Heater controller
- Thread starter jaws7777
- Start date
$7.00 upgrade on jehmco I think, you can add an extra receptacle on etcsupply to your cart and choose to have it added on a unit in your cart. I only have one, I'm not sure I'd want a second.
I like my JBJ True Temp system. So easy, even I figured it out. Temperature probe and heater plug into the controller. I just took one out of the box to take a picture. (didn't take the heater out, since everyone knows what a heater looks like) On our 300 gallon tank, I have the temperature probe in the wet/dry filter, the controller mounted on the side of the stand and the heater in a capped off overflow box that the wet/dry filter pumps into.
Thx for the pic pacu momI like my JBJ True Temp system. So easy, even I figured it out. Temperature probe and heater plug into the controller. I just took one out of the box to take a picture. (didn't take the heater out, since everyone knows what a heater looks like) On our 300 gallon tank, I have the temperature probe in the wet/dry filter, the controller mounted on the side of the stand and the heater in a capped off overflow box that the wet/dry filter pumps into.
So what do these things actually do. Over ride the heaters thermometer? Ensure if using multiple heaters all are working equally as hard?
Basically yes. You set the temp you want on the controller. The disadvantage of the JBJ is that there is one controller per heater. The controller is not for multiple heaters. I very briefly had considered an inline system until I saw the prices. Plan on tossing several heaters with their probes into the sump when the big tank gets set up and calling it a day.
We use JBJ True Temp systems on all our tanks (from 1000 watts down to 150 watts) and have had good luck with them so far. Very easy to adjust and calibrate.
If you get from etc, you can also send Sara an email to specify exactly how many plugs you want and the length of all the cables. If you reference the picture in the other post it should give you an exact idea of how it could turn out.
As you may know, using a controller with heaters with their own thermostats also allows for back up and redundancy in case one of the thermostats on heater or controller go nuts. I use titanium and don't have that ability.
This is why I like "stand-alone" units......redundancy
In case you were wondering about the specifics jaws. I have 3 Jaeger heaters on my heater controller set to 88 or 90F. When the ranco is at the desired temp a relay stops the power from flowing into the heaters. When the temp falls the ranco will put power through to the heaters. Since they are all set to 88 they all kick on at the same time. Once the temp rises back over the set temp the power cuts off so they all shut off at the same time. I have my heaters at the end of my sump right before the pumps, and the probe upstream but in the same chamber. (no baffles in between) This forces the water to heat through basically the entire tank until it heats up the water at the beginning of the sump. With the Jaeger they will kick off once they hit 88, so if the ranco were to fail and remain on it wouldn't cook the fish. I've had one unit fail due to water getting into the probe, fortunately it read way above my actual temp (reading 100F and beyond in 70F water) so that if I had used a titanium heater my fish would still not have been cooked. Neither of my units have been shrink wrapped.
