EBR September 30, 2007 Share September 30, 2007 Got two heaters to help with the fault tolerance, and trying to decide the best place for them: 1. both in the tank? 2. one in the tank and another in the sump? 3. both in the sump? Ideally I'd like them both in the sump and out of view, but wondering what issues that may raise. Thanks. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveoutlaw September 30, 2007 Share September 30, 2007 Personally, I would put one in the tank (buried under the rock) and the other in the sump. If we're talking about fault tolerance here, this would be the best if the power went out and your return pump didn't come back on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstlsn September 30, 2007 Share September 30, 2007 I have both of mine in the sump and the return pump on a back up battery. Brad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gman91 September 30, 2007 Share September 30, 2007 splitting them up will be your best bet in-case of power or pump failure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigJPDC September 30, 2007 Share September 30, 2007 I don't know how big your tank or sump are, but uh - how much good is a heater buried under rock going to do if the power goes out? The idea is to have water flowing accross it, to maximize convection heating. I put my heaters in between my sump baffles - used to have two, but it is so hot here in NoVA that I only have one, and I doubt it's ever on. The best thing about a sump is hiding ugly equipment. HTH, jp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveoutlaw September 30, 2007 Share September 30, 2007 I don't know how big your tank or sump are, but uh - how much good is a heater buried under rock going to do if the power goes out? The point here is that the pump doesn't always come back on after a power outage. I'm big into redundancy.......an who wants to risk it just because they don't like the looks of a power cord? It's just my opinion, but fault tolerance is what you are looking for.........so what good will 2 heaters in the sump be if your return pump fail? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite September 30, 2007 Share September 30, 2007 if the power goes out, aren't both heaters going to go out regardless of where they are? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigJPDC September 30, 2007 Share September 30, 2007 he's saying that the return pump could fail after the power comes back on and the water in the tank will get cold because the heaters are in the sump, and you are away from the tank long enough for something bad to happen. But if the power is back on, won't the house heating (and tank lighting, powerheads, etc) be back on as well, minimizing the temperature swing? Too many ifs in this discussion, and yes power cords really do look that bad. jp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBR September 30, 2007 Author Share September 30, 2007 (edited) Thanks, everyone! I'm not so much worried about power going out, given the 15kW auto-switching generator in the back yard :-) I also have a second return pump (also a Ehiem 1262) that I plan to use for a closed loop one day -- in the mean time, it will serve as a spare for the return pump. My concern/question was more geared toward whether having both heaters in the sump had any unforeseen effects -- can the sump get too warm? I might also imagine that the heaters would not run as often if they were dispersed throughout the system, giving the water less time to cool off. BTW, these heaters have just the little knob to set the temp -- not a separate controller. EDIT -- Oh, and it's a 125g tank and a 30g-ish NAGA sump Matt Edited September 30, 2007 by EBR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dandy7200 September 30, 2007 Share September 30, 2007 http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=17011 JMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBR September 30, 2007 Author Share September 30, 2007 http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=17011 JMO Actually, I saw that thread -- very cool idea. But alas, I don't have nearly the room for such a device -- but again, it's darn cool :-) Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigJPDC September 30, 2007 Share September 30, 2007 My concern/question was more geared toward whether having both heaters in the sump had any unforeseen effects -- can the sump get too warm? I might also imagine that the heaters would not run as often if they were dispersed throughout the system, giving the water less time to cool off. Matt No, two heaters both set to 79 should in theory turn off when they get to 79. Standard advice is to run two undersized heaters instead of one big one - in the event that one sticks 'on', it won't be powerful enough to overheat your tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite October 1, 2007 Share October 1, 2007 No, two heaters both set to 79 should in theory turn off when they get to 79. Standard advice is to run two undersized heaters instead of one big one - in the event that one sticks 'on', it won't be powerful enough to overheat your tank. smart idea... if I ever can keep my tank from overheating as it is, i'll remember to use 2 heaters instead of 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigJPDC October 1, 2007 Share October 1, 2007 Hey thank you Tree. I only have one 100w heater in my sump now, reused the other one for a saltwater mixing vat and it's set to 75, I doubt it's even come on in six months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now