do you replace equipment BEFORE it breaks?

[reef tank 2.0]

I have read a number of times, as well as seen videos, where it is highly recommended to replace certain equipment BEFORE it breaks.
Maybe it's different if you have a "back up" on the shelf waiting for the original to fail, vs buying a new one and replacing it on a specific date.

With the cost of this hobby, and life, I find it very hard for me to throw a piece of equipment away when it is working perfectly fine.
Only thing I can hope for, is that I have a spare waiting in the wings that I can easily swap out if need be.

 

[Battlecorals]

I have read a number of times, as well as seen videos, where it is highly recommended to replace certain equipment BEFORE it breaks.
Maybe it's different if you have a "back up" on the shelf waiting for the original to fail, vs buying a new one and replacing it on a specific date.

With the cost of this hobby, and life, I find it very hard for me to throw a piece of equipment away when it is working perfectly fine.
Only thing I can hope for, is that I have a spare waiting in the wings that I can easily swap out if need be.

Isn’t there a saying….

Guilty though of having back ups on the shelf.

 

[reef tank 2.0]

"better safe than sorry"?

 

[VintageReefer]

When I upgrade something, I clean up and store the item it’s replacing to use as a backup.

I have a closet storing some crappy powerheads, heaters whose thermostat broke but would work fine on a controller, V1 reefbreeders photon 32 and 48, a mp40 dry side, octopus 160xs skimmer, eshopps hang on skimmer, tunze Nano skimmer, 40lb bag of live sand, spare brand new acrylic sump (was for a build that never happened), 40-60lbs former live rock, etc

 

[X-37B]

Always having a backup is the best advice I could give in this hobby.

 

[EricR]

When I upgrade something, I clean up and store the item it’s replacing to use as a backup.

Same -- I just have less good "stuff" stored than you mentioned.

In general, I don't replace ANYTHING that's still working unless it's for a specific upgrade.
Just make sure not to have any single item where failure would be a major problem very quickly without having a backup.

 

[CoralB]

I have back ups for pumps and lights but I replace the heater every two years regardless

 

[leepink23]

When I shut down my frag tanks I kept alot of vital equipment as a backup. I have backup led, gyre, heater, apex, skimmer and return pumps

 

[BeanAnimal]

I have back ups for pumps and lights but I replace the heater every two years regardless

Most heaters fail for (3) reasons.

1 - thermal cycling of the internal bi-metal thermostat that also acts as a contactor.
2 - thermal cycling of the envelope causing the "plug" end to eventually leak and short or steam pressure "popping" the cork.
3 - thermal shock from running dry or partially dry.


How do you prevent this?

1 - use an external controller with the internal thermostat (physically, not be "number") set above the tank operating point. It will act as a fail-safe too...

2 - never submerge the plug end of the heater. This means running it through a bulkhead or placing its head out of the water in an fixed depth area of the sump that can never run dry.

 

[SpyC]

One is none. Two is one

 

[ca1ore]

Seems the obvious answer is to have a spare on hand for critical things like main return pump and heater. I do not prophylactically replace the latter because I employ a multi heater approach and a single failure is not a major problem. If I used just a single heater I probably would replace it on a 2 year cycle. Everything else can be managed through 2-3 day shipping.