Heater advice

[Maho.B]

Good morning. Came home from vacation last night, doing my normal water testing this morning, went to check the temp and the readout said 74 and was dropping rapidly, like a degree a minute so something was malfunctioning. I put my old-school thermometer in and the water is 82 degrees. I have it set to 77.5 I recalibrated it and set it again to 77.5 so hopefully the water will slowly cool down. I cleaned the probe as well, it didn't seem to have much on it but thought it couldn't hurt. This is a JBJ Tru temp that is about a year and a half old. Is it time to replace it or do these sometimes malfunction like this? Thanks

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

IME this is normal for heaters after some period of time, the internal thermostats often fail. Ideally you should have an inkbird to control the heater for cases like this. I guess your options would be to get an inkbird and keep using the heater, or buy a new heater. Good luck

 

[Maho.B]

Thanks for the info. I thought inkbird were just food thermometers, I'll have to look into them. Thanks

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

A lot of us use inkbirds, its suggested for safety. Good luck

 

[Maho.B]

So after calibration, it's obvious something with my heating system is malfunctioning. I calibrated it and an hour later the digital display reads 79.8 but my real thermometer (manual) reads 82. Question for you, I unplugged the heater and ordered a new one and an inkbird but I can't pick it up until tomorrow afternoon. Should I leave it unplugged all night and tomorrow? I don't know how fast the temp will drop with no heater. Total water volume is 110 gallons, it's currently 82 degrees. The house gets to 68-69 at night, 72 during the morning/daytime. Will I wake up to a 68 degree reef in the morning? Ugh...backup heater from now on!

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Get a new thermometer and an InkBird with WiFi. You’ll know the temp no matter where you go as long as there is an internet connection and you can even change it with your phone.

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

So after calibration, it's obvious something with my heating system is malfunctioning. I calibrated it and an hour later the digital display reads 79.8 but my real thermometer (manual) reads 82. Question for you, I unplugged the heater and ordered a new one and an inkbird but I can't pick it up until tomorrow afternoon. Should I leave it unplugged all night and tomorrow? I don't know how fast the temp will drop with no heater. Total water volume is 110 gallons, it's currently 82 degrees. The house gets to 68-69 at night, 72 during the morning/daytime. Will I wake up to a 68 degree reef in the morning? Ugh...backup heater from now on!

Unless you have something really sensitive in there. My 30g was in the mid sixties for a week. No harm no foul. Or you can plug in your heater for 20 mins every hour or so.

 

[TacticalBacon]

Unless you have something really sensitive in there. My 30g was in the mid sixties for a week. No harm no foul. Or you can plug in your heater for 20 mins every hour or so.

If you have an automatic timer you can set it up for 10-30 mins on then off.

 

[Merge_595]

https://www.saltwateraquarium.com/helio-universal-heater-controller-innovative-marine/Only brand I would semi trust here on out..the rest are so far off or have FAILED including inkbird

 

[Matty Ice]

https://www.saltwateraquarium.com/helio-universal-heater-controller-innovative-marine/Only brand I would semi trust here on out..the rest are so far off or have FAILED including inkbird

+1

 

[Maho.B]

Thanks everyone. I ordered the Helio already, will have it tomorrow afternoon, hopefully it doesn't get to cold, glad to know mid sixties didn't do a lot of damage, should be up and running properly by tomorrow night. Thanks again

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

https://www.saltwateraquarium.com/helio-universal-heater-controller-innovative-marine/Only brand I would semi trust here on out..the rest are so far off or have FAILED including inkbird

What is it about Helios that makes it so good?

 

[Merge_595]

What is it about Helios that makes it so good?

Innovative Marine just makes great products. Compared to the other heaters on the market which has been one of the top cause for tank crashes over the last 10 years it has been proven to be "more" reliable.

 

[PharmrJohn]

You may want to consider redundancy with heaters. With my upcoming build, I'll have two heaters and two controllers. If one fails, I'll have another to back it up immediately. I'm gonna have redundancy with my return pumps as well.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

This is a good reminder to always have a backup heater calibrated on hand

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

What is it about Helios that makes it so good?

What makes it so good is... hopefully I can convey this well enough. Normal heaters have a resistant element that heats up when electricity is applied to it via a contact like points in an old distributor. On or off. Sometimes those points can stick on or off = bad. With the PTC technology, which relies on solid-state ceramic chips that are programmed to reach a predetermined temperature. Which in turn are more resistant to failure. Plus the heating element and the temp probe have sensors that must maintain the temperatures within a certain degree or the system will shut down. While the fail safe of this system prevents your heaters from overheating, it does not prevent it user error. If the system falls below a preset temperature and audible alarm will sound. If you have it turned on.

 

[Holmes Grown Coral]

I have the helio on both my display and frag tank but run the old ehiem Jager elements. A little old school and new mixed and if the controller fails in the on position the elements are set to 1 degree above and will shut themselves off

 

[Maho.B]

Hey guys, I wanted to circle back, my new Helios heater came the other day, it's very nice but if you're considering getting one, check the size you need and look up how long the actual heating elements are...mine are crazy long, as in don't even fit in my sump long! And there are two of them too...I have the 700 watt.

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

Hey guys, I wanted to circle back, my new Helios heater came the other day, it's very nice but if you're considering getting one, check the size you need and look up how long the actual heating elements are...mine are crazy long, as in don't even fit in my sump long! And there are two of them too...I have the 700 watt.

Is that two 350 watts?

 

[BryanM]

Thanks everyone. I ordered the Helio already, will have it tomorrow afternoon, hopefully it doesn't get to cold, glad to know mid sixties didn't do a lot of damage, should be up and running properly by tomorrow night. Thanks again

Next to RODI water, I feel like peoples heaters are the 2nd most important part in their reefs.

I cannot imagine not running dual heaters, dual controllers, and really having a 3rd backup to monitor both of those. I'd be crushed if I came home to cooked fish and corals :(