ReefingDreams
Active Member
You did. Post #36. It's what I responded to.
I want a Bluetooth aquarium heater!!!
- Thread starter Fredinva
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Heaters go bad no matter how expensive, they cycle too often not to and newer heaters are way worse than older style heaters. The only way to have peace of mind is to purchase 2 heaters. Preferably of a wattage that if it sticks on it can’t overheat your tank. If you need a single 200 watt heater then get 2 150 watt units this way when one fails you don’t cook your tank. The better option is to also have a controller set at a slightly higher temp than the heater (if you are using internally controlled heaters) this way it will shut the units off if they fail on. I have multiple inkbirds as well and some older models (especially the one they made for BRS) have a temp fault issue which turns the alarm on. The newer WiFi models I have been running for years on multiple tanks and if the alarm goes off something is wrong
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Fredinva
Active Member
Just curious: how do you get the second heater to come on??
thermostat on 2nd heater may never activate to ON!
cdnco2004
Well-Known Member
They activate the same way the first one does. When the thermostat detects the temp is bellow range it turns on. The only reason the second would not turn on is that its thermostat failed, which is why do not recommend using heaters without a controller.
If both heaters have functioning thermostats and they were both set for the same temperature ranges they should both come on when they each detect the temperature drop to the set limit.
JNalley
Valuable Member
Then you likely have the wrong inkbird. There are many out there. The one you have may be one plug for heating and one plug for cooling. So a heater on the heat plug, and a chiller or fan on the cool plug. The Inkbird most of us (who don't have tank overheating issues) use is the one with two heat plugs and two thermometers/temp probes. The model number for the dual heat inkbird is ITC-306A WiFi the model number for the heat and cool is the ITC-308S I believe (though there are several that offer this, the 308 is the only one with a plastic probe like the 306A)
Edit: I think I misunderstood the question here... running two heaters by themselves is easy, set them both to the same temp on the thermostat and call it a day.
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Fredinva
Active Member
OK, I'm still trying to figure this out!! Two heaters may look identical, but mechanically act slightly different. You have two heaters in one tank, the thermostat on heater one detects a lowering temperature and turns on to maintain heat. Thus, heater two, being slightly delayed in operation, will not kick on now because the temperature starts to slowly rise. It is almost impossible for the two heaters to turn on simultaneously!
Is my thinking flawed or are all heaters made identical and will they turn on at the same time. I tried this in the 70s , and i couldn't get heater 2 to come on. If i upped the setting on heater 2, it came on first and heater 1 didnt come on!!
Is my thinking flawed or are all heaters made identical and will they turn on at the same time. I tried this in the 70s , and i couldn't get heater 2 to come on. If i upped the setting on heater 2, it came on first and heater 1 didnt come on!!
BOYERZ
Active Member
For this to work you need undersized heaters.
If it takes 100w to heat to 78. Get 2 50w heaters, and so on.
That's why you divide the watts needed to heat your tank by 2.
Pure redundancy.
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Fredinva
Active Member
ok, i got 2 50w heaters. one heater comes on. ya with me??
how will heater 2 come on if heater 1 has already kicked on?
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Idech
2500 Club Member
You tried it in the 70’s. That’s 50 years ago. We’re telling you both heaters will come on simultaneously. With, or without a controller. But it’s best to use a controller.
I have an Inkbird with the one plug for heat but I use a double outlet on it and plug two heaters. Both are ALWAYS on at the same time.
Trust us and try it again. That’s all.
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Reefering1
Valuable Member
Because it takes "100w" to heat the tank, hypothetically, so a single 50w isn't enough and the other comes on. The benefit is, in event of a failure, you only lose half of your heating power
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Fredinva
Active Member
. Without a controller = that is nearly impossible. one will come on, negating the other "ON" . NO TWO HEATERS are manufactured to such identical tolerances and standards. The box says they are the same, but there is a minute difference somewhere.
You may get two to come on the same time ,if a controller can over-ride a thermostat i dont know exactly how all controllers operate.
You may get two to come on the same time ,if a controller can over-ride a thermostat i dont know exactly how all controllers operate.
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cdnco2004
Well-Known Member
This is very basic and you just refuse to understand. So I am stepping out. No point trying to help someone who does not want the help. You have wasted everyone's time here since you have your mind made up and know better than everyone else. Notice there has not been a single person who agreed with you on the issue and your dogged refusal to listen? That really should tell you something...
ReefingDreams
Active Member
It doesn't matter if they turn on simultaneously. Say the thermostat turns it on a minute later on the second heater than the first heater, you still have two working heaters and are supplementing one another. If one fails off, the other still works. If one fails on, since it's 50% of your total required heating watts, it won't cook your tank as quickly.
Buuuuuuuuuuuuuut, the real question is, will they both turn OFF simultaneously?
With or without a controller.
(I'm totally just stirring the pot since you focused your attention on the heaters turning ON)
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Fredinva
Active Member
Dreams! The second heater probably WILL NOT come on a minute later!!! The first one has started heating the water (for 20 sec or 55 sec) and the second heater thermostat will not kick on! Do you get it??
and " it won't cook your tank as quickly" as quickly........if your not home, heater stuck on, your fish are cooked!!
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Fredinva
Active Member
Stir the pot all you like!!! they are two different "machines", two different thermostats! They will not turn off simultaneously, w/o a controller!!
JNalley
Valuable Member
Someone needs to read a book on thermodynamics.
To make this easy. Let's assume your room temperature is 70 degrees. You have a 20 gallon tank, and because of all of the equipment in it, runs at 2 degrees over ambient without a heater, bringing your tank temperature to 72 degrees. Now let's assume that it takes 50 watts to heat up 20 Gallons of water 1 degree every hour. Your target temperature is 80 degrees, so you want to raise your tanks temperature by 8 degrees, this implies that it will take 8 hours to raise the water to the desired temperature. You with me so far?
So, now your tank has fallen to 79 degrees, and your 2 x 25 watt heaters need to do their jobs. You're correct, nothing on earth (especially aquarium heater thermostats) are so precisely calibrated that the two heaters would ever kick on at the exact same time. However, both will come on, one will come on first, and the other may come on fractions of a second all the way up to 5 minutes (or even more) later, there are numerous factors that contribute to this.
The key difference here though, is that if one of your 25 watt heaters fails on, it will only raise the tank temperature by 1 degree every 2 hours, instead of 1 degree every hour, doubling the amount of time it takes the tank to raise to the maximum thermal limit of that one heater. How high that is will depend on the tanks own ability to evaporate water, and how many watts of heat it can dissipate through evaporation. That evaporation rate will depend on a multitude of factors such as whether the tank has a lid or is open top, what kind of lid, the moisture capacity of the air around you (dry air sucks more water out than already moist/humid air), etc. Most tanks will be able to deal with an undersized (Read as half of the recommended wattage) heater sticking in the on position, saving your livestock from certain death, though.
The heating element also matters, as some heaters are just built better than others as far as heat transfer goes. There's a thread on this forum where a guy bought an appropriately sized heater for his tank, but because his fish room dipped down into the mid-high 60s due to air conditioning, the heater couldn't keep up even when running constantly.
Running 2 heaters for redundancy AND safety is advised.
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