Do your heaters actually heat to the temperature you set them to?

[NODAK1979]

We originally had a Stealth Pro. We took it back due to the recall and got an Aqueon. They both have one thing in common though: They consistantly heated the water to 2-3 degrees colder than they were set to. We have thermometers on both sides of the tank...and the heater never goes up to where it claims it is.

Both heaters were more than enough watts for the size of our tank. We made sure of that.

Do you have this problem often? Will getting two heaters help solve it?

 

[Flan123]

My Delta Therm constantly heats to about 1.5 - 2.0 degrees lower than whats indicated on the heater. BUT, here's the question - whats incorrect, the heater, or the thermometer?

 

[NODAK1979]

My Delta Therm constantly heats to about 1.5 - 2.0 degrees lower than whats indicated on the heater. BUT, here's the question - whats incorrect, the heater, or the thermometer?

It's a good question, but if I have two thermometers telling me the water is at a certain temp....I tend to believe they both aren't wrong. It's possible of course...but it's a "two versus one" sort of situation.

 

[thincat]

well, fidle with it until you get the temp. you want...I don't have much faith in any heater....

 

[WhiteDevil]

Use a heater controller. It prevents all the bad crap associated with heaters if they do/when they do go out. The tanks are spot on with what the heaters are actually set to and never go over/under.

 

[carey]

Do inline heaters come out any better? Been fiddling with getting one maybe.

My heater also runs about 2 degrees lower than the truth.

 

[uscamaro]

My heater is where my overflow & return pipe are located and thermometer is in the main tank. Basically the water is heated, then flows into my wet/dry filter and is sucked back and released into the tank. Heater is set to 77° and thermometer reads 75.4°-75.2° (I expect a little cooling off in the sump). My heater is extremely consistent.

 

[andreahp]

I go with my thermometer - in my 46gal it's opposite the heater and in my QT it's on the other side of the tank - I keep both tanks at 78 and as long as temp remains constant I know the heaters are doing their job even if the heater temp/thermometer temp don't match.

 

[cmor1701d]

After getting the same type of results at home I brought 2 digital and two mercury thermometers to the metrology department at work (pharmaceutical). The scientific glass and cheap plastic thermometers both agree with each other and are correct. It appears that all digital thermometers are off by 1.5 -2 degrees Fahrenheit.

The exact temperature doesn't matter. What does matter is consistency. The temperature shouldn't vary more than 2 degrees in a 24 hour period (reef tank).

I always use 2 heaters connected to a dual controller. One is set at 1 degree below the other. If the tank cools 2 degrees, then both heaters come on. If one heater fails the other is there as a backup.

If the power fails for any period of time the tank is lost (no generator).

 

[duoc9119]

Whenever I get a new heater, I put it in a 5 gallon bucket of water and a few thermometers as well as use a laser thermometer... Set the heater and wait for a few hours and test the water temperature. Adjust as needed and wait some more.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Whenever I get a new heater, I put it in a 5 gallon bucket of water and a few thermometers as well as use a laser thermometer... Set the heater and wait for a few hours and test the water temperature. Adjust as needed and wait some more.

That's the same thing I do. I even throw in a powerhead to make sure the water is evenly mixed.

One nice thing about the Ebo Jaeger TS heaters is that the temperature knob on the top can be adjusted. So when you do the heater-in-the-bucket trick as noted above, and you find that the water is actually 76 when you have the heater set at 78, you can adjust the dial to 76. Now the dial accurately reflects your temperature standard.

But if you have any amount of money invested in your tank, I'd strongly recommend a controller, like the Ranco or a Hamilton Controls. More expensive that a heater, but the most likely thing to kill your tank is that silly bimetalic thermostat in your heater.

 

[Tim Wheatley]

Mine are close enough that I am fine with it. Whenever I first set them I put 3 spare thermometers into the same tank and adjust until they all tell me about the temp I want.