Pete's 280 log

[BigJay]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13842627#post13842627 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
I'm glad your tank is okay, and that Anthony was able to know what to look for and what to do to resolve it.

I couldn't get ahold of Pete last night, so I called Marc for some additional advice:

Me: Hey Marc. I need your take on something.

Marc: So I hear you killed Pete's tank!

Me: No I didn't! I mean.... Is it that bad?

Marc: (Laughter on the other end)

I swear the CL was on this morning when I checked. I know the skimmer and return were working for sure, because I checked up on it again since I emptied it last night. I had it skim a little too wet, and it filled the collection chamber about halfway.

My guess is that the bad solenoid killed the circuit, it only takes a few milliamps to trip a GFCI.

 

[melev]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13842831#post13842831 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BigJay
Me: Hey Marc. I need your take on something.

Marc: So I hear you killed Pete's tank!

Me: No I didn't! I mean.... Is it that bad?

Marc: (Laughter on the other end)

That's a true story.

 

[Hop]

That is funny!

Better than my conversation with my wife when I left town and she had to call Marc.

Wife: Your skimmer is messed up.

Me: What?

Wife: It's OK I called that Marc guy.

Me: And?

Wife: He sounds younger and smarter than you...

 

[psteeleb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13842857#post13842857 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
That's a true story.

hehe :lol:

the sps that had the retracted PE already look better so it may have been a low flow issue. I see no signs of damage from a suspected Ph spike, if one even happened. I haven't checked my probe yet.

I dosed some alk (baking soda) about an hour ago to help offset the Kalc reactor being off. Ph was 8.18 so I turned back on the Kalc reactor.

The solenoid works fine, the RK2 is the problem; channel 1 no longer shuts off, it's cycling off, on, off; when in off mode - thus the clicking. So when it's "on" it's "on" and when it's "off" it's sort of "off".

I was just over on the DA sight and apparently this is a common issue, I'm over my warranty period so not sure if they will fix it nor am I certain that I want to send it off anyway. I may just hook up the PH control to another channel and see what happens.

 

[melev]

Pete, if the tank's pH is 8.8, why are you dosing kalk?! Did you mean 7.8?

Sorry to hear about the defective part of your controller.

 

[melev]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13842897#post13842897 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Hop
That is funny!

Better than my conversation with my wife when I left town and she had to call Marc.

Wife: Your skimmer is messed up.

Me: What?

Wife: It's OK I called that Marc guy.

Me: And?

Wife: He sounds younger and smarter than you...

You and your wife need to come visit Melev's Reef.

 

[psteeleb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13843013#post13843013 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
Pete, if the tank's pH is 8.8, why are you dosing kalk?! Did you mean 7.8?

Sorry to hear about the defective part of your controller.

sorry Marc - meant to post 8.18 - I corrected it

 

[psteeleb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13842897#post13842897 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Hop
That is funny!

Better than my conversation with my wife when I left town and she had to call Marc.

Wife: Your skimmer is messed up.

Me: What?

Wife: It's OK I called that Marc guy.

Me: And?

Wife: He sounds younger and smarter than you...

:lolspin: :lol: :lol:
Marc = AKA the Reef whisperer

 

[melev]

Whew! I was thinking you were having a mental short circuit there for a minute.

 

[psteeleb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13843046#post13843046 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
Whew! I was thinking you were having a mental short circuit there for a minute.

well - that may still be of concern :lol:


tank temp this morning was 76.2

I am only running 1 300w heater at the moment so I need to get the other one installed.

Last year when my RK2 was out to get the display light replaced, I was running 2 250w Won brothers. I noticed a daily increase to temperature and quickly noticed that one of these was stuck in the on position, so I'm a strong believer in two things.

1. run dual heaters on large systems, if one fails the other can at least do some of the work. Don't size each for the system as stand alones (undersize them) so if one fails on it wont over heat the tank.

2. I use heaters with built in controllers but put them on a controller as a redundant control.

Last spring I purchased two replacement 300w heaters (forgot the brand) that have been working fine. I pulled one of them and put it in my 29g (overkill) as the heater in it was pretty old and it appeared the built in controller had lost its ability to maintain a constant temperature. The temperature "on" setting seemed to vary about 3 degrees. Bottom line is I need to pull the 29g heater and put it back in the 300g system and buy a reliable 100w for my 29g.

Ph was 8.08 early this morning, so I dosed another gallon of Kalc. I'll have to assign another channel on the RK2 to my high Ph off solenoid. I'l also pull the feed tubing to see if I can find out where it's clogging.

The GFCI tripped again last night, so I reset it again this morning and watched it a couple minutes, seemed fine, but when I came back about 15 minutes later it was off again. Suspecting one of the Korilias on the "B" circuit I shut off the wave maker that powers the 4 Korilia K4s and reset the GFCI. That was over an hour ago, the GFCI has not tripped since, so I'm pretty sure one of the Korilias on the"B" circuit of the wave maker has developed a short.

 

[BigJay]

Let us know what's tripping the GFCI when you find out.

 

[melev]

I have two heaters in my sump as well, but combined they don't have enough oomph to heat my tank. That actually isn't a good thing because it means they are on longer and costing me more in electricity each night I'd imagine.

I plug in a third one when it gets really cold, but it is plugged and unplugged manually to avoid accidental cookage of my reef.

 

[Chumba]

Wow what a transformation. Good work!

 

[psteeleb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13845904#post13845904 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BigJay
Let us know what's tripping the GFCI when you find out.

it looks like the upper right Korilia. I ran the two left ones for the past few hours with no issue, then plugged in the right and it tripped within 2 minutes. I unplugged one of the right ones and reset the GFCI; tripped again in about a minute; switched plugs to the other right side Korilia and they seem to be working fine.

thanks for bringing by and offering that other heater

 

[psteeleb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13845936#post13845936 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
I have two heaters in my sump as well, but combined they don't have enough oomph to heat my tank. That actually isn't a good thing because it means they are on longer and costing me more in electricity each night I'd imagine.

I plug in a third one when it gets really cold, but it is plugged and unplugged manually to avoid accidental cookage of my reef.

Marc - what are the ratings of your two (three) heaters? I'm running with 2, 300w's. I hope they are enough with the house staying heated.

I would certainly think you get a bunch more exposure to the cold with your fish room in the garage and that huge sump; it must have 5 times the surface area of mine and thus exposed to a lot more air and heat transfer.

 

[melev]

You're right Pete. Plus I refuse to turn on the heater still, as I'm still licking my wounds from the power bills that have been coming in. The longer I can hold out the better, so the tank is the only heated item for now.

My house hasn't dipped below 68F though.

I have a 300w, a 250w, and another 300w that is plugged in if necessary. I have to be careful where I plug it in so it doesn't trip the reset button on my DJ switches.

 

[Hop]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13846636#post13846636 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by psteeleb
it looks like the upper right Korilia. I ran the two left ones for the past few hours with no issue, then plugged in the right and it tripped within 2 minutes. I unplugged one of the right ones and reset the GFCI; tripped again in about a minute; switched plugs to the other right side Korilia and they seem to be working fine.

thanks for bringing by and offering that other heater

Must be in the air... I lost a korila last night. Hope your problem is resolved.

 

[BigJay]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13845936#post13845936 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
I have two heaters in my sump as well, but combined they don't have enough oomph to heat my tank. That actually isn't a good thing because it means they are on longer and costing me more in electricity each night I'd imagine.

I plug in a third one when it gets really cold, but it is plugged and unplugged manually to avoid accidental cookage of my reef.

What temp do you set your heaters to? I set mine to keep the reef above 78.5, and the halides pull it up to an even 80. I run a pair of 250W eheim jaegers on my 180.

I keep the house at 72. Forget that 68 business.

 

[melev]

My heaters are only on at night, hopefully. The AC II is programmed to turn them on at 78.6 and off at 79.2, but with only two it may never quite do that, it seems. The third heater helps get it over the hill.

With the lights on and the fish room closed, the tank will pass 81F. I'm trying to keep it from doing so, which requires that I open and close the door to the garage daily. Right now the tank is 79.7, so I'll have to shut the fishroom door in about another hour.

 

[BigJay]

Good setup Marc, I'll raise my temps a bit.