Time for a new Temp controller and/or heater?

[Kingston]

Likely this has come up previously but will like to ask fellow reefers.. I have 2 BRS 600W titanium heaters controlled by Inkbird ITC-306A running for the past 2 years on my 350g in my basement. I also have an Apex but just for heat monitoring.
Woke up to a low temp alarm from my inkbird. Temp was 75.9F. Inkbird was reporting error code E5 and was not heating. The past couple of weeks, I have been noticing high temp alarms up to 79F. My tank temp is set at 77-78F.

1. What are recommendations for reliable heaters on the market?
2. Also what are reefers using to reliably control their heaters?

Thanks

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

I really like my IM Helio PTC system. I dont know about longevity as its new on the market and have only had for over a month. Keeps my temps exactly where i want it. My house is cold all year at around 72 degrees F, but its 70 F where my tank is at. I keep my temp at 77 degrees and it stays there within .3 of a degree. This system is hooked up to my Apex for further redundancy. Also IM customer service is just fantastic, they will take care of any issues including replacements if faulty under warranty.

 

[Dburr1014]

Likely this has come up previously but will like to ask fellow reefers.. I have 2 BRS 600W titanium heaters controlled by Inkbird ITC-306A running for the past 2 years on my 350g in my basement. I also have an Apex but just for heat monitoring.
Woke up to a low temp alarm from my inkbird. Temp was 75.9F. Inkbird was reporting error code E5 and was not heating. The past couple of weeks, I have been noticing high temp alarms up to 79F. My tank temp is set at 77-78F.

1. What are recommendations for reliable heaters on the market?
2. Also what are reefers using to reliably control their heaters?

Thanks

It seems that the brs heaters fail more than other brands.
If the inkbird bad? Is it not sending voltage to the heaters or the heaters not heating and the inkbird faulted?
I have my inkbird plugged into the Apex as redundancy just incase the inkbird fails on.

 

[Kingston]

It seems that the brs heaters fail more than other brands.
If the inkbird bad? Is it not sending voltage to the heaters or the heaters not heating and the inkbird faulted?
I have my inkbird plugged into the Apex as redundancy just incase the inkbird fails on.

So I unplugged the inkbird briefly and plugged it back in and it seem to have started back on. The tank temp is slowly coming up from 75.9 now at 76.8F over a 2hrs. Either ways, I am thinking I should start researching on replacement for both heaters and controller now.

 

[Kingston]

It seems that the brs heaters fail more than other brands.
If the inkbird bad? Is it not sending voltage to the heaters or the heaters not heating and the inkbird faulted?
I have my inkbird plugged into the Apex as redundancy just incase the inkbird fails on.

I was made to believe titanium heaters are way better. What other heater options are on the market?

 

[Dburr1014]

Hielio, finnex, so many good brands.
I like to look at all the reviews before I buy.

 

[The Farmer]

Do you have 2 300 watt heaters on one Inkbird?

 

[ZombieEngineer]

I use the cheap finnex titanium heaters with the dial and have my apex control them for my sump heaters and one fallback ON heater in the tank or overflow that is a Digital finnex glass in one tank and a cobalt neotherm in the other.

This is extremely reliable because there is not a single failure mode without a backup and I get alerts if anything goes wrong.

 

[Karen00]

I really like my IM Helio PTC system. I dont know about longevity as its new on the market and have only had for over a month. Keeps my temps exactly where i want it. My house is cold all year at around 72 degrees F, but its 70 F where my tank is at. I keep my temp at 77 degrees and it stays there within .3 of a degree. This system is hooked up to my Apex for further redundancy. Also IM customer service is just fantastic, they will take care of any issues including replacements if faulty under warranty.

Can you use the controller with other heaters or is it a dedicated controller with the heater that come with it?

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

Can you use the controller with other heaters or is it a dedicated controller with the heater that come with it?

BRS has the IM Helio controller with BRS heating element package last time i checked. I went with the complete system that includes the IM heating element. Not sure on what brands you can use with it as it uses a proprietary connector.

 

[ReefEco]

You might check out Ranco temp controllers, I have two on my 900g system each hooked to a 500w titanium finnex, then to my Apex for another layer or redundancy. They are a little more industrial than the inkbirds IMO.

 

[Karen00]

BRS has the IM Helio controller with BRS heating element package last time i checked. I went with the complete system that includes the IM heating element. Not sure on what brands you can use with it as it uses a proprietary connector.

Thanks. I will check it out. I don't have a controller yet which I feel is my single point of failure at the moment. I have been looking at the Inkbirds but would like to see some other options.

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

I Second the Ranco’s, also Johnson Controls and Honeywell have similar controls. Just pay attention to the Amp. Ratings, Cheaper ones are most likely Pilot Duty, for low Amp. Control Work.

Have you tried running your Aquarium at 75 F? You might be surprised at how well everything does. Saves on the Electric bill too.

 

[AlexG]

I will toss out another recommendation for ranco temp controllers along with another layer of redundancy with a second temperature controller. I use my Apex for over temp protection to power off my Ranco controller and recirculation pump. At 350 gallons something else to consider would be radiant heating system and just eliminate electric heaters all together. Below is a diagram of the radiant heating system I use.