BRS Heaters are Terrifyingly Strong

[Smite]

I had the same problems when setting up my tank. I have two 100w BRS heaters on about 50 gal of water. The thing that I found worked best is that they need to be in the absolute highest flow possible, for me this was in the very first chamber directly under the overflow pipes, so that the water is moving very quickly around.

Maybe try a higher flow area, and only one of the 200w heaters? Not sure if the ones you had before were glass or titanium, but titanium will conduct heat more efficiently than glass, so in general I’ve seen titanium’s be much more efficient in heating. Don’t touch them when they’ve been on recently though, they get mighty toasty.

This is along the same train of thought I was having reading through this. You want the display temp to stay as stable as possible, so placement of the sensor in the overflow or first chamber of the sump is ideal with the heater in a following chamber. That way you are reading the display temp and not the water you are heating in the sump. If the water is heating up that quickly your flow is to slow in the sump and you probably need to crank it up. It could possibly be the reason your remaining 200w Cobalt couldn't keep up when your first one crapped out.

Do the BRS heater not have their own dial or setting to control temp? If they do, I would set one a degree or two below you ink birds set temperature. This way you still have a failsafe if one heater fails in off.

 

[Saltyreef]

I have two heaters that operate similar to the brs heaters.
I have the heaters in my skimmer section and the probes downstream in the bubbletrap right before the return.
So the probes are 1 chamber ahead of the heaters.
My temps do not swing during normal ambient conditions and my display temp matches the sump temp consistantly.

These are hygger titanium heaters plugged into hygger digital temp controller.

 

[argiBK]

Thanks for your input everyone.

I’ve ultimately decided against re-installing the BRS heaters just due to their strength, and, that the return chamber would require significant breakdown and trimming of my plumbing in order to place them next to high flow (my return pump is resting on a 1” Aquamesh pad).

I’ll be keeping them as I am planning a tank upgrade in the next year (also, returning means a 10% restock fee).

What I have decided to do is to split the eheim heaters — had to reorder 2x 150w as the 200s that came were far too large for anything outside of the DT — with one in the skimmer chamber and the other in the return chamber as close to the flow entering the chamber. This way, heat entering the fuge will be well mixed and not significantly hotter than the display, with a final heating stage before water enters the DT. I may purchase a second heater controller as a makeshift second (low) gate for better control of both heaters so they’re not powered on/off simultaneously.

 

[argiBK]

Got the inkbird 306t with two eiheim tru temp 150’s and have been impressed with the stability of my tank temp so far. My house gets about 68 degrees at night and my temp history flat. Highly recommended combo. Only prob is the tru temp heaters are long as heck. 3 year warranty too! Here is my temp history form the inkbird app from yesterday

Thanks. In the end I’m actually going with two 150w true temps.

My issue is that my ambient home temp can swing between 85 and 55 b/c the ancient heating system in my building. Will definitely need to get a more responsive temperature controller sooner than later.

 

[Waynerock]

Thanks. In the end I’m actually going with two 150w true temps.

My issue is that my ambient home temp can swing between 85 and 55 b/c the ancient heating system in my building. Will definitely need to get a more responsive temperature controller sooner than later.

Good choice the tru temps are friggin tanks.

 

[Mario0240]

I have my 300w off of my 90g installed in my 15g biocube. No issues with it. When I first installed mine, I put the probe in my fuge and not in the return chamber. It got so hot it melted the suction cups and discolored the Heater. Placement is key. Also, keeping a higher level in your return area might help if you have a lot of turnover.

 

[gentlefish]

Sorry just found your threat now. Somewhat I could it difficult to understand that a well drained sump heats up so much. There is an online calculator providing 15g/400w/6f temp increase should take 34 minutes still to do this - what am I missing?