Ranco probe

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
DN328 said:
Thanks Woefulrelic. I have titanium heaters, but may look for ones with their own therm. So what are the "best" name and models these days... I've not been keeping track.

So you still have the same issue? Chances are I'll likely have this recurring as well.
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I use the jager heaters because they haven't failed me... yet. They probably suffer the same quality deterioration you see in the other eheim products but time will tell.

I have found it reading proper temp 1 time since it stopped working on resets. It fluctuates but spends most of its time reading ~150f on an 83F tank.
 
DN328 DN328 did you talk to etcsupply? I'm curious if I should replace the unit or the probe. The price is pretty similar...
 
I called and left a message Last week, but no return. I was busy at work and never followed up. whether they do anything or not, I will follow-up to see what they have to say...that I will do. They do say the dont cover directly, but will work with customer for the Ranco warranty. I paid extra for the convenience to have dual receptacles and longer cord, and it been six months.

Since resetting by unplugging for a couple hours its been running as expected. But really should not have happened. I'll share if I hear anything.
 
Cool thanks for answering. I put an email in with whoever the first search result for ranco was. It may have be etcsupply, I'm not sure anymore. It's been a couple weeks and I haven't received a response, but I'm not sure I even went through the right channel honestly. I'm considering purchasing a new unit because they are so inexpensive, but that wouldn't solve my probe problems if it's related to sealing. I've kind of twiddled my thumbs on this one because it was as easy as plugging the heaters into different sockets. One heater is running much more than the other so I'm not willing to be content.
 
I'm going to try to give them a call back hopefully this week. I think they're a pretty small operation, but they seemed response with a sale anyway. Yeah, mine has the shrink wrap, so I'm leaning towards something else...but I'm just guessing as this point - not enough information at this point.
 
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DN328 said:
I'm going to try to give them a call back hopefully this week. I think they're a pretty small operation, but they seemed response with a sale anyway. Yeah, mine has the shrink wrap, so I'm leaning towards something else...but I'm just guessing as this point - not enough information at this point.
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Any news on your probe? I'm curious if youre has crapped out like mine or is still functioning
 
I was just thinking about providing an update Richard...LOL.

OK, My Ranco is officially unreliable at this point I'd say. It would read higher than what the temperature actually was. One thing I noticed there was a 1/4" cut in the shrink wrap part that covered the sensor wire - NOT the actual probe section. But it may have leaked water to it?

I finally got a hold of a live person at ETCSupply, and at first advised me to send the controller back so that she could have the tech fix. They are under the impression that if it's reading crazy temps it's more than likely the probe and NOT the controller itself. I actually think it's true. Rather than send it in, I asked them to send me a new probe with heat shrink and I'm just going to splice the existing wire just a few inches the base. I say splice since it doesn't look like you can just disconnect and connect the new sensor in. Does this sound right?

I also was looking at MarineDepot's "Aqualogic" version of the Ranco. If you notice it appears they spliced into the original wire and connected a different probe. They don't sell a replacement probe, but they likely do directly from Aqualogic here:

http://aqualogicinc.com/product/digital-temperature-controllers/

I'm debating whether to the Ranco version with shrink wrap or buy one of these Aqualogic sensors which look to be submersed in water. What do you think?
 
I would request a new unit from them with a heat shrunk probe. Whether they sent a faulty unit or messed up the shrink wrap, it's on them. If they don't know for certain I would ask them to send a whole new unit. I wouldn't pay a dime unless it was shipping to send your faulty unit back to them. I only looked around a bit but replacing the probes didn't seem like it was a quick venture.

I'm not sure what my plans are yet. I am toying with the idea of buying a new unit and finding someone who wants to play with my broken one. The problem seems to be rarely reported or I need some Google lessons.

The probe looks different for sure on the aqualogic ones, I haven't looked it up but I'm guessing they aren't nearly as cheap as the default ranco.
 
Perhaps I should have pressed harder for a new controller, but I will see how the new probe goes. I will check on the price of the Aqualogic sensor. I may be wrong, but I don't think the sensor would cost much more than the Ranco. My theory is they think using a probe that is truly "waterproof" is likely better in the long run than using a thermal well by way of heat shrink.

The Ranco comes with the sensor attached, and, they still took additional steps to replace with another version (hence the splicing).
 
DN328 said:
Perhaps I should have pressed harder for a new controller, but I will see how the new probe goes. I will check on the price of the Aqualogic sensor. I may be wrong, but I don't think the sensor would cost much more than the Ranco. My theory is they think using a probe that is truly "waterproof" is likely better in the long run than using a thermal well by way of heat shrink.

The Ranco comes with the sensor attached, and, they still took additional steps to replace with another version (hence the splicing).
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I bought another unit through Amazon, and it seems like a more quality unit. The probe was rubber this time, instead of plastic. I found an opening in between the plastic of the probe and the wire on the old unit. The new probe seems like it will hold up much better. I would have shrink wrapped the probe this time of it had been the same plastic one, but I like to play with fire so the new one is also not wrapped.
 
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