Heater placement in sump

[Shawn_epicurious]

Over the last several weeks I’ve been adding a lot of equipment under my cabinet. I recently had a thought about where I had my heater in my sump. I had it in the same compartment where all my probes are... including my temperature probe.

Everything I have been doing is about creating a much higher level of consistency with my water chemistry.

it seems like I missed the mark on where I put my heater. My probe is being overly effected by having the heater in the same compartment. I know a lot of water is flowing thru there, but... Anyway, I just moved my heater to the last compartment in my sump, with the return pump. Now the temperature being measured is only the water entering the sump...

Am I on the right path here? Or did I have it right before moving it?

 

[Victor_C3]

Yup, that’s where I have placed mine for years. Your logic is spot on there.

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

Yup, that’s where I have placed mine for years. Your logic is spot on there.

Awesome! Thank you : )

 

[John08007]

Sounds good, just an fyi. I had a titanium heater in my 40g breeder sump, it was located near a side. That panel cracked, it is just an theory but i think the heat of the heater cracked the glass

 

[W1ngz]

Right idea, wrong location.

Move the temp probe to first chamber if you want to separate them. Should ever you have a problem with the topoff, having the heater in the return chamber risks exposing the heater to air when the water level drops. A heater exposed to air will overheat, possibly crack, or worse, melt the acrylic of the sump if it's not glass.

Keep the heater in a chamber that will always have it well under water.

You can't put the temp probe in the return either, because should that be exposed to air it will leave the heater on since it will report room temperature instead of water temperature.

I have mine in the same (large center skimmer) chamber, with the heaters being parallel to the inlet, and the temp probe on the opposite side, near the outflow of that same chamber.

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

Right idea, wrong location.

Move the temp probe to first chamber if you want to separate them. Should ever you have a problem with the topoff, having the heater in the return chamber risks exposing the heater to air when the water level drops. A heater exposed to air will overheat, possibly crack, or worse, melt the acrylic of the sump if it's not glass.

Keep the heater in a chamber that will always have it well under water.

You can't put the temp probe in the return either, because should that be exposed to air it will leave the heater on since it will report room temperature instead of water temperature.

I have not considered that. I was trying to get the heater as far away from the temp probe as I could get it so as to measure the temp of the water leaving the tank. ....hmmmm... ATO problems... I did get the heater well below the float level.

 

[ca1ore]

It’s one of those theory versus practice things. Logic is sound in theory; but probably doesn’t make much difference in practice .... as long as your have adequate flow though the sump and the probe isn’t right next to the heating element. Easy enough to relocate a temp probe though I suppose.

 

[GregOyeah]

I have not considered that. I was trying to get the heater as far away from the temp probe as I could get it so as to measure the temp of the water leaving the tank. ....hmmmm... ATO problems... I did get the heater well below the float level.

The heater being below the float level helps but what if your ATO pump fails and you’re out of the house or worse out of town? Or the float itself fails. Then the water will drop significantly below the float


The Heater doesn’t have to be as far away as possible it just needs to be ahead of the temperature probe as far as flow of water goes, the next chamber over would be fine.

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

It’s one of those theory versus practice things. Logic is sound in theory; but probably doesn’t make much difference in practice .... as long as your have adequate flow though the sump and the probe isn’t right next to the heating element. Easy enough to relocate a temp probe though I suppose.

I have a 200 gallon DT. My return pump is a SYNCRA SILENT 5.0 PUMP (1321 GPH).

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

This is why I love R2R... I tried this hobby once 16 years ago. All I had back then was Me, books and my LFS. Now I get to have conversations about simple things that get very in-depth.

This is awesome!

 

[W1ngz]

With a 200gal tank, your sump is likely sufficiently large that having the probe and heater on opposite or even adjoining sides, in the same chamber isn't going to make any practical difference, like @ca1ore mentioned.

 

[ca1ore]

As noted, the most important place for the heater is where it cannot, under any circumstance, become emersed. Put it/them in a constant height sump chamber. You’re likely getting 3-4x turnover with that pump, which is more than enough. As long as the probe isn’t an inch away from the heating element, I’d not personally bother to move it. Overthinking stuff is an occupational hazard for we reefers I’m afraid :cool: .

 

[TriggerFinger]

Thanks @Shawn_epicurious for this post. I’ll be moving my heater out of the return chamber today!
Does anyone know if laying the heater on the bottom is a bad idea? It’s the only way I can get a heater in my sump since it’s not tall enough to stick the heater up and down.

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

As noted, the most important place for the heater is where it cannot, under any circumstance, become emersed. Put it/them in a constant height sump chamber. You’re likely getting 3-4x turnover with that pump, which is more than enough. As long as the probe isn’t an inch away from the heating element, I’d not personally bother to move it. Overthinking stuff is an occupational hazard for we reefers I’m afraid :cool: .

Who me...? Overthink stuff??? Perish the thought!! Lol

 

[W1ngz]

Does anyone know if laying the heater on the bottom is a bad idea? It’s the only way I can get a heater in my sump since it’s not tall enough to stick the heater up and down.

I've always had mine laying down fully submerged, but it may depend on your specific heater. Not sure if every brand and model can be fully submerged.

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

I just moved it back : ) I am glad I did too. My water temp went up a degree higher than normal over night.

Thanks for the advice and insight!

 

[Shawn_epicurious]

I thought I might follow up with this...

I did move my heater as described in the thread... I did move it back after reading the advice on this thread. All of that was in less than 24 hours.... look at what happened to my temp in the that time.

 

[Tobias517]

Yo so im having this same heater problem but on a smaller scale Here is the system
80 gallon tall
50 gal eshoops sump
3 chamber sump with the small 1 inch that separates the final chamber where the return & my red sea ato was going to go.
A. That final chamber is exposed to air as my sump only under tank at center chamber.
; Even with my new titanium heater up against the wall in the chamber I'm still getting an extreme temperature change from 78° to 72° from 2nd to 3rd chamber.
I put the heater in 3rd Chamber about an hour ago.Thank you earlier in this article.For reminding me how that third chamber evaporates. I'm going to be taking that out putting it back into the middle chamber. But now I'm going to try removing the filer media that sits atop that one inch gap. Unfortunately in that gap I've made a nice macro alge refugium that's stocked with pods.

 

[Tobias517]

Tank really has its particulars and any advice I would really appreciate.

 

[Tobias517]

I thought I might follow up with this...

I did move my heater as described in the thread... I did move it back after reading the advice on this thread. All of that was in less than 24 hours.... look at what happened to my temp in the that time.

Sometimes the probes are all most too sensitive. And I don't wanna say that because , in six months they could be not sensitive enough. But that bounce affect your Apex happened with my red sea temp probes.

Red Sea warranties their probes & their system can tell when one goes bad. I've had mine replaced twice for 0.00