Hydros Ph probe getting interference from BRS titanium heater

[SPIREEFER]

I’m having a problem maybe someone already has had and fixed. I have a Redsea nano xl with a Hydros launch running on it I have a ph probe, salinity and temperature. I recently replaced my crappy flu al glass water heater with a “higher end” bulk reef supply titanium water heater I have the probes on the first chamber where the ato+ is installed, the heater is in the middle chamber where the skimmer is at,and had no problems until after I switched heaters. After installing the brs heater my ph jumps anywhere from 1 to 1.8 up. I got a replacement thinking it was a faulty heater but replacement doing exactly the same anyone have a solution

 

[mcarroll]

I prefer to use glass heaters whenever possible for this reason.

Yes, glass can break (and it really sucks when it happens) but it seems like "titanium" heaters leak current...either in all cases or at least more often than not.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Try making sure the cords are as far apart as possible.

 

[BryanM]

I have finnex titanium heaters and have not had this issue.

 

[SPIREEFER]

Try making sure the cords are as far apart as possible.

They are and as soon as I take either the probe and set it in a glass container or take out the heater from the water ( tried placing it on the opposite side of Tank also) the interference starts

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

pH measurement can suffer something called a ground loop. The heater is grounded and perhaps that’s it.

How to deal with Ground Loops

Have you ever had problems with process controls and electrical instrumentation? The source may be ground loops. What is this? A potentially detrimental lo...

www.turtletoughsensors.com

 

[SPIREEFER]

pH measurement can suffer something called a ground loop. The heater is grounded and perhaps that’s it.

How to deal with Ground Loops

Have you ever had problems with process controls and electrical instrumentation? The source may be ground loops. What is this? A potentially detrimental lo...

www.turtletoughsensors.com

It might be that… so installing a titanium ground probe into the same area as the heater should potentially fix this?? It’s weird cause anywhere in the aquarium I place the heater immediately starts messing with ph probe lol

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

It might be that… so installing a titanium ground probe into the same area as the heater should potentially fix this?? It’s weird cause anywhere in the aquarium I place the heater immediately starts messing with ph probe lol

I've never had to actually advise anyone on how to fix a ground loop, aside from posting articles discussing it.

Are the pH probe and the heater plugged into the same, or different electrical lines from your electric panel?

 

[SPIREEFER]

I've never had to actually advise anyone on how to fix a ground loop, aside from posting articles discussing it.

Are the pH probe and the heater plugged into the same, or different electrical lines from your electric panel?

The heater is plugged into the hydros for the temperature control feature basically to turn the heater on and off with its temperature probe sorry to be more specific it’s a hydros launch and the heater is plugged into one of the 4 ports it has

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Try plugging the heater into a regular outlet and see if that’s different. Same outlet the pH meter is on, if possible.

 

[shoeking52]

I’m having a problem maybe someone already has had and fixed. I have a Redsea nano xl with a Hydros launch running on it I have a ph probe, salinity and temperature. I recently replaced my crappy flu al glass water heater with a “higher end” bulk reef supply titanium water heater I have the probes on the first chamber where the ato+ is installed, the heater is in the middle chamber where the skimmer is at,and had no problems until after I switched heaters. After installing the brs heater my ph jumps anywhere from 1 to 1.8 up. I got a replacement thinking it was a faulty heater but replacement doing exactly the same anyone have a solution

I just purchased a BRS heater and i have Hydros PH prob. good to know.

 

[fryman]

Could be a different cause but I had issues with my sump probes (especially the salinity one) I believe caused by interference that was solved by placing clip-on ferrite rings on all my probes just before they go into the sump.

The ones I got aren't available anymore but they look like this:

https://a.co/d/032QbphQ

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Could be a different cause but I had issues with my sump probes (especially the salinity one) I believe caused by interference that was solved by placing clip-on ferrite rings on all my probes just before they go into the sump.

The ones I got aren't available anymore but they look like this:

https://a.co/d/032QbphQ

What is the purpose of those?

 

[MasterClassReefs]

Grounding probes help heaps. I add grounding probes near all submerged electrical gear. Also the Hydros IV can isolate water for testing to work around interference in the sump.

 

[fryman]

What is the purpose of those?

Not really my area of expertise, but as I understand it they suppress high frequency noise from electronic cables. I can report that my salinity probe is very unreliable without it. I have them on all my probes but the salinity one seems most impacted. It fell off during maintenance last month. My salinity readings started trending down so I checked the probe, noticed the ferrite ring had fallen off. Put it back on and boom- back to 35ppt.

Ferrite bead - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

*edit*: I should clarify that if it's really caused by a grounding problem this may not fix that particular issue. But ime these are needed for reliable readings, in my tank at least.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Ok, thanks.