Anybody ever link 2 heater controllers

[ShakeyGizzard]

The post has gone very far from the basic question asked. The setup IS an economical way to prevent overheating your tank from stuck on heaters if you have not already spent absorbent amounts of money for an APEX or others. The ambient temp in my house stays stable and not as damaging to the aquarium if the heaters stop functioning completely. Stuck on heaters are tank killers and also fire hazards.

 

[mizimmer90]

The post has gone very far from the basic question asked. The setup IS an economical way to prevent overheating your tank from stuck on heaters if you have not already spent absorbent amounts of money for an APEX or others. The ambient temp in my house stays stable and not as damaging to the aquarium if the heaters stop functioning completely. Stuck on heaters are tank killers and also fire hazards.

If you only have 2 eyes, do you want them looking at eachother or your tank?

In parallel, if one eye goes out, the other is still looking at the tank.

In series, if one eye goes out, both eyes are gone. Also, if the eye that's looking at the other eye goes out, you'll never know.

I think this isn't about economical because these scenarios are the same price. You haven't actually addressed the controllers running in parallel as a form of redundancy (also will save you from cooking your pets with bonus features of protecting against a lower temperature and alerting you to if one controller goes out).

Also, I think 300W heating on a 20 gal tank is too much and an issue on its own. I have a 75W on a 20 gal tank that is overpowered.

 

[ShakeyGizzard]

If you only have 2 eyes, do you want them looking at eachother or your tank?

In parallel, if one eye goes out, the other is still looking at the tank.

In series, if one eye goes out, both eyes are gone. Also, if the eye that's looking at the other eye goes out, you'll never know.

I think this isn't about economical because these scenarios are the same price. You haven't actually addressed the controllers running in parallel as a form of redundancy (also will save you from cooking your pets with bonus features of protecting against a lower temperature and alerting you to if one controller goes out).

Also, I think 300W heating on a 20 gal tank is too much and an issue on its own. I have a 75W on a 20 gal tank that is overpowered.

who puts 300w of heat in a 20g ? not me, as stated repeatedly I need this only for over heat protection.

 

[mizimmer90]

who puts 300w of heat in a 20g ? not me, as stated repeatedly I need this only for over heat protection.

Check below

I run 100 and 200 w heaters

This also doesn't sound economical?

 

[ShakeyGizzard]

Check below



This also doesn't sound economical?

I have a 20L for my sump, only 20g I got

 

[BeanAnimal]

The post has gone very far from the basic question asked. The setup IS an economical way to prevent overheating your tank from stuck on heaters if you have not already spent absorbent amounts of money for an APEX or others. The ambient temp in my house stays stable and not as damaging to the aquarium if the heaters stop functioning completely. Stuck on heaters are tank killers and also fire hazards.

Firstly, you didn't ask a question. You simply posted your setup for comment.

Secondly, I am not sure that I would define "economical" as buying a new controller every year.

Running the controllers in series is certainly valid, but as stated (and you don't care) you DOUBLE the probability of a single point failure preventing the tank from being heated. As it were, with a quality RANCO or similar, the FAIL-ON (welded contacts or physical breaker where the armature arm falls into contact position) probability is infinitely lower than the FAIL-OFF (motor coil failure or carbon burnt contacts).

Happy Reefing - I have nothing more to add here.

 

[cdnco2004]

The post has gone very far from the basic question asked. The setup IS an economical way to prevent overheating your tank from stuck on heaters if you have not already spent absorbent amounts of money for an APEX or others. The ambient temp in my house stays stable and not as damaging to the aquarium if the heaters stop functioning completely. Stuck on heaters are tank killers and also fire hazards.

No its NOT economical way to prevent over heating.

 

[Simon_M]

Are stuck "on" heaters only a result of the bimetallic temperature sensing part sticking "on" or do "electronic" versions also have a similar failure mode? Does a controller fail because the relay switching the heater is sticking in the "on" position or is there another reason why they fail?

 

[jda]

Below is the answer to you question... Ranco Controller, Eheim Heaters with their own thermostats and many of them so that no one can overheat your tank. Cheap, super reliable and three levels of very well proven protection.

The only thing better than this is a Ranco => Ranco => Heaters with Thermostats (good ones) => More Undersized ones. This is 4 levels, but not necessary.

Heck a Ranco alone is probably better than anything else out there that I can think of. There are other industrial Temp Controllers that are good too, but I have not used any... maybe I will try one when my Ranco fails after I am dead.

You don’t need two controllers or to replace them yearly. Buy a single ranco and use it to control two parallel undersized heaters. Use the heater’s built in thermostat as the fail safe. If you want more redundancy use two parallel controllers with a single undersized heater each or two 1/4 sizes heaters each. Again, use the on board thermostats as fail-safes, not controls. Series controllers just creates a higher probability of single point failure.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Are stuck "on" heaters only a result of the bimetallic temperature sensing part sticking "on" or do "electronic" versions also have a similar failure mode? Does a controller fail because the relay switching the heater is sticking in the "on" position or is there another reason why they fail?

bimetallic failure where the broken pieces falls into a shorting position is the most common followed by welded shut due to weakened spring action causing a sustained arc.

Mechanical relays can weld shut in some cases but usually fail with NO contacts open.

Electronic Controllers would typically use an SCR and those fail closed 99.9% of the time, leaving the load powered unless the circuit has fail-safe. A cheap temp controller will certainly not be fail-safe