Finnex HPG Heater

[SENOREIDA]

So I bought a HPG Heater about 3 months ago from BRS. It has been working great until two nights ago, the tank is set at 78, and it use to hold that temperature. Monday I woke up, and my tank was at 71. I threw a beat up heater I had lying around, and had to unplug my refugium light and was able to raise the temperature to 78, but it took all day to do that. I unplugged the old heater at around 7, and only ran the HPG, and the temperature was steady until I went to sleep at 11. I woke up this morning to the tank at 73. Clearly there is something wrong with the heater. Is this a normal problem? Does anyone know if BRS, or Finnex has a warranty?

 

[TheEngineer]

What size heater, what size tank and what’s the temp in the room?

 

[SENOREIDA]

200w heater, 75 gallons, HVAC is on a program. Gets down to 70 at night, and runs at 74 since my wife is home.

 

[TheEngineer]

That’s the problem. Your heater is under powered. You should add a second 200W heater and you’ll be set.

 

[SENOREIDA]

That’s the problem. Your heater is under powered. You should add a second 200W heater and you’ll be set.

Is it normal for it to work fine, then all of a sudden after a couple of months stop working as effectively?

 

[TheEngineer]

Was the room warmer or the humidity higher previously?

 

[SENOREIDA]

Was the room warmer or the humidity higher previously?

It has been relatively stable the whole summer, minus a heat wave in the South East back in June, where the house hit 80 during the day, with a 110 Heat Index outside. But other than that yes, the temperature has been stable, both inside the aquarium, and inside of the house.

 

[TheEngineer]

Just luck then I suppose. With your tank stats you need ~230W to maintain temp. You’re always going to be behind.

 

[SENOREIDA]

Just luck then I suppose. With your tank stats you need ~230W to maintain temp. You’re always going to be behind.

Thank you for your help!

 

[BZOFIQ]

If you have a controller, put two heaters in, set one a degree lower than the other. If one could manage to keep the temp up the second one will not come on. If the first one is falling behind or failing the second heater will kick in. You always want 2 smaller heaters instead of one large. So, instead of a 300W heater which the 75 Gallons probably needs given how your A/C runs at night and there are no lights over the tank at the time, get 2 x 200W and you'll be set.

That said, the heater could be defective as well. Over past 2 decades I've pretty much have had a failed heater from every brand out there. Take it out of the sump, plug it into a GFCI outlet and place it in a bucket of water. Raise the TEMP on the heater and see if it gets hot, allow it to cool down before removing and transferring back to the sump.

Little over 2 years ago I had heater that would sometimes work and sometimes it would not. I kept on looking at the heater and the light would come on. So I plugged a kill-a-watt meter inline and discovered that a 300W heater drew almost no amps. I threw it out and bought a trio of jagers that I set in stages on a controller. Performing as they should, very solid heaters so far.

 

[roberthu526]

That’s the problem. Your heater is under powered. You should add a second 200W heater and you’ll be set.

200W heater is under rated for a 75 gallon? I think it is more than enough.

 

[TheEngineer]

200W heater is under rated for a 75 gallon? I think it is more than enough.

In a 70 degree room? Math would disagree with your thought.

 

[roberthu526]

In a 70 degree room? Math would disagree with your thought.

Would a glass cover help then? This makes me rethink my new system.

 

[TheEngineer]

Would a glass cover help then? This makes me rethink my new system.

Quite a bit, yes! Heat is lost, primarily, three ways from our systems: convective/conductive heat transfer, radiation heat transfer, and evaporative heat transfer. It's that last one, evaporative, that is helped the most by a glass cover. Evaporation can remove hundreds of BTUs of heat an hour.

There's a really detailed article about this in advanced aquarist here: https://www.advancedaquarist.com/2009/7/aafeature1

 

[Stigigemla]

I have a customer with a tank that suddenly got gold when it was getting hot outside.
It was the air condition blowing down on the watersurface. He just changed the direction of the air flow and the problem was solved.