BRS Titanium heater on Apex

[Jonreefer]

I was wondering, Is it ok to use my new Apex to control my new BRS 200w titanium heater. I see it turns on for 30min and then turns off for 40min for the heat cycle. Is that to much to use on the EB8? Will I end up killing the outlet? Should I buy an inkbird and use that on the heater and plug the inkbird to the EB8

 

[ndrwater]

It'll work on the Apex. Just remember to set up the heater icon on the Apex when programming

 

[Jonreefer]

I have it working great. I just got my Apex on wed with the heater. My worry was using the apex with it turning on and off every 40min or so will kill the outlet in it. I went ahead and ordered an inkbird. So i will use that as my main controller and set my apex 2degree higher so the outlet is always on unless the inkbird fails to shut off. So replacing a $30 inkbird vs an EB832 is alot cheaper

 

[Halal Hotdog]

Heaters are one of those things that have killed tanks. This is how I do it, you may think it is overkill. I have a temp controller, either built into the heather or you can pick one up from Home Depot for $25. I set a temperature of 78F with a variance of 1F in the heater controller NOT APEX. When my tank reaches 77F the controller clicks on and raises it back to 78F. You can keep it even tighter than this. Then I hook the temperature controller into my Apex with instructions of always on unless temperature of tank reaches 81F, then off. If heater controller fails in the on position, Apex will kill power. Besides this I also set alerts for myself, if tank reaches 76.5F and 80F. So I know if the heater has failed in the off position, or if the tank is starting to climb past my comfort area. This allows redundancy and two controllers managing the temperature of the tank.

 

[Jonreefer]

the titanium BRS has no built in temp control. I already have my Apex setup to send me alert if temps get to 82
I ordered the inbird and going to setup like i have my Apex on at 77 off at 78 and then set my Apex to shut off the outlet at 80. That should be decent safety and will keep it from killing the outlet on the eb832 from turning off and on 12times a day

 

[minus9]

You don't want the apex turning on/off constantly. Even Terence from Neptune Systems says it's a "fail" when heaters are set up this way. It's easier and cheaper to replace a heater controller than an EB832 or EB8 (or a whole tank of livestock). I bought my Ranco for $50 and wired it myself. My titanium heaters have their own built in controller, but I still use the Ranco and my apex to back them up in case they both fail. It's redundant, but heaters are the first thing to fail and a sure-fire way of wiping out a tank in no time. Think of it this way, you'll spend $80 or more on a single coral, but you won't spend the same amount to protect all of those $80+ corals? It's a small investment that will pay for itself instantly and the peace of mind that it brings. Hopefully I'm not coming across as harsh (that's not my intention), but having been in this hobby since the early 80's, I've seen a lot of failed heaters and the casualties that they caused.
ControlFreakWednesday go to 44:29 and watch this part.

 

[GainesvilleReef]

If you have an EB8. Plug it into one of the triac outlets. They are 1,2,3,5,6,7. They will not wear out. I always use an EB8 for that purpose. I have 2 tanks that ran for over 5 years without fail. It is the relay outputs that have more of an issue. Getting a separate controller does not fix the issue it just moves it out of the APEX sphere.

Relay outputs are typically good for about 100,000 operations.

 

[Jonreefer]

sorry I have the EB832 the new ones. I typed wrong in the first post. well if I have the inkbird the main one controlling the temp by turning its outlet on and off and have the inkbird plugged into my apex and my apex set to 2degrees higher than the inkbird. It will be that the Apex never has to shut off its outlet and is there in case the inkbird sticks on and will shut the outlet down at 80-81degrees.

 

[GainesvilleReef]

Yes, I have had the set up you described, and it works fine. I just prefer the triac output because the inkbird was creating almost 3 degree swings on my system. With the triac outputs I am able to maintain less than 0.5 degree swings because I can turn it on and off more frequently. I still buy EB8 s for this reason.

 

[BZOFIQ]

I have had 3-4 heaters working in tandem on EB8 and JR without issues for decade.

Are we saying that EB832 is less of a reliable product right out of the box because of use of relays?

 

[minus9]

I have had 3-4 heaters working in tandem on EB8 and JR without issues for decade.

Are we saying that EB832 is less of a reliable product right out of the box because of use of relays?

No, there's just a preferred way of setting up heaters with the apex. You can absolutely run a heater using the apex alone, but I would much rather replace a $50 controller, but this is my preference.

 

[GainesvilleReef]

No. I would say that one is better for certain applications and the other is better for the rest. I think we need both triac and relay outputs.

Personally, I wish the EB8 had 6 relay and 2 triac outputs.