Annoying Heater

[JoeJawz]

Hello Manhattan Reefs, I have a little question about my heater.

I have a 75 gallon tank with an Ehiem Jager heater on it. I got it because it is apparently aucrate. I have not seen such results. I have follewed the instructions to the letter, and have callibrated it to the highest it can go, but still the temperature does not go down. It is set to about 73 degrees, but the heater keeps my tank at around 81 degrees. I have a cooling fan that keeps it closer to 78-79 but it is loud and I need to moniter it in fear it will cool it too much. The room itself is usually around 69 degrees F.

So mt questions are:
Am I doing something wrong? Is there some mistake I am doing when i calibrate it?
Should I just return it?
What else can I do to fix this?

Your help is greatly appreciated

Edit: I am sorry if this sounded confusing. The way this heater works is there are 2 dials. One dial is used for calibration. You put it on the actual temperature, and adjust the other dial so the number the top dial is pointing to the temp. you want. It is annoying and still somewhat confusing.

 

[ourcoralreef]

to the highest it can go, but still the temperature does not go down.

Highest it can go ? And your trying to lower it ?

It is set to about 73 degrees, but the heater keeps my tank at around 81 degrees.

When you turn the dial does the temperature change?

I have a cooling fan that keeps it closer to 78-79 but it is loud and I need to moniter it in fear it will cool it too much. The room itself is usually around 69 degrees F.

Again are you trying to cool or heat if your heating it then why are you trying to cool it?

If the temperature does not change when you turn the dial then it's malfunctioning you should return it and get another just because this one is broken it doesn't mean they all are I personally would spend a little more and get a better heater but thats me

 

[ourcoralreef]

Here is a recommendation i have used this heater in the past on 70 gallon system and it kept a nice consistent temperature its also shatterproof so thats a plus and its $33.71 on amazon if you have prime free shipping

www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003GKN12A/

 

[lnevo]

Sounds like your dialing it backwards. Have you tried lowering it? Does it ever go off?

 

[JoeJawz]

I appalogise if it sounded confusing. When i said i dialed it the highest it could go, i was refering to the calibration dial, which is supposed to be set to the actual temperature, but can only go up or down 2 defrees. I am trying to cool it down.

 

[JoeJawz]

It does go off once it reaches around 81 degrees. Also i dont think I am turming it the wrong way. The calibration dial goes up and the actual, temp. One goes down.

 

[BioMan]

IME a heater is not something to leave to chance. Replace it if you either can't trust it or don't understand it. To use 1 thing that heats water and another that cools water simultaneously is rediculous,,no offense.

 

[JoeJawz]

None taken. It is very ridiculous.

 

[theMeat]

Are you sure it's the heater going on that's heating the tank and not your return pump, skimmer, lighting, etc. ?
Dial in the heater in a bucket, so you're not waiting all day for 75 gallons of water to change temp, or cooking the tank

Finicky heaters are the #1 reason i have a digital aquatics controller

 

[JoeJawz]

Yes i have tried. It is the heater

 

[lnevo]

I would suggest regardless of what you do that you get a separate temp controller, whether you use a dedicated one ($40-$110 ) or a full blown Apex or ReefKeeper. Redundancy is key and thermostats can fail too easily.

 

[theMeat]

I would suggest regardless of what you do that you get a separate temp controller, whether you use a dedicated one ($40-$110 ) or a full blown Apex or ReefKeeper. Redundancy is key and thermostats can fail too easily.

Yup. have seen a few tanks get cooked by heaters. Cheap insurance is the way i see it, and much more accurate to boot

 

[JoeJawz]

Interesting. Are there aby cheap ones you could recomend?

 

[theMeat]

this one has worked for years, have installed them on many tanks

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reefkeeper-lite-basic-digital-aquatics.html

check out vid

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/video/view/digital-aquatics-reefkeeper-controller/

 

[ourcoralreef]

I would suggest regardless of what you do that you get a separate temp controller, whether you use a dedicated one ($40-$110 ) or a full blown Apex or ReefKeeper. Redundancy is key and thermostats can fail too easily.

Yes agreed you can never be too careful when it comes to heat +2

 

[BioMan]

Yes agreed you can never be too careful when it comes to heat +2

+3. I've seen heaters cause THOUSANDS of dollars worth of loss in a reef tank!

 

[edd]

turn heater off untill tank reaches 78, turn heater on so its heating, now turn down slowly till it turns off. now monitor temp and adjust slowly till it maintains 78.
this is how i always adjusted heaters, i dont go by heater numbers.
if you use a controller turn heater 1 deg higher then controller.

 

[JoeJawz]

Brilliant. I have done that and will see what happens

 

[Reefcowboy]

Eheim heaters are all over the place out of the box. Ive owned many and guarantee if you take 5 new ones from a store all of them will be off even after calibration. People like them because they heat lots of gallons for their wattage, and are cheap.

There are however cheap heaters that do a great job being more accurate. The Aqueon Pro's are excellent, and very affordable.

 

[marrone]

Ebo Jager use to be the best heater by far, they were always spot on, never malfunction, and lasted forever. Once Ehiem took them over they've never been the same.