Heater & Temp Probe Placement

[Mr. GoodStuff]

Trying to get a little idea on where I should place my temperature probe for the external temperature controller. The tank I have is in the picture I attached and I have a 20 gallon sump.

In that black overflow chamber is where I have my 300w eheim heater. There’s 2 pipes in that overflow chamber, one drain straight into the sump and the other is the return from the sump that goes out the side into the tank.

Currently I have the temperature probe in the first chamber of my sump, where the drain is with the filter sock. Should I move it into that overflow chamber where the heater currently is? I didn’t want to do this at first because it seems like the heater would shut off rather quick or continuously cycle on and off because it would warm up the water in that area quickly.

But then I realized that by having the temperature probe in the sump, if my return pump ever failed I could be stuck with a heater that’s constantly on.

 

[ludnix]

I don't know if the overflow is best place for the heater, is there room in the sump? I would put both the heater and the sensor in the same compartment of the sump with some distance between them. I would avoid putting them in the return section of the sump where the water line may change if there were a leak or ATO failure. If there isn't room I would just put the sensor in the overflow too, there should be plenty of flow to keep readings consistent.

 

[Mr. GoodStuff]

I don't know if the overflow is best place for the heater, is there room in the sump? I would put both the heater and the sensor in the same compartment of the sump with some distance between them. I would avoid putting them in the return section of the sump where the water line may change if there were a leak or ATO failure. If there isn't room I would just put the sensor in the overflow too, there should be plenty of flow to keep readings consistent.

The heater is too long to fit in the sump unfortunately. The overflow also isn’t really an “overflow” though because it isn’t higher or lower than the DT water level - I removed the inner baffle of it that was originally there. It’s just pretty much a cover for the pipes, there’s a weir at the top.

 

[ludnix]

Can I ask why you removed it? I would be concerned that if you have a bulkhead leak it's going to leak the entire contents of your tank instead of just what is in the overflow or sump.

 

[Mr. GoodStuff]

Can I ask why you removed it? I would be concerned that if you have a bulkhead leak it's going to leak the entire contents of your tank instead of just what is in the overflow or sump.

It was a used tank and had a ton of crap in between the two pieces, impossible to remove. It won’t leak the whole tank though, it’s completely sealed off like before so it’ll only leak out what’s in that compartment and maybe a bit from the tank until the level drops below the weir.