Need some help with my apex heater programming

[AquaDan]

I'm having a hard time keeping the temp in my tank at 78. Been slowly creeping up. Its at 80 degrees now. Not sure if I programmed the Apex correctly. I've got two 300-watt heaters in my sump programmed in outlets #1 and #2. Please check out my Pic. Both outlets are programmed the same.

Thanks.

 

[roc5288]

Stupid question on my part. But is it 80 because of room temperature. What makes you think the apex is not shutting down your heaters. If your not running a chiller to counter your ambient air the apex can't do anything about that.

 

[roc5288]

I would do 78 off 77 on.

 

[mbg75]

Looks correct to me

 

[AquaDan]

Stupid question on my part. But is it 80 because of room temperature. What makes you think the apex is not shutting down your heaters. If your not running a chiller to counter your ambient air the apex can't do anything about that.

No such thing as a stupid question bro. The room temp is 70 last time i checked. The heaters should be off when the temp is at 78 but I noticed that the on light comes on randomly. The temp is now at 80.1 since I first started this thread. I should have mentioned that they have their own thermostats (ViaAqua 300 -watt ). Not sure if that has anything to do with it but I made sure to set the individual thermostats at 79. Other than that I'm stumped.

 

[Bikeboss11]

I know it should not matter but why are you using advance setting for heater and not the heater settings I got mines as
Fallback OFF
Probe name Temp
On temperature 77
Off temperature 78

 

[AquaDan]

I know it should not matter but why are you using advance setting for heater and not the heater settings I got mines as
Fallback OFF
Probe name Temp
On temperature 77
Off temperature 78

I think I saw that program as a recommendation on the Neptune forums. I'll give your way a shot though.

 

[sulcata102]

what size tank is it? It that the same wattage you used before the apex with no problem??

 

[ReefMonkey13]

You also need to account for your other equipment like pumps and lights which add to the overall temp of your tank.

We you look at status of those 2 outlets are they on when the temp is above 78? If they are not then I would say your program is fine. You probably need to find some means to cool the tank like a fan or as someone else mentioned a chiller.

Hope that helps. Good luck

 

[sulcata102]

also is the temp probe in the same compartment as the heaters?

 

[roc5288]

One more thing . Did you calibrate your temp probe?

 

[NYCEnglish]

I don't think the Apex temp probe needs calibrating.

 

[roc5288]

I'm almost sure you have to. Could be wrong tho.

 

[NYCEnglish]

Nah, it comes NIST calibrated from the factory. Neptune say it shouldn't need a calibration.

Has your controller ever lost it's memory (been re-initialized)? If so, then the probes may need to be re-calibrated as they are calibrated to the factory module I believe.

Having said all this, the Apex probes is a thermister and I'm not sure how you can re-calibrate it without the appropriate NIST technology.

On the programming side I have mine set to FALLBACK OFF and also SET OFF in case I have a heater problem and they try to fry my tank. I also have the temp on/off ranges much further apart.

 

[AquaDan]

what size tank is it? It that the same wattage you used before the apex with no problem??

The tank is 125 gallons with a 50 gallon sump. Its a new setup so I've had everything running at about the same time. Still cycling so I have not been running any lights. Last night I removed the heaters from the Apex and plugged them into wall outlets. I set the thermostats on both to 75 degrees. I just checked and the temp has actually increased leading me to believe that its an issue with my heaters? The room temp is 67 degrees.

 

[AquaDan]

You also need to account for your other equipment like pumps and lights which add to the overall temp of your tank.

We you look at status of those 2 outlets are they on when the temp is above 78? If they are not then I would say your program is fine. You probably need to find some means to cool the tank like a fan or as someone else mentioned a chiller.

Hope that helps. Good luck

Reef, they were plugged into apex outlets 1 and 2 which I had on all the time. I just shut them off last night before bed and moved the heaters to wall outlets and i'm still getting incremental rises in temp. The heater thermostats are set at 75 each and I'm using an external pump.

 

[AquaDan]

also is the temp probe in the same compartment as the heaters?

All three are in the sump. The heaters are next to the fuge and the probe is in the drain/skimmer, which is the next compartment to the right. I just started up my ASM G3 skimmer with the sedra 5000 pump and I thought this might be contributing but I was having issues regulating temp before I started up the skimmer.

 

[AquaDan]

Nah, it comes NIST calibrated from the factory. Neptune say it shouldn't need a calibration.

Has your controller ever lost it's memory (been re-initialized)? If so, then the probes may need to be re-calibrated as they are calibrated to the factory module I believe.

Having said all this, the Apex probes is a thermister and I'm not sure how you can re-calibrate it without the appropriate NIST technology.

On the programming side I have mine set to FALLBACK OFF and also SET OFF in case I have a heater problem and they try to fry my tank. I also have the temp on/off ranges much further apart.

Guys,

According to the manual, the temp probe does not need to be calibrated. I thought that it might be an Apex issue but I also have two floating thermometers, one in the display and one in the sump and both read the same temp as on my Apex display so that leads me to believe that the water is actually as warm as Apex is reporting that it is. Like I said, My heaters have individual thermostats and both have been set to 75 degrees so not sure why they are continuing to heat the tank. More and more I'm thinking its the heaters. I'm just glad that I dont have anything living in the tank yet!

 

[NYCEnglish]

Most heaters are crap. Have you tried removing the heaters and seeing if the temps continue to rise?

 

[Nottick]

Even if your heaters internal thermostat is bad your APEX should turn off the outlet that you have specified for the heater. Please make sure your heaters are in the correct outlets and that the outlets are set to AUTO. If you need help or another look over of your APEX please PM me and I will work with you to remote into your system. Hope this helps