Heater Controllers...

[Steph1]

At the risk of stating the obvious whe not run a double adaptor out of the heat side? I was going to buy an inkbird but why trust your heating to someting made in China? it amazes me.
Aqua medic heat controller: https://www.thetechden.com.au/products/aqua-medic-t-controller-twin-heating-cooling-controller

 

[PedroYoung]

A couple questions for those of you using the Ranco.
1- does the 1 deg min differential keep your tank temp within the 1 deg or is there some overshoot?
2- can the dual stage be used for heat/heat or just heat/cool. I saw a couple folks stating they ran 2 heaters, but the literature seems to suggest you can only run a heater and a chiller/fan.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Biglew11]

on the aqualogic 2 stage version you can set the 2 channels to heat or cooling so you can use 2 heaters 2 chillers or one of each.

https://aqualogicinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Control-Dual-Stage-Instructions-2-16.pdf

 

[Water Dog]

Same with the Ranco... which is also rebranded as the Aqualogic with a titanium probe. Each channel is independently controlled. You can set each channel to heat or cool based on what it is that you want to accomplish.

The one degree minimum delta is spot on without any drift / overshoot in my experience. It’s much more precise than the InkBird that I ran on my nano many moons ago.

 

[PedroYoung]

on the aqualogic 2 stage version you can set the 2 channels to heat or cooling so you can use 2 heaters 2 chillers or one of each.

https://aqualogicinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Control-Dual-Stage-Instructions-2-16.pdf

Same with the Ranco... which is also rebranded as the Aqualogic with a titanium probe. Each channel is independently controlled. You can set each channel to heat or cool based on what it is that you want to accomplish.

The one degree minimum delta is spot on without any drift / overshoot in my experience. It’s much more precise than the InkBird that I ran on my nano many moons ago.

Thanks to you both!

 

[Ratherbeflyen]

I subscribe to the theory that heater failures are the number one cause of tank crashes. I've had heaters fail on, off, trip the GFCI outlet as well as the homes 15a circuit breaker. So I run two heaters, on two different completely independent heater controllers, each on its own power bar plugged into separate GFCI outlets. I wish I could also have the outlets on separate circuit breakers, but currently don't the ability.

I bought a pair of W3230 heater controllers on ebay.

I then mounted them into 2 gang wall box / or standard light switch and cover. I have 300W Finnex heaters with no internal temperature control. To wire the switches inline, I cut the ends off the heaters and stripped the wire to mount directly to the heater controller. Then used a 6' extension cord to complete the wiring from the controller to the power bar. Again cut and stripped the ends to mount directly to the controller. Mounted it all to the electrical portion of my equipment stand and set the program. I wrote the functions of the menu's on the cover for easy reference.

It may look confusing, but it's pretty straight forward. There are three wires from each outlet. Black, white, and a green/ground. The exact same black, white, green from the heater. Then two more wires for the temperature probe that are already connected.

These particular controllers obviously switch the heater on and off, but also have an overtemp function that will cut power to the entire controller unit if the limit is reached. If that fails, the reef keeper is set to turn off the outlet in the power bar 1 degree over the temperature controllers. Now if one heater fails off, I have a second heater. I also have 3 layers of protection for a heater that fails on. I also have redundant sources of electrical power, at least back to the main circuit breaker panel.

The total cost was ~$20 (not including heaters) and took me about 4 hours to complete. It would have taken less time, but my OCD to keep the wiring neat took longer.

 

[Devaji]

thread CPR :

I am thinking of getting the ranco like @Water Dog and others.
my questions are:
1.BRS titanium heaters or finnex?
tank is RS 650p = around 170 US gallons
not sure if i want one 600W heater or two 300W

yes yes I know about redundancy. my thoughts are the ranco controller are pretty spot on as well as the BRS heaters, and I will have back on apex for left on shut off and off notifications.

all so what is the best shrink wrap to cover the sensor?

so I am leaning towards one BRS 600W or the 800 W finnex

 

[joec]

I just use three slighty underpowered heaters. If one gets stuck on it not enough to overheat the tank. If ones stops working, it doesn't cool the tank enough to do any damage

 

[Biglew11]

I would go with 2 smaller heaters. On a ranco or aqualogic controller not likely to get stuck on but if one heater fails you'll still have some heat.

 

[Ratherbeflyen]

I would personally never run a single heater. Heaters never fail to fail.

 

[Karliefish]

Ive been using this one for ten years.

https://www.marinedepot.com/aqua-lo...C5NDoRGSOLs5uCVup7Vf6nWbGlcBQFQaAl0fEALw_wcB&

Can you tell me if they go back to default settings if they are powered off. I‘m getting answers to this question....I need to know that settings are not lost if powered off. Thanks.

 

[Biglew11]

all! settings remain to what you set them at after a power loss. a power loss doesn't change anything at all.

 

[Karliefish]

all! settings remain to what you set them at after a power loss. a power loss doesn't change anything at all.

great - just ordered the AquaLogic - both the dual stage and single stage. I'll be using Finnex heaters with them.

 

[salty joe]

I've been using a Ranco for years. They are rock solid.
I put shrink tubing on the probe, then I squeezed some silicone into both ends and let it set up. After that, I heated the shrink tubing.

 

[Karliefish]

I've been using a Ranco for years. They are rock solid.
I put shrink tubing on the probe, then I squeezed some silicone into both ends and let it set up. After that, I heated the shrink tubing.

thanks for sharing your tips - helpful!

 

[drawman]

Curious for those using the Ranco are you using the NEMA 4X or standard housing and how have they been holding up? Makes me curious if the NEMA 4X is worth twice the price.

 

[PedroYoung]

I’m using standard and perfectly fine after 3 yrs. NEMA 4x is for high pressure hose down applications (I sell industrial analytical instrumentation, and it’s common there but totally overkill for home aquarium use).

 

[drawman]

I’m using standard and perfectly fine after 3 yrs. NEMA 4x is for high pressure hose down applications (I sell industrial analytical instrumentation, and it’s common there but totally overkill for home aquarium use).

Thank you! Would you recommend the 16 gauge wire (as opposed to the 14 gauge)?

 

[KStatefan]

Curious for those using the Ranco are you using the NEMA 4X or standard housing and how have they been holding up? Makes me curious if the NEMA 4X is worth twice the price.

I am using the standard models. Without any issues. They are mounted on standard boxes so the NEMA4X would not gain me anything.

 

[PedroYoung]

Thank you! Would you recommend the 16 gauge wire (as opposed to the 14 gauge)?

I honestly don’t recall what I got, but the 16 will be easier to maneuver