Tracy G March 5, 2013 Share March 5, 2013 How much of a swing to you program into your apex for a heater? Right now I do on at 77 and off at 78? Should I bring that a little closer or does that work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad March 5, 2013 Share March 5, 2013 It doesn't really matter as long as it's consistent, but the most common answer you'll likely hear is probably a 2 degree heat / cool band (e.g., cool on at 81, off at 79 and heat on at 77 and off at 79). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypertech March 5, 2013 Share March 5, 2013 I have a 0.1 threshold for the heater. Light heats it up a couple degrees during the day but at night it stays within .1-.2 of the set point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy G March 5, 2013 Author Share March 5, 2013 I have a 0.1 threshold for the heater. Light heats it up a couple degrees during the day but at night it stays within .1-.2 of the set point.wow that thing would come on and off like mad. Makes it very stable though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypertech March 5, 2013 Share March 5, 2013 I've got it set not to turn on or off for periods less than five minutes. Heaters last fine. I finally replaced my latest one after a couple years out of caution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypertech March 5, 2013 Share March 5, 2013 Oops, that was the old program. New program is 1 min off 10 min on minimums. Fallback OFF If Temp < 76.5 Then ON If Temp > 76.6 Then OFF If Temp < 60.0 Then OFF Defer 000:01 Then ON Defer 000:10 Then OFF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy G March 5, 2013 Author Share March 5, 2013 I'm confused about the >60 part. What does that do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy G March 5, 2013 Author Share March 5, 2013 Sorry <60 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad March 5, 2013 Share March 5, 2013 It's a failsafe. If temperature is that low, there's a severe problem. Usually a statement like that is also tied to the "send me an email if" statement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bandr March 5, 2013 Share March 5, 2013 We just use the heater template with 77 low 78 high. You can tell from the current probe that it generally comes on during the night 4 or five times for about 20 minutes. During the day, when the house is warmer and the lights are on, it rarely comes on. The total max/min delta is about 1.3 degrees One degree is only 1.3% so that seems very stable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy G March 5, 2013 Author Share March 5, 2013 We just use the heater template with 77 low 78 high. You can tell from the current probe that it generally comes on during the night 4 or five times for about 20 minutes. During the day, when the house is warmer and the lights are on, it rarely comes on. The total max/min delta is about 1.3 degrees One degree is only 1.3% so that seems very stable. Mine is in the basement so cools down a bit. Looks like my heater is off for about 1 1/2 hours then comes on for 1 hour and that is for a 1 degree swing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypertech March 5, 2013 Share March 5, 2013 It's a failsafe. If temperature is that low, there's a severe problem. Usually a statement like that is also tied to the "send me an email if" statement. Exactly. If the temp reading is that low the probe has probably gone bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy G March 5, 2013 Author Share March 5, 2013 It's a failsafe. If temperature is that low, there's a severe problem. Usually a statement like that is also tied to the "send me an email if" statement. Oh that makes sense. So like if a heater broke it would stop causing problems. I have a titanium heater so not sure how big of a risk I have for that but seems like a good idea. I may try that program (new to the Apex only had it for a few days). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Weaver March 5, 2013 Share March 5, 2013 Oh that makes sense. So like if a heater broke it would stop causing problems. I have a titanium heater so not sure how big of a risk I have for that but seems like a good idea. I may try that program (new to the Apex only had it for a few days). As said above, when the probe fails, it usually fails to the low side and will read a very low temp. You should have the Apex send you an email/text if the temp falls above or below the min or max temperature of your choosing (1 degree below the lowest and 1 degree above the highest highest temp you usually see, for example.) Then you can be warned of a potential heater failure before the real damage happens. Here is my heater and email alarm program. The heater program is similar to hypertech's I use a 1000W titanium probe for 625 gallons. The tank is in the basement and the sump is on the concrete floor which helps to cool it so it barely ever gets higher than 78.8 so far... Fallback OFF If Temp < 78.5 Then ON If Temp > 78.7 Then OFF If Temp < 70.0 Then OFF And my email/text alarm program. Set OFF If Temp > 80.0 Then ON If Temp < 77.5 Then ON Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami March 5, 2013 Share March 5, 2013 If Temp < 60.0 Then OFF Oh that makes sense. So like if a heater broke it would stop causing problems. I have a titanium heater so not sure how big of a risk I have for that but seems like a good idea. I may try that program (new to the Apex only had it for a few days). Not quite. If the temperature probe on the Apex fails and gives a false reading (assumed to be too low), then this line of code prevents the heater from turning on and possibly cooking the tank. Basically, if you get a ridiculously suspicious reading from any monitoring device, you want to stop, think, and then act. Don't ever act blindly, assuming that your probes are always in working order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy G March 5, 2013 Author Share March 5, 2013 Well my heater has a temp sensor as well even though it is off by 3 degrees. So I imagine if it got stuck on it defaults to 79 degrees so that would be 82 degrees would be when it stopped heating. Nice little added bonus just in case Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami March 5, 2013 Share March 5, 2013 Absolutely. Thinking about failsafes is, I think, an advanced but very necessary part if preserving your reef. (Sent from my phone) 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