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Heaters?

Piper

Piper

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I need to replace the heater in my tank and I want to get something that is reliable. I've used 3 different brands in the last few months, Tetra, cheap Aqueon (AGA actually) that came with my F/W tank, and another off the wall brand from the LFS. So far the AGA is somewhat reliable and mostly keeps my F/W tank within about 2 degrees +/- of where I want it. The Treata that I use in my reef tank sucks. The light comes on when the tank is @ 79 and no sign of it turning on when the tank is @ 77.5. Horribly unreliable. Same goes for the off the wall brand I'm using in my hospital tank.

My initial plan was to get two Ebo Jager heaters and eventually a Ranco controller. The EJs used to be top of the line 10 years ago. Is that still the case now? I've also thought about titanium but I've never had good luck with those. I tried it a couple of times years ago and both times they shorted out within a few months or less. Has titanium gotten better in the last few years? Worth a look now? Is there any brand out there now better than the EJs? What have you had the greatest success with?

~Charlie
 
Charlie, I'd echo the above ... I've used a variety of heater types and controllers, and for my broodstock and growout tanks have come to rely exclusively on EJs with supplemental Ranco style controllers as secondary backup. If you do decide to go this route drop me a note as I have a couple extra controllers in the gear cabinet.
 
Robin I may need to hit you up on the Ranco :) I just lost one the other day and my surplus is now gone. I bought a case of them from a factory that never installed them years ago :D
 
Robin I may need to hit you up on the Ranco :) I just lost one the other day and my surplus is now gone. I bought a case of them from a factory that never installed them years ago :D
 
Gresh, shoot me a PM if you want them ... I've got three used ones but need to keep one for the spare chiller ... I think two of them may be Aquatronic or Aquanetic branded but they are still the Ranco type.
 
Robin - That sounds great. If you still have one I'll buy one from you. I'll send you a PM.

When you say "supplemental Ranco style controllers as secondary backup" how do you have this setup configured? I was planning on setting the heaters a couple of degrees above the temp I'm shooting for and let the Ranco control the temp. When you say secondary backup I'm envisioning the reverse.

~Charlie
 
Charlie, you're correct in the setup ... I guess I was thinking as the heaters being the endpoint control and the rancos being secondary in the setup. However, you do want to set the Rancos at the ideal temp and the heaters just a tad higher so that you've got double controls should one or the other fail.

Sent you a PM on the Ranco ...
 
OK, I see what you're saying about it being secondary now and that makes sense. Got the PM and replied too. Thanks!

~Charlie
 
Anyone have issues or concerns with Ranco failures in the salty air around the tank?
I was looking into them, and they are not sealed, and it does say on their site
to keep them away from high humidity environments.
 
ETC Supply has Ranco electronic temperature controllers in both NEMA 1 and NEMA 4X enclosures. The NEMA 4 enclosures are not pre-wired and are quite a bit more expensive. It looks like you could pay the $20 and get the NEMA 4 versions pre-wired. NEMA 4X should be safe for everything up to but not including submersion.
 
bondolo said:
ETC Supply has Ranco electronic temperature controllers in both NEMA 1 and NEMA 4X enclosures. The NEMA 4 enclosures are not pre-wired and are quite a bit more expensive. It looks like you could pay the $20 and get the NEMA 4 versions pre-wired. NEMA 4X should be safe for everything up to but not including submersion.
Click to expand...

Cool, did not see those.
Thanks!
 
Mine have always been sealed units, but then again, I don't buy them from aquarium stores.

My only failure has been probes, or relays (relay failure only on used units). The probe with the wee little bit of black heat shrink tubing is NOT waterproof even though it'll work just fine for a long time.
 
GreshamH said:
Mine have always been sealed units, but then again, I don't buy them from aquarium stores.

My only failure has been probes, or relays (relay failure only on used units). The probe with the wee little bit of black heat shrink tubing is NOT waterproof even though it'll work just fine for a long time.
Click to expand...

Good to know. Maybe I will coat with an extra bit of shrink tubing or something.
As a side note: Reliability is really key in this situation for me, because I plan to hook it up to my main house water
heater some time this winter. Electrical heating is causing some serious pain to my wallet.
And if it fails, it will cook things pretty quick.
 
Sorry to continue dragging this thread on. Has anyone used liquid food-grade silicone to coat the ranco probe rather than or in addition to heat shrink PVC tubing?

I wonder if that would work better/last longer. Since you say that eventually the probe gets contact with the water and it is copper I'm worried that once it starts corroding the copper will leach into the tank water. This would be bad bad bad of course.
 
Mike, the latest version of the controller that I got came with a clear acrylic tube into which the probe is placed to keep it dry. I then sealed off the top of this tube so that there would not be any water penetration. I prefer the titanium probe as this is in direct contact with the water and thus would presumably register minor changes quicker than the probe sealed within a tube. However the probe in tube approach does mean that no metallic substances will be exposed (only acrylic and silicone would come in contact with the water).

It would seem that your approach would work as well; the thickness of the silicone coating would determine what level of insulating effect is applied to the probe itself.
 
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