my QT and one in my DT. I have backups for both and I plan to put the second heater in the DT when it cools down here in Austin. Dr. Fosters and Smith took back the one that would never turn off. And yes I too had a better time calibrating when I tried it in the 5 gallon bucket instead of the display tank. That's how I finally got them to calibrate properly. Right now the heaters are not so much of a concern but when winter comes I want to be ready. I do plan on getting a controller for my heaters. Can anyone recommend a good heater controller?

I run mine on a reefkeeper lite. The best thing about it is it can be used to control your heater, lights, pumps and fans all in one controller.