Critique my temp swing!

[mjt82]

Do you guys/gals see this as excessive? This is over one day on my Apex. I'm concerned that his may be contributing to (or atleast not helping) some instability in my tank. Please, opine!

 

[Reefer Reboot]

+/- .55 degrees (1.1 degree total), no big deal. You have a consistent little swing each day, probably driven by lights. It's fine IMO.

 

[Waters]

Is it due to your heater programming or just normal fluctuations? Either way, it is not that big of a deal but if it is due to heater programming, you can make that swing almost non-existent if you want but adjusting the on/off times of your heater. Mine is always within .5 of a degree. Yes, it cycles your heater(s) on and off a lot, but I like the stability.

 

[ZoWhat]

Nothing to critique here... +/- 1deg is as tight as you can get.

I will say that the older your Apex temp probe is.... the more off-the-slope it becomes. My probe is 5-7yrs old, cant remember. I calibrated it against a professional Hanna Temp probe and Apex said 78.x and it was actually 76.x

Just sayin

 

[ca1ore]

Temp swing in that range is really no big deal. Many of the temperature controllers have 1 or even 2 degree setbacks.

 

[mjt82]

+/- .55 degrees (1.1 degree total), no big deal. You have a consistent little swing each day, probably driven by lights. It's fine IMO.

Just to be clear, the picture above is over a 24 hour period. Still think I’m OK there?

 

[mjt82]

Is it due to your heater programming or just normal fluctuations? Either way, it is not that big of a deal but if it is due to heater programming, you can make that swing almost non-existent if you want but adjusting the on/off times of your heater. Mine is always within .5 of a degree. Yes, it cycles your heater(s) on and off a lot, but I like the stability.

I thought about tightening it up some! I’m using 3 x 300 watt Finnex titanium heaters. I could probably set parameters on the controllers and Apex to tighten it down a bit more, but that was my concern: excessive power cycling of the heaters!

 

[Reefer Reboot]

Okay yeah, I see what your concerned about. I admit I was looking at the smaller lower graph. So I would agree that it is probably a heater issue turning on and off. But it is still a small swing and most likely within the threshold settings controlling the heater. Are you controlling the heater by the Apex or by the heaters own controller? Oops, just read the above post, they got you covered.

 

[Sailingeric]

If you have been in the ocean, the temps can very a few degrees in a matter of minutes and the wind, current, waves and tides can bring in cooler or warm water eddies. Yours is over 6 hours periods, I am sure fish and coral hardly notice.

 

[ca1ore]

I thought about tightening it up some! I’m using 3 x 300 watt Finnex titanium heaters. I could probably set parameters on the controllers and Apex to tighten it down a bit more, but that was my concern: excessive power cycling of the heaters!

With the finnex, I'd not worry about cycling them. Don't think there's much in there to damage. 1.1 F is really no biggie though. I wonder, are you using a ranco controller? Setback on that can be adjusted. When set to a value of two, the difference between the setpoints is 1.1 F. If you set it to a value of one, then the differential is 0.1 F. With my chiller, I set the Ranco to a 1.1 F because rapid cycling IS bad for a compressor. Not so much for a resistive heater.

 

[mjt82]

With the finnex, I'd not worry about cycling them. Don't think there's much in there to damage. 1.1 F is really no biggie though. I wonder, are you using a ranco controller? Setback on that can be adjusted. When set to a value of two, the difference between the setpoints is 1.1 F. If you set it to a value of one, then the differential is 0.1 F. With my chiller, I set the Ranco to a 1.1 F because rapid cycling IS bad for a compressor. Not so much for a resistive heater.

I’m just using my Apex to control it currently!

 

[Waters]

I thought about tightening it up some! I’m using 3 x 300 watt Finnex titanium heaters. I could probably set parameters on the controllers and Apex to tighten it down a bit more, but that was my concern: excessive power cycling of the heaters!

I have come to learn that heaters are pretty much disposable items anyways. If it breaks, I just buy whatever is available and plug it in. As long as it is on the controller, it doesn't really matter. That being said, I have been using the same heater for over a year now, keeping the temp within .5 degrees. I have enough other stuff to try and keep stable...the stuff that is easy I will take advantage of lol.