Close Shave With The Heater

[flippajh]

Decided to move some of my albino corys to my smaller tank late this afternoon, transferred successfully, was cleaning everything away and checked the thermometer and nearly fell off my steps when I saw it was 27 f, turned off the heater at the wall, and went to check the knob on the top of the heater to see if had got knocked somehow. It was showing about 22, so went to lift it out the water and it burnt my fingers it was so hot.

So mad dash to the lfs, luckily there's a shop about 5 mins away and caught them just as they were locking up so was able to get a new one.

I was perhaps getting a bit complacent with checking the temperature, that won't be happening again!

 

[jonny_dw]

Blimey at least you saw it in time.

I havent had a thermometer in my tank since my glass one smashed in my hand a few weeks ago, got quite bad cuts on my thumbs and blood poured into the tank. Not good having your fingers in a tank, pouring with blood with a piranha in lol.

Youve reminded me I need to pick one up on my next trip to LFS.

 

[doresy]

Hi, trouble with the heaters is the thermostat. They work well for years at the same setting but change them for what ever reason or by accident then watch out. When heaters are new you can lower and raise the temp until you get the desired level then you leave them to do their thing. Try changing the temp later on (and why would you?) and bang! boil in a bag

 

[keenonfish]

Hi, trouble with the heaters is the thermostat. They work well for years at the same setting but change them for what ever reason or by accident then watch out. When heaters are new you can lower and raise the temp until you get the desired level then you leave them to do their thing. Try changing the temp later on (and why would you?) and bang! boil in a bag

I think the main problem is that the contacts eventually weld shut through continued arcing and heating (everytime they make / break) but I hadn't thought that changing the temperature would result in premature failure.. Maybe the metal fatigues or something! Anyway it is about time the manufacturers went solid state I think it is more than cheap enough but if designed well, they could easily last 10 years + which I guess they don't want!

 

[Chrispixx]

was cleaning everything away and checked the thermometer and nearly fell off my steps when I saw it was 27 f, turned off the heater at the wall, and went to check the knob on the top of the heater to see if had got knocked somehow. It was showing about 22, so went to lift it out the water and it burnt my fingers it was so hot.

Is 27 hot? What do you normally keep the temp at?? 27c converts to 80.6 My main tank is set at that. Most of my other tanks are between 78-80/25.5-26.5c

Doresy... I haven't been here in a while and i see you changed your avatar. Having some refreshment..right on.

 

[shelaghfishface]

as u probably know i lost a tankfull of fish recently due to a dodgy heater,it rose to way over 100,tho i can say it really wasnt from being too complacent it was just one of those things ( overnight)
im so glad u got to it in time and didnt and up with carnage i was faced with
i have now fitted digital therms on all my tanks,at a cost of about £40 ( as pose to glass ones) and i feel a little better,and check them at least 2/3 times a day

shelagh xxx

ps.. Doresy had " light refershment" in his last avatar too didnt he

 

[raptorrex]

yet again it goes to underline the benefits of a two heater system. your fish can neither freeze or cook, whatever fault occurs. and the cost of setting it up, is often lower than restocking and buying a new heater. above all though, you have peace of mind!

 

[shelaghfishface]

yet again it goes to underline the benefits of a two heater system. your fish can neither freeze or cook, whatever fault occurs. and the cost of setting it up, is often lower than restocking and buying a new heater. above all though, you have peace of mind!

how do u work that one out? if a heater malfuntions and boils the fish, its going to happn however many you have in there surely?

 

[keenonfish]

yet again it goes to underline the benefits of a two heater system. your fish can neither freeze or cook, whatever fault occurs. and the cost of setting it up, is often lower than restocking and buying a new heater. above all though, you have peace of mind!

how do u work that one out? if a heater malfuntions and boils the fish, its going to happn however many you have in there surely?

I think you are meant to put lower powered heaters in the tank so that one on it's own, would struggle to maintain a temperature of say 30 celcius. If one goes hard on the other is kept off and tank temperature either rises very slowly or never gets above x amount. There is a calculator somewhere to help work it out you input average room temperature, tank volume, glass thickness etc. giving you the ideal heater size and gives you loads of info to help pick the best combination I will try to find it if I can!

 

[raptorrex]

yet again it goes to underline the benefits of a two heater system. your fish can neither freeze or cook, whatever fault occurs. and the cost of setting it up, is often lower than restocking and buying a new heater. above all though, you have peace of mind!

how do u work that one out? if a heater malfuntions and boils the fish, its going to happn however many you have in there surely?

as i explained in your thread on the subject, you use two heaters that give you the same wattage as your single heater. simple and cheaper than many "safety" products sold to solve the problem. but above all, you have peace of mind!

its a trick that would stop threads like this appearing at all.

 

[shelaghfishface]

ahh right, gotcha.. to be honest i breifly read my thread as i was abit naffed off with the whole thing ( my tank not thread)
i did think thats what you meant,and now i can see what you mean and realise that infact my heater was too large for the tank it was in
thanks bobo.great tip


shelagh xxx

 

[raptorrex]

ahh right, gotcha.. to be honest i breifly read my thread as i was abit naffed off with the whole thing ( my tank not thread)
i did think thats what you meant,and now i can see what you mean and realise that infact my heater was too large for the tank it was in
thanks bobo.great tip


shelagh xxx

cant help feeling that there is a good product here if some firm would take it up! heaters with twin elements and twin thermostats. perhaps with the ability to change the offending element if it fails.

any road up, though it costs a little more, i feel, its well worth the effort to use two.

 

[keenonfish]

ahh right, gotcha.. to be honest i breifly read my thread as i was abit naffed off with the whole thing ( my tank not thread)
i did think thats what you meant,and now i can see what you mean and realise that infact my heater was too large for the tank it was in
thanks bobo.great tip


shelagh xxx

cant help feeling that there is a good product here if some firm would take it up! heaters with twin elements and twin thermostats. perhaps with the ability to change the offending element if it fails.

any road up, though it costs a little more, i feel, its well worth the effort to use two.

Like I said above the problem is welding of contacts. Replace the bi-metal strip with solid state and the problem would largely disappear, although not entirely - things would be much more reliable. Your twin element idea is a good one actually you wouldn't even need two elements just a center tap with both ends controlled by a separate thermostat It would obviously increase overall size however. You would need a warning however because if one stat 'stuck' with old age the other is likely to do the same in not too shorter time and you would end up in the same position as the more traditional single element!

I still like the seperate watchdog system discussed a few weeks ago as not everyone wants two thermostats in their tank.

 

[raptorrex]

ahh right, gotcha.. to be honest i breifly read my thread as i was abit naffed off with the whole thing ( my tank not thread)
i did think thats what you meant,and now i can see what you mean and realise that infact my heater was too large for the tank it was in
thanks bobo.great tip


shelagh xxx

cant help feeling that there is a good product here if some firm would take it up! heaters with twin elements and twin thermostats. perhaps with the ability to change the offending element if it fails.

any road up, though it costs a little more, i feel, its well worth the effort to use two.

Like I said above the problem is welding of contacts. Replace the bi-metal strip with solid state and the problem would largely disappear, although not entirely - things would be much more reliable. Your twin element idea is a good one actually you wouldn't even need two elements just a center tap with both ends controlled by a separate thermostat It would obviously increase overall size however. You would need a warning however because if one stat 'stuck' with old age the other is likely to do the same in not too shorter time and you would end up in the same position as the more traditional single element!

I still like the seperate watchdog system discussed a few weeks ago as not everyone wants two thermostats in their tank.

indeed the watchdog system looks ok. but it wont stop your fish freezing if the heater fails, nor help much if you aren't there when it happens. any solution, whatever the cost, has to save your fish whatever happens. only two heaters can satisfy this criteria. how you set it up, may differ, but you cant get away from needing two!
as for not wanting two thermostats in your tank, is the appearance of your tank worth more than the health of your fish? to me it is not, others may think it is.

i am not saying it is the only way top go. but it is the cheapest and least complicated way to deal with it

 

[shelaghfishface]

im not worried about how much equipment i have on display ( lol thats sounds wrong!!) i would rather show off everything than come down one morning to find my boys belly up!

bobo, i agree, why dosent someone do it... why dont you ?? design something anyway? or have a go at putting the idea out there