Heaters on an Apex

Koddie Doo

Koddie Doo

Czar of All ThingsAwesome
I have two heaters on my Apex. Both are 200 W. Should I have them turn on Together? Or should I have them turn on one at a time on different settings?


Right now they are both set up to turn on if temperature falls below 77° and both turn off if temperature reaches 79.9.

Michael is to use as a little power as possible but still remain consistent.
 
lol...
Good question. But I don't know if it would matter as much as if the heaters were tripping themselves on and off. The strip that makes contact, which is my understanding is the part that wears out , wouldn't ever be making contact, so it wouldn't wear out.
 
I always have two heaters going so if one breaks the other can try to compensate until I find the problem. If one of my heaters stays on its not powerful enough to overheat my tank to the point of being dangerous to my livestock.

I would have them come on at the same time . I have my Apex set up for a 1 degree difference from off/on.
 
not to threadjack, but when you put a heater pn the apex,
what tempature setting do you put on the heater itself?
maximum would seem logical to me to ensure the heater kicks on.
correct me if im wrong.
 
ItzJustinN said:
not to threadjack, but when you put a heater pn the apex,
what tempature setting do you put on the heater itself?
maximum would seem logical to me to ensure the heater kicks on.
correct me if im wrong.
Click to expand...

On the heater itself it is recommended that you turn it up higher than the desired temperature (mine are only 3 degrees higher as a precaution). This is done to insure that the heater thermostat doesn't interfere with the Apex temp probe. When the temp prob triggers the heater to be on you don't want the heater to not turn on because the thermostat in the heater is reading a warmer temperature.
 
Are these heaters on your 90gal. If they are then I would stagger them. 200watts is more than enough to maintain your water temp. (unless you are keeping your tank in a cold area) Then you keep the second one set a little higher. This acts as a fail safe for the first one. If you keep an eye on your heater graph you will notice when the first one goes bad because the temp will stay a little higher.
 
what does your apex program look like for your heaters? I was just wondering if you are wanting your apex to control your heaters or let your heaters control themselves and use the apex as a safety incase something goes wrong?
 
ItzJustinN said:
not to threadjack, but when you put a heater pn the apex,
what tempature setting do you put on the heater itself?
maximum would seem logical to me to ensure the heater kicks on.
correct me if im wrong.
Click to expand...

I set mine at 81 so that if the Apex fails the heaters wont kick on to max.
 
Here's mine. I have two heaters plugged into a ranco and have the ranco set to 82 and the heater dials set to 84. I trust the heaters the least. Ranco the most but the Apex gets the seasonal temps and fluctuations I want and has three temp probes.

Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If DTTemp < RT+0.0 Then ON
If Tmpx9 > 81.0 Then OFF
If BMTemp > 81.0 Then OFF
If DTTemp > 81.0 Then OFF

Then I have email alerts set at >82 or less then 74.
 
jason2459 said:
Here's mine. I have two heaters plugged into a ranco and have the ranco set to 82 and the heater dials set to 84. I trust the heaters the least. Ranco the most but the Apex gets the seasonal temps and fluctuations I want and has three temp probes.

Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If DTTemp < RT+0.0 Then ON
If Tmpx9 > 81.0 Then OFF
If BMTemp > 81.0 Then OFF
If DTTemp > 81.0 Then OFF

Then I have email alerts set at >82 or less then 74.
Click to expand...

Am I missing something? What holds your temp close to RT? It looks like your heater kicks on below RT. So lets say RT is equal to 78 for that time of year. Your heater kicks on at 77.9 then heats up to 81.1 then kicks off until the temp drops back to 77.9. So you swing between RT and 81.1 constantly.
 
mpgrant77 said:
Am I missing something? What holds your temp close to RT? It looks like your heater kicks on below RT. So lets say RT is equal to 78 for that time of year. Your heater kicks on at 77.9 then heats up to 81.1 then kicks off until the temp drops back to 77.9. So you swing between RT and 81.1 constantly.
Click to expand...
Not how the logic works. If it's less then RT or what ever temp you set then it turns on. If it goes above then it goes with what ever is set before or after. Which is where the SET OFF comes in.
 
mpgrant77 said:
Are these heaters on your 90gal / (unless you are keeping your tank in a cold area)
Click to expand...

Yes and a basement so not warm but stable temp

mpgrant77 said:
what does your apex program look like for your heaters? I was just wondering if you are wanting your apex to control your heaters or let your heaters control themselves and use the apex as a safety incase something goes wrong?
Click to expand...

I have both heaters set at 83 (I think the thermo is off a bit) and the apex set to off at 79.
 
jason2459 said:
Not how the logic works. If it's less then RT or what ever temp you set then it turns on. If it goes above then it goes with what ever is set before or after. Which is where the SET OFF comes in.
Click to expand...

My bad, after I posted that I got to thinking about it and remembered the set off.
 
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