Cool. That's my plan is to add the 2nd outlet
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Looking for heater controller that will do more then 1 heater.
- Thread starter Aquaticfan
- Start date
Cool. That's my plan is to add the 2nd outlet
Sent from my SPH-L710 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
I've been running my Ranco controller with no shrink wrap on the sensor for about 18 months with no problem, but I'm going to buy a back-up in case I have any problems. When I called Jehmco to order my controller, they didn't say whether or not is was needed, but they did say that if I was planning on running more than 1,000W, I should get an additional plug.
I have my controller set to 78F and I have the heaters set to 84F. If the controller fails "on", then the internal thermostat on the heaters will shut them down at 84F. It's a nice fail-safe.
In regards to sensor placement, it's best to have the sensor up-flow from the heaters but in the same tank (whether it's the sump or the display tank). I read on a reef keeping site where a guy had the sensor in the display tank and his heaters located in his sump. He had an issue with his pump where water was not circulating for several hours and his sump was near boiling when he finally checked on his tank. Since water was not circulating, the sensor was reading the display tank's temperature and since his heaters were located in the sump, the controller kept trying to raise the temperature. The sump was well over 100F, but his controller was reading the display tank temp so the circuit was left open and the heaters fried his bio in his sump. So it's ideal to have the sensor in the same general area as the heaters, although the sensor should be upstream so it is reading water falling from the display and not giving a false reading from being located too closely to your heaters. Hope that makes sense. Sorry for the long rant.
I have my controller set to 78F and I have the heaters set to 84F. If the controller fails "on", then the internal thermostat on the heaters will shut them down at 84F. It's a nice fail-safe.
In regards to sensor placement, it's best to have the sensor up-flow from the heaters but in the same tank (whether it's the sump or the display tank). I read on a reef keeping site where a guy had the sensor in the display tank and his heaters located in his sump. He had an issue with his pump where water was not circulating for several hours and his sump was near boiling when he finally checked on his tank. Since water was not circulating, the sensor was reading the display tank's temperature and since his heaters were located in the sump, the controller kept trying to raise the temperature. The sump was well over 100F, but his controller was reading the display tank temp so the circuit was left open and the heaters fried his bio in his sump. So it's ideal to have the sensor in the same general area as the heaters, although the sensor should be upstream so it is reading water falling from the display and not giving a false reading from being located too closely to your heaters. Hope that makes sense. Sorry for the long rant.
Perfect sense. Thanks for the post Al. Great info.
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I take it the reef guy with the boiling sump was using something like a titanium element with no built-in thermostat? If that happened with your system Alex the worst thing that would happen is the sump gets up to 84F and the heaters turn off. That is one of the big reasons I decided to stick with "normal" aquarium heaters with a controller for my 2000L tank, rather than just an element with a controller.
Agreed. While im using Titanium heaters. They are normal controlled units made by Via Aqua. Have had good luck with them but Would rather be safe. Will set them to 84 and the controller to my desired temp of 79.
Got my controller. Ordered it from ETC Supply. Ranco 111000-000. Got it for about $50 shipped. Its a bit larger then I expected, but no big deal. Ordered it with no cables, just sensor wire. Wired the input and output using a higher quality 16 guage extension cord. Cut it at 6ft each for each cable so i can place it where i want. The output side does 3 plugs, so it can do up to 3 heaters. I've got 2 ViaAqua heaters in the sump. They each have their own remote controllers. They are set to 82 degrees F. The Ranco controller is set to 79 with a variance of 1. Each heater is 250w. It works pretty damn awesome. I also feel better about running it this way to. I'm going to set up the rest of my tanks like this as well.
Thanks to everyone for the great input.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
Thanks to everyone for the great input.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
