Lets talk heaters....

[DMD123]

Replaced one of the Aquarium Masters heaters with a Finnex today. Hung the temp controller on the wall above the tank. Did a 500 watt on this 90 which seems to be just right for the read out to actually be real temp. Im going to watch it for the next couple days before I replace the next ones.

 

[John58Ford]

I really like the design of those finnex. The aquatop heaters I use are pretty similar.

I fear the bad component I've found in my failed heaters has typically been the power relay, not as big of a deal in the externally switched units like that finnex or my aquatop units but disastrous in the internally switched I've used when they have failed. Knowing this I think I may switch mostly to external controllers with solid state heaters like the inkbird units. I currently have one inkbird set up as a backup on my sump heaters but when they kick the bucket I think I'm going to let the inkbird do the heavy lifting.

Do you have secondary heater controls in place on some of your tanks? Example of mine, inkbird 2 gang ITC set to minimum trigger of 74, maximum trigger of 86, powered by the inkbird is one internal heater set to 78, and another set to 80. The inkbird always thinks it's supposed to be heating so it leaves the relay closed, and the heaters do what switched heaters do; both turn on by 2 degrees low of the called for temp, turn off one degree above the called for temp. In theory if one of the heaters stuck on it would only run up to 86, then slowly cool to 74. During the "cool down" all the heater temperature indicators would be off and I would likely notice the issue though maybe I should add a cheapo temp alert unit. I found running 2 heaters side by side in the high flow area my sump is, that setting one a couple degrees low reduced "slamming (simultaneous activation/temp surging) cycles" and kept my temperature curve smoother/slower while still having the extra wattage that's required when the room cools down too much.

Do any of you use temp alert units?

 

[DMD123]

I have considered external controllers but have not tried it yet. Maybe in the future.

 

[DMD123]

Officially trashed four of the 300 watt Aquarium Masters heaters due to the digital readout going out. Now I have one left, a 200 watt. I think I will buy a replacement for it.

So far Ive replaced all the heaters with Finnex titanium and these have external digital readout and so far so good.

 

[DMD123]

Very happy with the conversation to the Finnex heaters in the garage. Likely will get one for the 46 bowfront too. I never did set up the new in box Fluval T-series, so I made it a back up emergency heater along with one Fluval E-series. Though I am tempted to buy extra Finnex as back ups.

So at the moment running 4 of the 500 watt units and 2 of the 300 watt. So far so good…

 

[MattArmstrong]

The other day noticed this on the Finnex site, talking about the T-series, from https://www.finnex.net/finnex-titanium-aquarium-heaters-digital-controller:

Please Note: Additional heating units may be required and discouraged from using in extraordinary setups (where warranty may be void) not limited to: Applications outside of standard aquarium use, basement setups, garage setups, ponds, outdoor use, greenhouses, extreme temperature conditions, etc.

I'm not sure what to make of this warranty disclaimer, given the long established history of basement/garage fish rooms.

 

[sir_keith]

It seems to me that if the space is heated, and it's not used for vehicle storage, it is no longer a garage. And virtually all of the basement fish rooms I've seen over the years have actually been heated to higher temperatures than the house proper. But who knows? That said, one could argue that if you're worried about the heater's warranty, you've bought the wrong heater.

 

[lloyd378]

That is an interesting warranty. I do not have any finnex heaters, but if I did, they would all be used in my “house” tanks. Haha

 

[DMD123]

Finnex warranty is an absolute joke. I had purchased another higher end Finnex and it was defective out of the box. Essentially the sensor was telling the heater it was out of the water. No matter what I did it would not work. Contacted the seller who pawned me off on Finnex warranty. They started the process with guidance on trying the heater again, with instructions on resetting it. Did what they said, still defective. Contacted again and they said I needed to send the heater to them to test. I pushed for a call tag which they said they would send and then all communication stopped. Multiple emails with no answers from Finnex, led me back to the seller who also dropped the ball. I had to resort to contacting Visa who refunded me since both the seller and warranty didn’t uphold anything they said.

All that said, I do like the series of heater I am currently using from them. So far all 6 are running smoothly.

 

[Oscars Rule]

This is just my experience in the last few years I had been using the AA heaters and Hygger. And I really like the AA, I have 3 500 watts right now in my 125, 75 and 45 and 2 of them have working for year one broke just broke a few days ago and the customer service is the best a couple emails and the sent one and its already here. It has a nice screen, easy controls and safety features. Big fan of AA and Hygger but AA has my vote.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

My preferred brand is having spares lol

It's going to fail, at some point Sure, there are much higher quality brands. But they all fail if I drain the aquarium and forget to unplug the heater lol

I don't have much brand loyalty these days. I don't even have a Subaru at the moment lol