HMO Finnex Heater Calibration off by more than 5 degrees

[daghostryder]

Greetings,

Ben away from the hobby for 10 years but i am back .

Can i have some recommendations of reliable in tank heaters. I bought the two above and the calibration is off by more than 5 degrees so i am a little concerned with reliability. I contacted Finnex and sent them all my data and what other items i am using to test against their product -Apex temp probe, Seneye temp probe and chef's thermometer that clearly show the two finnex are off, but now they want me to send the two back while they "test" them. That is fine...silly..but fine. So while I send back those two I need to purchase two new reliable heaters to replace the Finnex...any thoughts??

 

[mcgyvr]

Eheim Jager or Aqueon Pro heaters

I wouldn't care if my heaters were off (and many are) as I'd be using that Apex you have there for temperature control instead..
Just set the heater higher and let the Apex turn them on/off..

 

[daghostryder]

Thank you. I thought that to be true as well but was concerned with it being so grossly off.

 

[thegrun]

It's actually fairly common for them to be be off close to that much. My preferred heaters, Eheim Jagger are frequently off by3-4 degrees, although they can easily be calibrated.

 

[daghostryder]

Wow. Thanks again for the input....personally speaking I think that is rather sad that the industry is that off. Both of mine are off by 8 and 9 degrees and the representative was so callous when i dared question it. But for me doing this before and understanding that you have to check and recheck all params that could be dangerous to a newbie who does not understand or know better. The packaging clearly states that the items may have a variance of 1 to 2 degrees, which imo is acceptable, anything outside of that is just crazy. At that point don't state that you have a variance at all, so aquarist can be on alert from jump. It is nice to know that they can be calibrated, i will do some research to see how to calibrate at some point but it really is not that serious since i have three other temp probes to verify temp. I have done more research on these items and this brand specifically is notorious for being grossly off, so that explains a lot for me. But thanks for the input.

 

[mako61]

I have 2 Finnex Heaters I have had no issues with them. They are off a couple degrees. I just set accordingly.

I do run my heaters the opposite of most with apex. I let the heater maintain temp and have the apex as disable if too hot. The reason I do this is because if the apex temp goes bad I will notice the temp being wrong on my app.. If you use apex as control and heater as backup you dont know if the heater control is actually working till you need it.

 

[daghostryder]

Very good point!! i will check my system structure for just that potential problem. I have two other temp probes, three in total in my tank one from Apex, seneye and another that came with my doser. So in all i have 'some' redundancy. I guess i just never expected to get two heaters that were both off by more than 3 max 4 degrees. I just see anything in the 7-8 degree range as dangerous. I have not taken the time yet to check on calibrating them myself, but I will learn as that is a failsafe in itself that I would like working in my heater. Just sitting around now fine tuning lil things as wait out the cycle (jeopardy music playing in the background)

Thanks again of the additional information always helpful to get various views :thumbsup:

 

[mako61]

I am actually very happy with my Finnex heaters. While offset a bit, they do hold their set point very accurately. BRS has a nice video on heater comparisons and holding set temp, its the reason I got the Finnex. The nice thing is with apex you can see exactly when and how long the heater kicks on by current draw.

 

[daghostryder]

Agreed regarding BRS but if you watch the follow up video you will see as I did they changed their recommendation probably based on the increase in negative reviews or further testing. I'm not here to argue about the product I just think stating you have a 1-2 degree variation that is really 8-9 is a little crazy and causes me concern. I am switching to a different brand. I will use the finnex to heat my water change water but I personally cannot trust a product that is that grossly off, 7-8 degrees is not slightly off lol I am sorry some people will see that as okay and acceptable.

Maybe I will see the same problem with the other brand idk but what i do know is that my current product is not accurate within reason. This calls into question build quality and quality control for me. Again just my personal preference. I have too much money invested in a tank to allow a 35 dollar item that i know to be grossly inaccurate to be the potential reason for failure. No way man been around the hobby too long.