Heater question

[Pacman171930]

Hello

okay so I set up a new Red Sea reefer xl525. I have put in 2 eheim 250W heaters on a inkbird Itc-306t heater controller. but I can not get my temps above 77 degrees Fahrenheit. I have my controller set to 79 Degrees and both heaters to 81. I do live in a colder climate but it’s not cold in my house. Any suggestions on getting my temp up would be greatly appreciated.
thanks

 

[redfishbluefish]

I'm going to guess that the new heaters weren't calibrated. Not overly important if you're using a ccontroller.

Now, when it's not yet up to temperature, is the little red light still on inside the heater? I'm guess it's not. what I'm saying is the heater is dictating the max temperature, and not the controller. Simply turn the heater up to a higher temperature. The controller will turn it on and off, so you're safe.

 

[Deezill]

I had that same problem with the itc-306a. My T1 is 78.5 and my T2 is 79.0 so there is only a 0.5 differential. I simply turned up my heater way past the mark where i wanted like my heater is set to 85
but the temp on my tank is 78.5 and it fluctuates between 78.5 and 79
I did have to recal my heater though Jager says i should not have to. Yeah right i have two in my 210 300 and another which i forget the wattage but its like 150 i think.

 

[Pacman171930]

The little Red lights are on that’s why I do not understand.

 

[Pacman171930]

I will try turning the temp up on my heaters to 85 and see if that works thanks for your guys help

 

[NS Mike D]

If not aleady done: separate them in low to mid flow areas. Keep the inkbird probe away from them

check the inkbird probe reading with a reliably calibrated thermometer.

 

[redfishbluefish]

500 watts of heaters should be enough in a regular temperature living space. One more....what's the temperature of the room the tank/sump are in?

 

[Pacman171930]

My room should be around 73. I don’t have a good thermometer right now so I can’t check the probe out yet but plan to get one in the future

 

[NS Mike D]

My room should be around 73. I don’t have a good thermometer right now so I can’t check the probe out yet but plan to get one in the future

fill a cup with ice and top off with water, wait a few minutes then check the temp with the inkbird probe. It should read 32°

do the same with boiling water and 212°

if it does, the inkbird is properly calibrated.

 

[Deezill]

The little Red lights are on that’s why I do not understand.

The light will come on but they go off. I noticed that and did not understand why my on light would go off and my temp was at 76. I cranked up the temp dial and im good now. I only did it on the larger of the two heaters.

 

[NS Mike D]

The light will come on but they go off. I noticed that and did not understand why my on light would go off and my temp was at 76. I cranked up the temp dial and im good now. I only did it on the larger of the two heaters.

I have two heaters and ended up turning them above 80° leaving the apex as the first line of defense. for unknown reasons I experience the same thing,. I set them to 79° but the tank was more like 76°. Apex is reading 78.4° right now so all is good

I've used temperature controllers in my my home brewing and with my beta tank (all single heating/cooling devices) and didn't have the issue.

 

[Deezill]

Here are my settings make sure you have heating time set to 24 hours so your heater will stay on until the desired temp is met.

 

[JR55]

If not aleady done: separate them in low to mid flow areas. Keep the inkbird probe away from them

check the inkbird probe reading with a reliably calibrated thermometer.

And make sure the inkbird probe is upstream from the heaters.

 

[Pacman171930]

Thank you everyone for the advise. I turned up the heaters and made sure my controller is set to 24hrs. I will keep everyone posted on the results. thanks again

 

[Deezill]

And make sure the inkbird probe is upstream from the heaters.

My heaters are in the sump while my probes are in tank. Just FYI. works for me.

 

[Pacman171930]

My heaters are in the sump while my probes are in tank. Just FYI. works for me.

My heaters are in my skimmer section of the sump and my probe is in the intake of the sump where the water first comes down

 

[Flippers4pups]

WARNING!, @Pacman171930 check your water temperature with a trusted thermometer! Your inkbird controller may need to have its current temperature reading adjusted/calibrated. My experience with the inkbird controller had it swing way off what my true tank temperature was. Using Fluke digital thermometer verified with a lab calibration.

 

[Deezill]

WARNING!, @Pacman171930 check your water temperature with a trusted thermometer! Your inkbird controller may need to have its current temperature reading adjusted/calibrated. My experience with the inkbird controller had it swing way off what my true tank temperature was. Using Fluke digital thermometer verified with a lab calibration.

if you look at the picture above at my setting I had to calibrate mine just a tad

 

[Deezill]

I think this is a great thread for beginner Inkbird Controller users. My plan is to run this Inkbird into my Apex for the added fault protection. I also have a replacement Finnex titanium heater in case my 300w fails. I forgot to mention I had 3 Eheim Jager two 300w and I forget what the smaller one is.
I had a 300w and the smaller in the sump and the other 300w in my mixing station worked great until I was doing work in the sump and cracked the glass 300w and had to take one from my mixing station.
overall this is a great thread on Inkbird.

 

[Deezill]

@Pacman171930 please keep us posted on your Inkbird Progress. Thanks.