How to apply redundancy on heater?

[canadianeh]

So I want to use my two heaters (one spare and one main) with inkbird temperature controller and Apex Neptune controller for redundancy purpose.

how do I set them up? I want to maintain 78F temperature.

Do I set 79 on the main heater, 78 on the spare? And what do I set on the inkbird? I will be connecting both heaters to the inkbird and then the inkbird to Neptune Apex.

I appreciate your help guys.

 

[RL6723]

So I want to use my two heaters (one spare and one main) with inkbird temperature controller and Apex Neptune controller for redundancy purpose.

how do I set them up? I want to maintain 78F temperature.

Do I set 79 on the main heater, 78 on the spare? And what do I set on the inkbird? I will be connecting both heaters to the inkbird and then the inkbird to Neptune Apex.

I appreciate your help guys.

You want to set the Apex to be the failsafe, meaning that let the inkbird do the actual temperature keeping. The reason I do it this way is that your not constantly cycling the Apex outlet. Things do fail, and Id rather have the cheaper inkbird fail rather than the more expensive Apex. So I would set the inkbird at say 77-78, than put the Apex at 79. That way the Apex only switches if the inkbird fails to turn off at 78

 

[canadianeh]

You want to set the Apex to be the failsafe, meaning that let the inkbird do the actual temperature keeping. The reason I do it this way is that your not constantly cycling the Apex outlet. Things do fail, and Id rather have the cheaper inkbird fail rather than the more expensive Apex. So I would set the inkbird at say 77-78, than put the Apex at 79. That way the Apex only switches if the inkbird fails to turn off at 78

How about on the heaters itself?

Also, do I set them 1 degree higher than the inkbird?

 

[RL6723]

How about on the heaters itself?

Also, do I set them 1 degree higher than the inkbird?

You could definitely set the heaters them self 1 degree off, than you would have triple redundancy, i personally just set the heaters themselves higher at like 81 or so, because I felt the inkbird was more accurate than the internal thermostats that come with the heaters. So when I ran this style my inkbird did the actual controlling of the temps, and the apex was just a failsafe. The internal heater thermostat was essentially not used

 

[Shannon Califf]

You want to set the Apex to be the failsafe, meaning that let the inkbird do the actual temperature keeping. The reason I do it this way is that your not constantly cycling the Apex outlet. Things do fail, and Id rather have the cheaper inkbird fail rather than the more expensive Apex. So I would set the inkbird at say 77-78, than put the Apex at 79. That way the Apex only switches if the inkbird fails to turn off at 78

Out of curiosity....what do you mean by constantly cycling the Apex outlet

 

[RL6723]

Out of curiosity....what do you mean by constantly cycling the Apex outlet

The Apex outlets are controlled by relays, which like anything else will wear out when they are switched on and off a lot. If you use the Apex to control your tanks temperature, it will cycle multiple times per day, more so if you keep the temp swing tight, like say 77.5 to 78. Everytime the tank drops below the low set point the relay cycles and turns the outlet on, once target temp is achieved, the relay cycles and outlet turns off. As you can imagine this is happening many times in a day, sometimes in the hundreds of times per day. That creates wear on the relay and eventually it will burn out. I know from experience, as I used my Apex to control temps and after a few years, i burnt up a relay, which the only solution was to buy a new EB832 or live with a dead outlet on mine

 

[Shannon Califf]

The Apex outlets are controlled by relays, which like anything else will wear out when they are switched on and off a lot. If you use the Apex to control your tanks temperature, it will cycle multiple times per day, more so if you keep the temp swing tight, like say 77.5 to 78. Everytime the tank drops below the low set point the relay cycles and turns the outlet on, once target temp is achieved, the relay cycles and outlet turns off. As you can imagine this is happening many times in a day, sometimes in the hundreds of times per day. That creates wear on the relay and eventually it will burn out. I know from experience, as I used my Apex to control temps and after a few years, i burnt up a relay, which the only solution was to buy a new EB832 or live with a dead outlet on mine

Ohhh ok that makes sense. So do i plug my inkbird into the eb8 or use a completely different powerstrip?

 

[RL6723]

You want to plug the inkbird into the EB832, you just want to set the inkbird temp at your target tank temp. Than on your Apex, set the outlet you plugged the inkbird into for 1 degree higher than target tank temp. That way the Apex will always keep that outlet on, unless the inkbird fails and your tank heats up past your target temp. Than the apex will kill that outlet so that your failed inkbird doesnt just keep heating the tank

 

[Shannon Califf]

You want to plug the inkbird into the EB832, you just want to set the inkbird temp at your target tank temp. Than on your Apex, set the outlet you plugged the inkbird into for 1 degree higher than target tank temp. That way the Apex will always keep that outlet on, unless the inkbird fails and your tank heats up past your target temp. Than the apex will kill that outlet so that your failed inkbird doesnt just keep heating the tank

Ok thank u so much for that advice. I just got an Apex which is why i was asking. But really thank u for taking time to answer those questions!

 

[Biokabe]

Ok thank u so much for that advice. I just got an Apex which is why i was asking. But really thank u for taking time to answer those questions!

Following up with that - set up the graphs for your various probes and check them every so often.

If you notice that your tank is routinely getting up to the 79 turn-off point from the Apex, it might be time to replace your Inkbird.

 

[RL6723]

Ok thank u so much for that advice. I just got an Apex which is why i was asking. But really thank u for taking time to answer those questions!

Of course, no problem!! The Apex was a game changer for me, and I will not run a tank without one. They are very powerful and there is a lot you can do. If you have any questions in the future Id be glad to help!!

 

[RL6723]

Following up with that - set up the graphs for your various probes and check them every so often.

If you notice that your tank is routinely getting up to the 79 turn-off point from the Apex, it might be time to replace your Inkbird.

This is very good information, and a good way to catch some failing equipment

 

[Shannon Califf]

Of course, no problem!! The Apex was a game changer for me, and I will not run a tank without one. They are very powerful and there is a lot you can do. If you have any questions in the future Id be glad to help!!

Awesome! Thank u. I will definitely probably be reaching out to you haha

 

[canadianeh]

You could definitely set the heaters them self 1 degree off, than you would have triple redundancy, i personally just set the heaters themselves higher at like 81 or so, because I felt the inkbird was more accurate than the internal thermostats that come with the heaters. So when I ran this style my inkbird did the actual controlling of the temps, and the apex was just a failsafe. The internal heater thermostat was essentially not used

My main heater is Cobalt neotherm and the spare is Eheim Jager. I find that the thermostat on the Cobalt Neotherm is spot on when I check it with floating thermometer. The Eheim Jager is not.

So if I want to have triple redundancy then I need to set up internal of the main heater to 78 and then the internal of the spare heater to 77. The Inkbird set to 79 to cut the power of both heaters. The Apex set to 80 to cut the power to Inkbird?

 

[RL6723]

Yes that will work, although id set the inkbird to 78. I feel the inkbird does a better job at controlling the temps. So I personally would go inkbird at 78, main heater 79, spare heater 78, and apex at 80.

Also the Jager can be sort of calibrated by spinning the red pointer at the top of the heater. Id spin it 1 degree hotter, than it should match your neo therm

 

[ca1ore]

I’ve not had any of my apex outlets fail due to excessive switching .... including a couple of EB8 that are now close to 7 years old. Use the DEFER command and program at least a 0.5 degree setback ... and don’t oversize the heaters. Avoids short cycling. Inkbird is junk IMO.

 

[dr.ben]

I set one of mine to 80 and the other to 78. Then the one set at 80 went crazy and baked my tank. So you definitely want to consider Apex or something similar regardless of how you set the individual heaters.

 

[Shannon Califf]

Yes that will work, although id set the inkbird to 78. I feel the inkbird does a better job at controlling the temps. So I personally would go inkbird at 78, main heater 79, spare heater 78, and apex at 80.

Also the Jager can be sort of calibrated by spinning the red pointer at the top of the heater. Id spin it 1 degree hotter, than it should match your neo therm

Should the tab be set to auto or always on. My inkbird stays off when i have the slider on auto even though its within the temp ranges to be on