heater thread: best, worst and otherwise

[naprestsleep]

I had the stealths and got rid of them before the recall, then finnex. I had three finnex fail in two years. One failed off(screen died too) and other two on. I had issues with calibration and they seemed to switch on and off to much(hence why I think they failed quickly). Now I am on the Fluval E, they seem to be having issue keeping up in my tank, 500w in 130G. I need to play around with their placement.

 

[pascal32]

I had the stealths and got rid of them before the recall, then finnex. I had three finnex fail in two years. One failed off(screen died too) and other two on. I had issues with calibration and they seemed to switch on and off to much(hence why I think they failed quickly). Now I am on the Fluval E, they seem to be having issue keeping up in my tank, 500w in 130G. I need to play around with their placement.

check to make sure they are turning on. I had to dial mine up a bit and let the control cut them out.

 

[naprestsleep]

check to make sure they are turning on. I had to dial mine up a bit and let the control cut them out.

Will try. It does seem like they don't come on. I have been to busy to plug my Kill a watt in and watch them to see how often they cycle on/off.

 

[block head]

I like ebo. Finnex died in months. Finnex offered a discount on areplacement. Best bang for the buck,marineland visotherms. One phone call and replacements were sent quickly. Customer service was great. An American Southern bell has always answered the phone when i call.

 

[Flanders]

in addition to jagers I have had good experiences with those won bros. titanium heaters. I dunno if they make them anymore.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Will try. It does seem like they don't come on. I have been to busy to plug my Kill a watt in and watch them to see how often they cycle on/off.

What's the room temp like and how much evap do you have?

I think URS is unofficially sponsored by Jager heaters. Every time this topic comes up, they get the majority of votes, and I can't recall anyone here ever saying anything bad about them.

 

[GMaquarium]

What's the room temp like and how much evap do you have?

I think URS is unofficially sponsored by Jager heaters. Every time this topic comes up, they get the majority of votes, and I can't recall anyone here ever saying anything bad about them.

I didn't want to be the one but I have had a failed heater from most brands on the market. Many of them include the Ebo Jager. And they failed on ON. They were all the older green types but since then I stopped using them. In fact one of the jagers once cooked a breeding pair of show quality discus and I am still super bitter about that.

 

[cardiffgiant]

A lot of us use multiple small heaters so that no single heater would be capable of "cooking" the tank. Someone once pointed out to me that the down side ops that adding 2 heaters literally doubles the chances that you've bought a bad one.

The safest strategy that I've seen suggested is to go with multiple small heaters that are shatterproof, use them with a temperature controller, and set the heaters slightly higher than the setting on the controller.

Does anyone else do this? What's a good temperature controller?

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Someone once pointed out to me that the down side ops that adding 2 heaters literally doubles the chances that you've bought a bad one.

But unless you have insanely oversized heaters, it also halves the damage any one heater can do. This is a common optimization point in industrial processes - you're trading frequency of failure for severity of failure. The optimal point depends on data we don't really have in the hobby and an individual's aversion to frequency vs severity but I agree with the consensus that more smaller heaters is safer.

Does anyone else do this? What's a good temperature controller?

I like these:

http://www.etcsupply.com/ranco-etc111000000-digital-temperature-controller-p-86.html

I sold mine when I took my tank down and am knocking on wood right now because I'm running without one. Though I'm pretty confident that my heaters are small enough that I'd notice before the tank was roasted.

 

[naprestsleep]

What's the room temp like and how much evap do you have?

Room sits around 66, lowest room in the house with a bunch of doors, so hard to keep it as warm as the rest of the house. Evap is around 1.5 gallons a day, and I have my sump in the basement. These are definitely contributing factors to the need for more watts, but 500w with the finnex was fine. I think its placement right now, because I tried a new layout(or some reason they are not triggering on like was suggested).

 

[cardiffgiant]

But unless you have insanely oversized heaters, it also halves the damage any one heater can do. This is a common optimization point in industrial processes - you're trading frequency of failure for severity of failure. The optimal point depends on data we don't really have in the hobby and an individual's aversion to frequency vs severity but I agree with the consensus that more smaller heaters is safer.

I agree, using 2 small heaters protects your from the more common of the more sever failures (failing on and overheating). You've doubled your risk of a heater failing off (which is less dangerous) or leaking voltage (I'm not sure what, besides GFI, protects you from this).

I like these:

http://www.etcsupply.com/ranco-etc111000000-digital-temperature-controller-p-86.html

I sold mine when I took my tank down and am knocking on wood right now because I'm running without one. Though I'm pretty confident that my heaters are small enough that I'd notice before the tank was roasted.

Awesome, thanks!