Cobalt Heater with JBJ Controller

[Larry L]

It even seems to be suggested in their ratings:

Again, no idea how to compare these manufacturer recommendations without knowing what parameters they used. Maybe Eheim assumes you keep your tank at 3 degrees above room temp, and maybe Cobalt assumes you keep your tank at 10 degrees above room temp. Maybe Eheim assumes your tank loses 2 degrees of heat per hour, and maybe Cobalt assumes your tank loses 8 degrees of heat per hour.

If each of them actually draws 300 watts, and both of them are fully submerged, there's no place else for that 300 watts to go except as heat into your water.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Yep

Thanks for the info! I really appreciate it!!

 

[joec]

yes, and it should not deviate much at all with the Cobalt

 

[NY_Caveman]

I was considering running mine the other way. Set the Cobalts (2x150 W) at 80* and then the InkBird controller to 79*. My feeling is if the Cobalts fail it will be the thermostat that goes. The way I have it set up they will never even use their thermostats unless the InkBird controller fails.

EDIT: all on a 45 gallon tank in NY.

 

[Servopkg]

I was considering running mine the other way. Set the Cobalts (2x150 W) at 80* and then the InkBird controller to 79*. My feeling is if the Cobalts fail it will be the thermostat that goes. The way I have it set up they will never even use their thermostats unless the InkBird controller fails.

EDIT: all on a 45 gallon tank in NY.

How did this way work out for you? Was it ok for the colbalt power cycle so frequently as it was being turned off by the InkBird controller? I have a Cobalt and no controller but considering it so wanted to gauge the different options.

 

[Weasel1960]

@Crabs McJones and others.
my questions are in regards to one of the earlier responses...if the temperature gets to “X” IT KILLS THE POWER. Once the power to the heater has been cut, what turns it back on? Or is that a manual inspection of the heater first? Living in Wisconsin I wouldn’t want to be without heat too long, yes I will put redundancy into my system, can that be half, 1/3, of the main heater? Thanks in advance.

 

[Crabs McJones]

@Crabs McJones and others.
my questions are in regards to one of the earlier responses...if the temperature gets to “X” IT KILLS THE POWER. Once the power to the heater has been cut, what turns it back on? Or is that a manual inspection of the heater first? Living in Wisconsin I wouldn’t want to be without heat too long, yes I will put redundancy into my system, can that be half, 1/3, of the main heater? Thanks in advance.

A thermostat regulates the electrical input. So when x temp has been reached it kills power to the heater. When the temp falls it kicks the heater back on.

 

[Weasel1960]

So it’s self regulating power within the controller via the controllers t’stat? If so then what do you actually set the heater to because it has a built in t’stat also doesn’t it? Sorry if these questions seem dumb and obvious, trying to understand how all this equipment works together before I start buying and setting up. 30 years ago most hobbyists had fish only no controllers etc. This is a whole new learning curve for me.