Heaters gone crazy

[Dekz]

So today I was doing some aquascaping/rearranging of my tanks (which included moving the heaters). Unfortunately I had a bit of a brain fart and tries to use the temperature control knobs to fasten them to the tank.

Luckily I notice my error right away, get the heaters attached and figure I'll just turn the temp all the way down, then slowly turn it up until the light turns on and then back it off just a touch.

I have both heaters turned all the way down and the lights have been on for an hour and a half!?!? Both tanks are at 80F and the heaters aren't shutting off. Any ideas?

 

[SWerner13]

Unplug them take, them out, run them under warm water. (not cool, cool and hot don't mix well.) Gradually turn water to cooler to slowly cool them down. Then put them back in the water allow 15 minutes for the internal temp sensor to re acclimate. Then plug back in and try again. These aren't fool proof but worth a shot. Worked for me during the cold fronts that came through. My heater wasn't doing jack. Did all that stuff and started working again.

 

[Dekz]

Tried that with no luck, but then I found an even easier solution. I pulled off the control knob (which has limited movement) and underneath was another knob. I used to to turn it down even further until the light shut off. I have no idea how I could have moved the knob past the limit before, but it's fixed now.

Thanks for the fast reply though, I will keep that in mind for the future.

 

[ezy33]

I have found the controls on heaters are clockwise to lower the temperature which is backward from most controls. Opposite of a volume control. I know I've made this mistake many times. That's why I always adjust my heaters just a few degrees at a time.

 

[SWerner13]

I'm glad it worked out! I don't what kind of heater you have, but most of them are pretty cheaply made reguardless. I have read about some solutions to this. I can't remember the details but there is a device you can hook up most heaters to which will more accurately gage the temperature and turn on the device when necessary.