Struggling To Get Temperature Up.

[Crabs McJones]

If it wasn't rated for 110V it wouldn't be working. And, As Lasse pointed out earlier, that has no impact on the current or voltage of the heater.

I have a hard time with a 300W heater not being big enough for your system. I feel that should be plenty big.

Agreed. I'm using 300 watt in my 60 gallon system and that appears to be more than enough :)

 

[Brew12]

Agreed. I'm using 300 watt in my 60 gallon system and that appears to be more than enough :)

My main heater in my 187g is 300W. My 500w backup rarely runs.

I feel like the heater must have a high resistance connection somewhere. I would recommend doing some testing with a meter.

 

[Dom]

I have a hard time with a 300W heater not being big enough for your system. I feel that should be plenty big.

I wonder if the central air in the house is countering the heater... maybe the heater can't keep up?

 

[Dom]

My main heater in my 187g is 300W. My 500w backup rarely runs.

I feel like the heater must have a high resistance connection somewhere. I would recommend doing some testing with a meter.

Tell me more... what and where/how am I testing?

 

[Brew12]

I wonder if the central air in the house is countering the heater... maybe the heater can't keep up?

I keep my house at 70F to 72F and my tank has no issues maintain temp.

 

[Brew12]

Tell me more... what and where/how am I testing?

Can you unplug the heater and take a resistance reading from the hot to neutral plug?

 

[Dom]

UPDATE:

Okay... so the problem is solved. The controller and heater are working correctly.

I decided to use a temperature gun and take some readings; the tank and sump. To my surprise, the temp reading was 84.2 degrees. But the Coralife digital thermometer (https://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=12090) was reading 72-73 degrees.

I dropped a good old-fashioned glass aquarium thermometer in the tank and checked an hour later. The temp on the glass thermometer matched the temp on the temperature gun.

It turns out the Coralife digital thermometer was off by 13 degrees!

So, the controller is now set to 25C (77F). The fan kicked on to cool.

Thank you Coralife; you almost served me up fish stew! LOL

And thank you, guys for the quick and detailed response!!

Dom

 

[KrisReef]

UPDATE:

Okay... so the problem is solved. The controller and heater are working correctly.

I decided to use a temperature gun and take some readings; the tank and sump. To my surprise, the temp reading was 84.2 degrees. But the Coralife digital thermometer (https://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=12090) was reading 72-73 degrees.

I dropped a good old-fashioned glass aquarium thermometer in the tank and checked an hour later. The temp on the glass thermometer matched the temp on the temperature gun.

It turns out the Coralife digital thermometer was off by 13 degrees!

So, the controller is now set to 25C (77F). The fan kicked on to cool.

Thank you Coralife; you almost served me up fish stew! LOL

And thank you, guys for the quick and detailed response!!

Dom

If you decide to sell that Coralife fixture let me know. We’re having a heat wave in CA and I would really like to cool my tank down a few degrees.
But seriously,
Glad you didn’t toast you system.

 

[Crabs McJones]

UPDATE:

Okay... so the problem is solved. The controller and heater are working correctly.

I decided to use a temperature gun and take some readings; the tank and sump. To my surprise, the temp reading was 84.2 degrees. But the Coralife digital thermometer (https://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=12090) was reading 72-73 degrees.

I dropped a good old-fashioned glass aquarium thermometer in the tank and checked an hour later. The temp on the glass thermometer matched the temp on the temperature gun.

It turns out the Coralife digital thermometer was off by 13 degrees!

So, the controller is now set to 25C (77F). The fan kicked on to cool.

Thank you Coralife; you almost served me up fish stew! LOL

And thank you, guys for the quick and detailed response!!

Dom

Good to hear :)

 

[Dom]

Although I have to say... everything in the tank really seemed to enjoy the 84 degree temp... even the algae! Hehe

 

[Retro Reefer]

Not sure if It’s any relation to your issues but Aqueon heaters are notoriously prone to failures.. you may want to upgrade to something a little better, ehiem makes a line of heaters similarly priced but much better quality.