Help! Heater problem….

[peterhos]

Hi All

Twice this week my Inkbird heater has not cut out at the set temperature of 78. Overnight the heater must have stuck and all 3 digital thermometers showed between 89 and 91 degrees…and it is not hot here … and the temperature is slowly dropping with the heater off. Oddly, when I tested the Inkbird upright in my water change container it did cut out correctly, but horizontally in the sump as it has to sit it malfunctions. I am now losing my sanity as all 5 of my various (adjustable) heaters show different temperatures from the setting.

Any thoughts please? Many thanks in advance.

 

[Crustaceon]

You probably have an internal short in the Inkbird unit. I'll bet there's a disconnected solder point on the board that when the unit is placed horizontally, gravity pulls the contact away from the board. When you hang the unit as normal, that contact remains in place and is able to retain that electrical connection.

 

[peterhos]

You probably have an internal short in the Inkbird unit. I'll bet there's a disconnected solder point on the board that when the unit is placed horizontally, gravity pulls the contact away from the board. When you hang the unit as normal, that contact remains in place and is able to retain that electrical connection.

Yes your explanation makes sense. Should I risk placing the Inkbird vertically in the tank … or should I just buy a new one?

 

[Crustaceon]

I wouldn't take a chance with that unit unless you can get it repaired first. Electrical shorts can cause fire in a worst case scenario.

 

[peterhos]

I wouldn't take a chance with that unit unless you can get it repaired first. Electrical shorts can cause fire in a worst case scenario.

Thank you again. I have discarded the Inkbird and replaced with an easily adjustable heater … and a new thermometer. Hopefully all under control now. No losses luckily.

 

[Snoopy 67]

I would now use a Ranco Controller.
Industrial unit as I see you could be "across the pond".

 

[Pistondog]

Hi All

Twice this week my Inkbird heater has not cut out at the set temperature of 78. Overnight the heater must have stuck and all 3 digital thermometers showed between 89 and 91 degrees…and it is not hot here … and the temperature is slowly dropping with the heater off. Oddly, when I tested the Inkbird upright in my water change container it did cut out correctly, but horizontally in the sump as it has to sit it malfunctions. I am now losing my sanity as all 5 of my various (adjustable) heaters show different temperatures from the setting.

Any thoughts please? Many thanks in advance.

If your inkbird uses a plug in heater, use someting like eheim jaeger. Set the jaeger a couple of degrees above inkbird. When inkbird fails to shutoff, the jaeger will.
Many of us use this type of redundant safety on heating.