Even heaters baffle me.....

[Jon Fishman]

This is frustrating because this is supposed to be one of the “simple” pieces of equipment.

Basically my heater hasn’t worked pretty much since the day I got it......

Attached is the heater/controller I have for it:

It’s kinda sad..... my order history says I got these in MAY and I am just now asking this!!!

I have the heater in the “heating” of course, and the temp thresholds are set, and it has even alarmed before, but heater has never come on and heated anything!

I plan to plug a fan in the heating outlet, dropping the thermometer in a cold glass of water, seeing if the fan kicks on (power to the heater) to make sure the controller works, and also just plugging the thermometer into an active outlet to see if it heats up, but I believe I did that when I got it and it did.

Assuming it is the controller either A) not working, or B) not setup properly....... what can I do?

Is there a “common mistake” made with the setup of this controller? I know it’s a pretty common used unit

Also, with my Apex and Temp probe, can I plug the heater (again, assuming it’s not the faulty link here) into my EB8 and have my Apex turn on/off my heater based on the Apex Probe reading? What does that programming look like, assuming 77 degrees +\- 1.5 degrees is what I want go shoot for?

Of course I wait until October to troubleshoot my heater!

Is it common for a DOA thermostat? Wish I didn’t get it way back in May!


Thanks, as usual, for helping me with the most basic of basics!

 

[motortrendz]

I'm pretty sure you need to set the temp with an actual thermometer. I have the same heater but I use a reefeeper as my controller.

 

[Jon Fishman]

I'm pretty sure you need to set the temp with an actual thermometer. I have the same heater but I use a reefeeper as my controller.

I looked up Reefkeeper controller on Amazon and all Inkbirds popped up! Have a link?

Edit: I can only find a light-sensor thing

 

[motortrendz]

I think they stopped making them. I'm sure if you post a want to buy on here someone will have one fairly cheap. I use the reef keeper lite. Basically it runs, my heater, and I power my lights though it so if the temp gets too high itll turn off the lights temporarily. And it only allows my top off to run at certain times a day.

 

[Crabs McJones]

To answer your question above, you can plug your heater directly into an outlet on the EB832, then go into fusion and setup that outlet as a heater. Itll ask you what you want the temp to be and itll kick on and off the heater as needed
You can have a minumim temp and a maximum temp. I have mine keep it within 1/10th of a degree

I've heard both good and bad things about the inkbird, but have no personal experience with it so I cannot comment on that.

But if you want to test the heater itself, plug it into a known working outlet and see if it gets warm (while in water of course) once you feel it start getting warm unplug it and let it sit for a few minutes to cool down. Then you'll know the heater is functioning

Hope this helps

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

This is frustrating because this is supposed to be one of the “simple” pieces of equipment.

Basically my heater hasn’t worked pretty much since the day I got it......

Attached is the heater/controller I have for it:

It’s kinda sad..... my order history says I got these in MAY and I am just now asking this!!!

I have the heater in the “heating” of course, and the temp thresholds are set, and it has even alarmed before, but heater has never come on and heated anything!

I plan to plug a fan in the heating outlet, dropping the thermometer in a cold glass of water, seeing if the fan kicks on (power to the heater) to make sure the controller works, and also just plugging the thermometer into an active outlet to see if it heats up, but I believe I did that when I got it and it did.

Assuming it is the controller either A) not working, or B) not setup properly....... what can I do?

Is there a “common mistake” made with the setup of this controller? I know it’s a pretty common used unit

Also, with my Apex and Temp probe, can I plug the heater (again, assuming it’s not the faulty link here) into my EB8 and have my Apex turn on/off my heater based on the Apex Probe reading? What does that programming look like, assuming 77 degrees +\- 1.5 degrees is what I want go shoot for?

Of course I wait until October to troubleshoot my heater!

Is it common for a DOA thermostat? Wish I didn’t get it way back in May!


Thanks, as usual, for helping me with the most basic of basics!

Don't forget, it may have a differential setting. May take a few degrees before coming on.

 

[hllb]

I have the wifi version of the Ink Bird. The only thing I can suggest is make sure your heater is turned up. Most heaters (I didn't check that model you have) have an internal thermostat on them that will kick them on or off. Make sure the heater is turned up or even given power, it won't kick on and heat the water. I turned mine up to about 80, as my target temp was 78. That should mean that when the ink bird kicks the heater outlet on, the heater will be trying to heat the water to 80. Then, once the water hits 78, the ink bird will cut the outlet off. Many of the heaters have incorrect dials on them, that don't really correspond to the right temperature. I think you could turn it all the way up, and as long as the ink bird is functioning properly, it would cut the power to the heater and prevent overheating.

But I definitely like your idea to validate that the ink bird is working first.

 

[hllb]

Don't forget, it may have a differential setting. May take a few degrees before coming on.

Yes, the ink bird does have a differential setting. Mine was defaulted to 3 degrees. I changed the heat one to a 1 degree differential.

 

[Scurvy]

The differential was pretty wide by default on the Inkbird. I struggled with mine a while too using a 300 watt finnex. Wound up kicking it and just using the Apex as Crabs McJones describes above.

 

[homer1475]

Same heater and I use mine with an apex. Best heater I have ever owned.

It's dirt simple to setup in fusion as long as you tell it to use a heater wizard, just set the on and off temps. Apex keeps my temps within .5 degrees

 

[Jon Fishman]

To answer your question above, you can plug your heater directly into an outlet on the EB832, then go into fusion and setup that outlet as a heater. Itll ask you what you want the temp to be and itll kick on and off the heater as needed
You can have a minumim temp and a maximum temp. I have mine keep it within 1/10th of a degree

I've heard both good and bad things about the inkbird, but have no personal experience with it so I cannot comment on that.

But if you want to test the heater itself, plug it into a known working outlet and see if it gets warm (while in water of course) once you feel it start getting warm unplug it and let it sit for a few minutes to cool down. Then you'll know the heater is functioning

Hope this helps

Yes!!!! this is great! Thanks!


Also, I did change all the differentials etc. No dice

I don’t think that particular heater has its’ own thermostat AT ALL. I think it is all on or off..... I will double check, but no knobs etc at all. Description said it needed a controller, so I thought it was a perfect match. Maybe it is defective. Another handful of cash in the bottomless pit of my tank!

I will try out a few things. I need to climb around the cabinet anyways..... haven’t done that since this morning

 

[homer1475]

No that finnex heater has no temp controler of any kind. If you plug it into a live outlet it will just continute to heat until it's unplugged.

 

[motortrendz]

I will eventually upgrade to the apex once my rkl dies. Or when I go to a bigger tank I'll use the rkl and heater on a different tank.. but I always use a separate controller and never trust the heater thermostat by itself.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Yes!!!! this is great! Thanks!


Also, I did change all the differentials etc. No dice

I don’t think that particular heater has its’ own thermostat AT ALL. I think it is all on or off..... I will double check, but no knobs etc at all. Description said it needed a controller, so I thought it was a perfect match. Maybe it is defective. Another handful of cash in the bottomless pit of my tank!

I will try out a few things. I need to climb around the cabinet anyways..... haven’t done that since this morning

Correct, the finnex titanium has no internal thermostat. It's simply on off based on the power source
So when you go to test it, it should get warm immediately if plugged into a live outlet

 

[ca1ore]

Can an individual EB832 outlet handle 800 watts? Maybe it can - I’m not home to check.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Can an individual EB832 outlet handle 800 watts? Maybe it can - I’m not home to check.

Good lord I didnt even see that the heater was 800 watts. Good question! Nothing of it is mentioned in the comprehensive guide, just that on the EB8 can handle 5 amps per outlet.
Is the inkbird able to handle that much? Might be why its potentially not functioning?

 

[Crabs McJones]

Looks like outlet 4 or 8 should be able to handle it per neptune;

On the label for each piece of equipment, you will see a value for how much current it can draw. It is usually listed in Amps, which is often abbreviated as "A", like 1.5A. If it is listed only is watts, then divide the watts rating by the voltage (120 for North America) to get an approximation of Amps.

For example, let's say you have a 300 watt heater and a 1000 watt heater.

300 / 120 = 2.5
1000 / 120 = 8.3

That 300 watt heater draws about 2.5 Amps, so it can be used in any EnergyBar outlet. The 1000w heater though, at 8.3 Amps, exceeds the maximum load of 5 Amps for outlets 1-3 & 5-7 on an EB8. So you'd must use that heater on EB8 outlet 4 or 8.

Outlet specs are listed in the EnergyBar manuals (https://www.neptunesystems.com/support/docs/) and also in this sticky: https://forum.neptunesystems.com/sho...rs-and-outlets

 

[Jon Fishman]

4 or 8. Got it!

 

[mattdg]

I've run 3 x 300 watt heaters on the Inkbird ITC-308 for an entire season, in a cold basement. So far, so good. I do have a backup unit and set the internal thermostats on the heaters being controlled at 82 F, just in case the controller mailfunctions. Also, I think it's important to calibrate these units with a more accurate thermometer, set the internal high temp alarm and encase the stainless steel sensor in silicon before installing.

 

[ca1ore]

I had a couple of inkbirds that I ended up trashing. Got to put a sleeve on the probe otherwise it drifts badly. I do seem to recall that it claims to handle north of 1,000 watts. If you do put 800 watts on the proper outlets on EB4/8/832 make sure to stay below the total wattage limit of 1,500 for the entire unit.

All outlets on the EB832 are 7 amps; 800 heater is 6.7 amps .... a bit too close fir comfort for me. Better to use the 10 amp outlets on the older EB4/8.