Why are all heaters crap?

[cheras]

I have only used Eheim 200-watt heaters. The one on my 65 gallon has been running for almost 2 years. I have it connected to my Apex and it turns on and off with a 0.6 degree variation. But the one that I keep in my salt mixing station (20 gallon) broke after a year in a half. I always turned off the heater before exposing it to air.

 

[TheKyle]

Switch it to Celsius, then you can have .3 C swing which is more like .5 F

Thanks for the tip!

 

[fragit]

Also interested in knowing which ranco people are using. I've got an inkbird now.

I think this is what I have. Spend the extra on the heat shrink sheath it’s worth it.

Ranco ETC-111000-000 Prewired Digital Temperature Controller

www.rancoetc.com

 

[fjpod]

Believe it or not, I use Aqueon presets with no issues. Spot on at 77.9F. My philosophy is use two or three small ones for your tank size instead of one big one.... but then, what do I know.

 

[jda]

There are dual and single stage Rancos. Both are reliable and stuff. You can save some money and wire them yourself, or you can buy them wired. ETC-111000 and ETC-211000 are the models (I think).

These are so reliable that I have no issues buying the used.

If you can get REALLY lucky, there are some Medusa Aquarium Controllers still around, but they are HARD to find and can only find them used. I found a few locally at club garage sales for like $20-25 and I always buy them. They are high grade and they even made a model with .1 precision. They look like this if you ever see one...

https://www.aquariumsupplies.ca/aquarium/skus/cn/CNSL-HC150.asp

 

[Cwentz758]

I also have had good luck with the stock heaters you get with basic tanks. I did buy a Neo therm because of the sleek design. Mine lasted 2 years maybe a little more then it permanently set itself at 95 degrees and I can’t move it off. Needless to say it was then out of warranty so it wasn’t a free fix. Cobalt did give me 50% a new heater so I got a bigger one ‍

 

[Mighty Joe]

I feel like I've owned every heater available on the market and I have not found one that seems to be worth anything. Is there a reason that these are all crappy pieces of junk? I'm able to buy decent pumps and awesome lights, is there a reason that there isn't a decent heater available? I'd gladly pay $200 if it meant that I didn't have to replace it every few months and that I could rely on it for a few year of service.

The latest heater I purchased is a Fluval E. Supposed to be one of the better heaters. I installed it, watched it for a few hours and it seemed to be maintaining temperature. The next day I start getting alarms that my tank is 85 degrees. I reset the heater via my profilux and it does fine for a few days and then the temperature starts crashing again for no reason. I checked the heater and it doesn't show low flow or any other reason for the fact that it just isn't turning on. I ended up re-installing my cobalt neo-therm as a back-up. I took that one out of service since after a few months it started leaking electricity into the tank when the top got wet. It's the second neo-therm I purchased. The first one wouldn't tun off straight out of the box and went back immediately. Before that I've had Eheim Jaegers. Everyone I've purchased in the past few years can't keep a constant temperature. Tank is 89 one day. 86 the next. Those used to be rock solid heaters except for the fact that they are so frigging easy to break.

In all honesty, the heaters that seem to work the best are the aqueon preset heaters that I use for waterchanges. I'm tempted to put two of those in my tank. I was thinking about the BRS heaters, but apparently those are out of stock and since all manufacturing in china has ground to a halt, I don't expect them to get any in for the foreseeable future.

Other than the fact that it feels so good to rant, is there a reason that someone hasn't made a decent heater? Anyone else have this problem? Is there a great heater that I just haven't found?

The best heater you can buy is “the NEO THERM “ from Cobalt Aquatics.
They are not cheap but super reliable the fluctuation rate is +/- 0.5 degrees.
Just remember even the most expensive heater should be replaced within a 1.5 years to stay on the safe side of a failure.

 

[bluprntguy]

The best heater you can buy is “the NEO THERM “ from Cobalt Aquatics.
They are not cheap but super reliable the fluctuation rate is +/- 0.5 degrees.
Just remember even the most expensive heater should be replaced within a 1.5 years to stay on the safe side of a failure.

I would normally agree with you, but I’ve been through three of the 100 watt versions in the last 9 months. The first one I ordered from amazon, and very well may have been a fake, but it lasted only a few weeks before going dark. The last few are definitely from cobalt, and they’ve all either gone dead or leaked voltage. FWIW, the 50 watt neotherm in my quarantine tank is rock solid.

Apparently the BRS heaters are made in Germany by Schego, which was also mentioned in this thread as a good heater. They managed to get some in stock finally, and I was able to snag one. Hopefully will be coming next week.

 

[Blue Spot Octopus]

Funny my Neo Therm 50 watt heater just went out, I was wondering why the big red light was on every time I looked at it. My tank got to 85 degrees my carpet nem and Clarki were not happy.

 

[Jeeperz]

This is one area I don't understand about this hobby. Manufacturers sell pumps and lights at hundreds of dollars that are good quality yet the heaters offered are not that great. I've read way too many horror stories about the many titanium heater issues. I use eheim Jager and they seem to have the fewest failures. I'm not sure why manufacturers have not put their money in to build a truly bulletproof heater, even if it needs a ranco controller. I doubt it would be that difficult for say finnex or eheim to build a tough, long term heater for a reasonable price. Even a steady on style that needs a controller.

 

[Jeeperz]

Ranco controllers were not designed for tanks, they are a commercial unit for refrigeration or other air temp control units. They are true quality vs hobby grade. You must use the thermal well or whatever they call the shrink tube as they are not designed for submersion, that is according to ranco when I asked about it. I think I paid like $80 or less for mine. Not bad considering what it invested in the tank.

 

[PhreeByrd]

I've been using a no-name titanium heater for more than 15 years, controlled by my old Reefkeeper 2. I keep waiting for that heater to fail, but it just keeps working.

 

[PhreeByrd]

Ranco controllers were not designed for tanks, they are a commercial unit for refrigeration or other air temp control units. They are true quality vs hobby grade. You must use the thermal well or whatever they call the shrink tube as they are not designed for submersion, that is according to ranco when I asked about it. I think I paid like $80 or less for mine. Not bad considering what it invested in the tank.

Very true, Jeeperz, and thanks for pointing this out. The Ranco controllers also have a pretty wide hysteresis (IIRC it's +/- 1 degree F), so for tight temperature control, they are not ideal. I've spec'd them for years for certain HVAC uses, but I would not consider them appropriate for our purposes in reefkeeping.

 

[jd371]

Titanium are the best that I personally have used. Coupled with an apex to control it. Can’t beat it.

Had this going on 3 years not a single problem hooked up to ink bir

I concur. Have them on both my main tank and anemone tank coupled with a separate controller with no issues for years and temp is always spot on. I've only used the stand alone Titanium heaters without the built in controller.

 

[Laurence Kofsky]

I feel like I've owned every heater available on the market and I have not found one that seems to be worth anything. Is there a reason that these are all crappy pieces of junk? I'm able to buy decent pumps and awesome lights, is there a reason that there isn't a decent heater available? I'd gladly pay $200 if it meant that I didn't have to replace it every few months and that I could rely on it for a few year of service.

The latest heater I purchased is a Fluval E. Supposed to be one of the better heaters. I installed it, watched it for a few hours and it seemed to be maintaining temperature. The next day I start getting alarms that my tank is 85 degrees. I reset the heater via my profilux and it does fine for a few days and then the temperature starts crashing again for no reason. I checked the heater and it doesn't show low flow or any other reason for the fact that it just isn't turning on. I ended up re-installing my cobalt neo-therm as a back-up. I took that one out of service since after a few months it started leaking electricity into the tank when the top got wet. It's the second neo-therm I purchased. The first one wouldn't tun off straight out of the box and went back immediately. Before that I've had Eheim Jaegers. Everyone I've purchased in the past few years can't keep a constant temperature. Tank is 89 one day. 86 the next. Those used to be rock solid heaters except for the fact that they are so frigging easy to break.

In all honesty, the heaters that seem to work the best are the aqueon preset heaters that I use for waterchanges. I'm tempted to put two of those in my tank. I was thinking about the BRS heaters, but apparently those are out of stock and since all manufacturing in china has ground to a halt, I don't expect them to get any in for the foreseeable future.

Other than the fact that it feels so good to rant, is there a reason that someone hasn't made a decent heater? Anyone else have this problem? Is there a great heater that I just haven't found?

I have recently replaced the heater on my Red Sea C-130 max sent up. I purchased an Eheim heater which is available with a InkbirdSmart ITC-306A controller w/wifi. Is working great and maintaining a range of 77.6 - 78.4 .

 

[Brad ward]

I feel like I've owned every heater available on the market and I have not found one that seems to be worth anything. Is there a reason that these are all crappy pieces of junk? I'm able to buy decent pumps and awesome lights, is there a reason that there isn't a decent heater available? I'd gladly pay $200 if it meant that I didn't have to replace it every few months and that I could rely on it for a few year of service.

The latest heater I purchased is a Fluval E. Supposed to be one of the better heaters. I installed it, watched it for a few hours and it seemed to be maintaining temperature. The next day I start getting alarms that my tank is 85 degrees. I reset the heater via my profilux and it does fine for a few days and then the temperature starts crashing again for no reason. I checked the heater and it doesn't show low flow or any other reason for the fact that it just isn't turning on. I ended up re-installing my cobalt neo-therm as a back-up. I took that one out of service since after a few months it started leaking electricity into the tank when the top got wet. It's the second neo-therm I purchased. The first one wouldn't tun off straight out of the box and went back immediately. Before that I've had Eheim Jaegers. Everyone I've purchased in the past few years can't keep a constant temperature. Tank is 89 one day. 86 the next. Those used to be rock solid heaters except for the fact that they are so frigging easy to break.

In all honesty, the heaters that seem to work the best are the aqueon preset heaters that I use for waterchanges. I'm tempted to put two of those in my tank. I was thinking about the BRS heaters, but apparently those are out of stock and since all manufacturing in china has ground to a halt, I don't expect them to get any in for the foreseeable future.

Other than the fact that it feels so good to rant, is there a reason that someone hasn't made a decent heater? Anyone else have this problem? Is there a great heater that I just haven't found?

Definitely the finnex with external controller

 

[Brad ward]

Had this going on 3 years not a single problem hooked up to ink bir

That’s also what I use with no issues

 

[Emerson]

The BRS Controller (or Inkbird) with a 300w Finnex titanium heater works great. If you run an Apex, or other controller, have the socket turn on below 79 deg. Set the temp controller for 78 deg. It will keep your tank within 0.5 deg of what you set. Then have your tank controller (if you have one) turn the socket off at 81, now you have top temp protection. I have a second heater set up at 77 deg for back up redundancy on the cold side. If that socket draws power I get a message (Apex) letting me know that my backup heater is running and there is a problem with my primary setup.

 

[Big E]

Very true, Jeeperz, and thanks for pointing this out. The Ranco controllers also have a pretty wide hysteresis (IIRC it's +/- 1 degree F), so for tight temperature control, they are not ideal. I've spec'd them for years for certain HVAC uses, but I would not consider them appropriate for our purposes in reefkeeping.

Most heaters can run the tight range so all you have to do is set them inside that +/-1 degree that the Ranco allows.
That's as good as it gets.

For years people use shrink wrap or you can just put a bead of epoxy around where the proble sleeve and wire meet. That's the failure point on the probes.

 

[PhreeByrd]

Most heaters can run the tight range so all you have to do is set them inside that +/-1 degree that the Ranco allows.
That's as good as it gets.

It might be good enough, but not as good as it gets. The Reefkeeper can hold the water temperature to +/- 0.1 degrees F. I don't know about the Apex or other controllers.
And when externally controlled, the heater is not running anything. The controller simply turns the heater power on and off as needed to hold the temperature setting.

But just as a caveat, the only tank meltdown I ever had was when a temperature controller probe failed and the controller kept the heater on for several hours straight. By the time I realized what had happened, the water temperature was 94 degrees F. So some redundancy/fail-safe control is strongly advised, whether it's a heater's less accurate, built-in control or some other means.