Temp Probe Went Bad....

[Rippinfrags]

Last night I woke up to randomly check on my fish tank and to my horror my RKE head unit was displaying a temperature of 86 degrees Fahrenheit! I generally keep my tank between 79-81 degrees. At first I did not know what to do (it was 2am), so I panicked and started grabbing different pumps in my tank and sump to see if they were the heat source. All of my pumps were cool to the touch and my heater was off. I finally came to the bright idea to test my tank water with a different temperature gauge. Luckily my tank was at 77 degrees, which means the temperature probe had just recently failed in my RKE. My temperature probe is reading about 9 degrees warmer than what the actual temperature of the water is. Luckily I do not have any fail safes setup to cool my tank down if it gets to warm...


Anyways, does anybody know where I can get a replacement temperature probe for my Reef Keeper Elite? Do any of the LFS carry temp probes?

Thanks for reading!

 

[dburt520]

Do you need the I temp or the BNC connector temp probe?

I have a BNC connector probe you can have. I used it for about 4 months and switched to an apex.

 

[Rippinfrags]

Thank you dburt for the offer, but I believe I need the itemp probe. The one I am looking for is this one: http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/temp-probe-for-elite-digital-aquatics-1.html#

 

[evolved]

My understanding is this is a common issue with the RK, and their temp probes only last about 1 year.

 

[dburt520]

If it is for a Reef Keeper Elite you need the standard probe (BNC connector). If it is for a Reef Keeper Lite you need the Itemp (molex connector).

 

[Rippinfrags]

My understanding is this is a common issue with the RK, and their temp probes only last about 1 year.

This is the first time it has happened to me. I have been running my RKE for 3-4 years and I purchased it used when I bought my tank. Additionally, I have been running a RKL for 2 plus years without an issue. With that said I would definitely buy an apex if I was to do it again.

 

[NaClH20NMYVEIN]

Scary! I recently had a single outlet on a eb8 stick on despite the controller saying it was off. Luckily it was a light or it could have been bad.

 

[dream54ing]

I had a heater wipe out an entire system last week. Never had this problem, but the heater was stuck on "ON" overnight. Tank was at 97 degree when it was noticed.

I recommend replacing any heaters/probe over 2 years old Adding a controller will also help as a secondary backup if something goes wrong.

 

[Rippinfrags]

Scary! I recently had a single outlet on a eb8 stick on despite the controller saying it was off. Luckily it was a light or it could have been bad.

Yikes and we thought controllers made things safer sorry to hear about your faulty eb8.

I had a heater wipe out an entire system last week. Never had this problem, but the heater was stuck on "ON" overnight. Tank was at 97 degree when it was noticed.

I recommend replacing any heaters/probe over 2 years old Adding a controller will also help as a secondary backup if something goes wrong.

I am really sorry to hear about your fish losses Some things just can not be avoided. I wish I had an apex controller to send me alerts if temps start to swing and etc..I just purchased a new itemp probe from brs along with several other items

Right now I have my heater connected to a timer and I have it kick on and off every 45 min. It seams to be working fairly well and keeping my tank within +-.5 degrees. Any forseeable issues with this method until my itemp probe comes in?

 

[dburt520]

I use 2 small heaters hoping that if one stuck on it wont heat up quick enough to do any real damage. Luckily I have a job that enables me to watch my tank info all day, so if I see something funny happening I can check into it if I need to.

 

[Rippinfrags]

Your method sounds good dburt, especially if you can check on your tank often.

 

[NaClH20NMYVEIN]

Controllers help a lot but nothing is perfect. Need to have lots of fail safes and back ups in place for random bad events that are bound to happen.