steveoutlaw November 3, 2013 November 3, 2013 I came across a couple of Finnex titanium heaters with the digital controllers. Since I don't trust thermostats, I'm going to be plugging them into my controller as well for a failsafe. I know they had troubles years back, but I didn't see any issues recently. Anyone had any experience with these?
smallreef November 3, 2013 November 3, 2013 Got one on my tank...with the control...really like it It's only about .5 degrees off but consistent...
zygote2k November 4, 2013 November 4, 2013 I have first hand knowledge that these heaters are cheap and were the direct cause of a big fire which caused about $40k in damages.
sachabballi reef November 4, 2013 November 4, 2013 I use them in both my tanks and hooked up to apex...mine are same as kims...0.5 off..but knock on wood haven't had an issue and I have had plenty with virtually every other brand.
zygote2k November 4, 2013 November 4, 2013 Having seen what a cheap heater looks like inside and out by a forensics expert clearly showed me that I simply cannot trust the name behind the heater.
monkiboy November 4, 2013 November 4, 2013 what the frick. rob where are you when i'm asking for feedback (http://wamas.org/forums/topic/56430-monkiboys-265g-build-thread/?p=539138), haha? i wanted to run the cobalt electronic thermostatic heaters but they don't make them large enough yet and the biggest ones are impossible to find in stock. so yes, as evan said, what heaters do you suggest rob?
BowieReefer84 November 4, 2013 November 4, 2013 I like these: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=23726 If you need to run two, then run two...
sen5241b November 4, 2013 November 4, 2013 I bought a visi term titanium over 2 years ago and it runs absolutley fine. I'm looking for a new one now cuase I don't want to wait for heaters gone wild. MORE SUGGESTIONS?
trockafella November 4, 2013 November 4, 2013 I use the the finnex as well, not the digital and the built in thermostat sucks, but other than that its been fine for almost 2 years. Like others I use it with my AC3.
AlanM November 4, 2013 November 4, 2013 I have one in my mixing tank. Was ok with it being unreliable, but not if it catches fire! I keep wondering if it would work to just wrap heat tape around the drain and return PVC and plug it into the Apex to control. It is about 5W per foot, so it wouldnt get really hot, but then you wouldnt have any heater electricity in the water at all.
zygote2k November 5, 2013 November 5, 2013 what the frick. rob where are you when i'm asking for feedback (http://wamas.org/forums/topic/56430-monkiboys-265g-build-thread/?p=539138), haha? i wanted to run the cobalt electronic thermostatic heaters but they don't make them large enough yet and the biggest ones are impossible to find in stock. so yes, as evan said, what heaters do you suggest rob? Not likely for me to have seen it in a 30 page thread but those EXACT heaters are the ones that caused a massive fire. The control boxes are poorly sealed against moisture, the cord junction where it goes into the box is poorly insulated and the auto-shutoff when no water around heater works after a few minutes instead of instantly. In a test, this heater got glowing hot when exposed to air and started to fume, then melt, then ignite acrylic in less than 3 minutes. They come with this POS mounting bracket that melted. Stay far away from this heater. FWIW, I just finished cleaning a tank that had a Visitherm stick on and cooked all the corals and inverts but only half the fish. The heater had water inside too. Submersible heater.... I have been using Ebo Jagers for years and haven't had any issues with them. We have dozens of them in service now. All heaters can malfunction, so to keep things easier and safer, just replace the heater every 3-5 years. $100 every 3 years or a possible cooked tank that could run into the thousands...
monkiboy November 5, 2013 November 5, 2013 Not likely for me to have seen it in a 30 page thread but those EXACT heaters are the ones that caused a massive fire. The control boxes are poorly sealed against moisture, the cord junction where it goes into the box is poorly insulated and the auto-shutoff when no water around heater works after a few minutes instead of instantly. In a test, this heater got glowing hot when exposed to air and started to fume, then melt, then ignite acrylic in less than 3 minutes. They come with this POS mounting bracket that melted. Stay far away from this heater. FWIW, I just finished cleaning a tank that had a Visitherm stick on and cooked all the corals and inverts but only half the fish. The heater had water inside too. Submersible heater.... I have been using Ebo Jagers for years and haven't had any issues with them. We have dozens of them in service now. All heaters can malfunction, so to keep things easier and safer, just replace the heater every 3-5 years. $100 every 3 years or a possible cooked tank that could run into the thousands... are you talking about the controller? i don't think most folks are using the controller rather have the heater directly hooked up to their controller. if that's what you meant then that solves that problem. on the exposed to air thing, isn't that common sense to not have a heater exposed to air? i can't imagine a situation that a heater in a sump would be exposed unless installed in the return section and you'd have to have quite a few issues before that happened. my 800w finnex heaters didn't come with any mounting brackets so i can't speak to them. i'm not concerned with the heaters sticking on/off as the apex will take care of shutting it down if necessary. the issue i was concerned with was your mention of the fire hazard but that as i understand it is with the controller not the heater itself, unless it is exposed to air which i can't think of a situation it would ever be. perhaps if the sump develops a leak but then you got much bigger issues, haha. i totally agree on replacing heaters. it's a minimal maintenance cost vs the possible alternative consequence.
zygote2k November 5, 2013 November 5, 2013 'most' folks just buy it and use it without knowing that they are buying a potential catastrophe. having seen it first hand is enough info for me to never buy this brand.
Origami November 5, 2013 November 5, 2013 Like Steve, I read about a lot of problems with heaters from the likes of Finnex and Won Brothers years ago. I've heard less of late, but it's enough for me not to consider them when other, better choices are available. Like Rob, I'm using Jager heaters these days in view of a long record of relatively uneventful use. Sent from my Rezound on Tachyon using Tapatalk
Der ABT November 5, 2013 November 5, 2013 i know what heaters im not buying anymore....of course i just bought two of them (one for mixing water so i dont use it for very long or unsupervised) still scary stuff.
sen5241b November 6, 2013 November 6, 2013 There really doesn't seem to be much consensus here on heaters.
zygote2k November 6, 2013 November 6, 2013 There really doesn't seem to be much consensus here on heaters. Lots of people are using Ebo Jagers....
ctenophore November 6, 2013 November 6, 2013 I also have had very bad experience with Finnex, especially the 800w versions. I had 5 of 5 fail within a few months, even when plugged into Ranco controllers. I use Ebo Jager for my small tanks, and a heat pump for my big tank. I wish I could advise everyone to use a heat pump but they are only made for large systems. The smallest I know of is Aqualogic's 1HP model which is a very well made but pricey (2500) piece of equipment. Maybe it's time to explore using TECs for heating small tanks in a closed loop heat pump type design.
sachabballi reef November 6, 2013 November 6, 2013 I don't use the 800 ones but 2 smaller ones and really like them...that said my 2 back ups on the shelf are jagers... Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk
Origami November 6, 2013 November 6, 2013 Maybe it's time to explore using TECs for heating small tanks in a closed loop heat pump type design. Neat idea, but efficiency would be poor. One benefit of resistive heaters is their 100% efficiency in converting power to heat.
ctenophore November 6, 2013 November 6, 2013 Neat idea, but efficiency would be poor. One benefit of resistive heaters is their 100% efficiency in converting power to heat. True but the tradeoffs of being solid state and very tight temperature control (+/- 0.1 degree) might make up for this. Plus I think the efficiency in heating mode is much better than cooling, since the waste heat can be used. The components would make it a lot more expensive than a conventional heater though, which would drastically limit the market.
monkiboy November 6, 2013 November 6, 2013 I also have had very bad experience with Finnex, especially the 800w versions. I had 5 of 5 fail within a few months, even when plugged into Ranco controllers. this is hunting me now...i have two 800w versions. i'm returning them given the advice of rob and yourself now specifically with two i was going to use. like you said the jagers aren't high power enough for my needs. any recommendations for a 425g+ setup? i was really trying to avoid having to run two or three smaller ones to keep the temperature stable but if that's the word, that's what i'll go with. thanks for your input, justin!
steveoutlaw November 6, 2013 Author November 6, 2013 Marcos - Take a look at Dan's old build thread here. He made a nice little heater thingy for his: http://wamas.org/forums/topic/18747-dandy7200s-400g-sps-tank/
monkiboy November 6, 2013 November 6, 2013 Marcos - Take a look at Dan's old build thread here. He made a nice little heater thingy for his: http://wamas.org/forums/topic/18747-dandy7200s-400g-sps-tank/ thank you, sir. i'll check it out soon for heater thingy ideas later today.
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