Best Thermostat?

[rk4435]

My 250 watt Jager heater has apparently quit after three months. I moved an older heater in for the night but it is not rated for a 90 gallon. I also have the small heaters that I could add from older tanks, the ones without dials for 20 and 30 gallon tanks.

I have one thermostat "JW" magnetized brand on one end of the tank showing 76 degrees and another of the same type at the opposite end of the tank showing 79 degrees.

I'm uncertain if this is normal and it has my mind working. I obviously need to buy a better thermostat. What do you guys use recommend as far as thermostats?

 

[johniii]

do you mean thermometer??
a thermometer allows you to read temps.
a thermostat controls temp.

Most cheap digitals are inaccurate. the most accurate is probably the old glass tube mercury thermometers.

If you are looking for a thermostat alot of guys buy ranco controllers and wire them up.
also a reefkeeper lite is ~$120.

 

[rk4435]

Oops, you're right. That's what I get for typing late at night.

 

[hiimsean]

I have one of those cheap JW ones, a mercury thermometer will be pretty accurate. I use my Apex to control/monitor my temps. Both are fairly close, +/-1.0, so I don't worry about it.

The Jager should be warrantied, I'd look into that if I were you.

 

[jj ocean]

Ranco - hands down. I run them as a safeguard even with my Ebo Jagers. I think Ebo Jager makes the best heaters out there, but thats not saying much. Seems like the quality control on heaters is pretty poor compared to the advances in pumps and lighting. It's a little overkill, but my Apex is the first control at 78, Ranco set at 79 and Jagers set at 80. A lot of failures have to take place before the tank gets cooked. I do the same on my chiller, but it just has 2 safeguards - Apex then Ranco. Malfunctionoing heaters or chillers are the largest cause of complete tank failures I hear about.

 

[skriz]

JJ Ocean;910893 wrote: Ranco - hands down. I run them as a safeguard even with my Ebo Jagers. I think Ebo Jager makes the best heaters out there, but thats not saying much. Seems like the quality control on heaters is pretty poor compared to the advances in pumps and lighting. It's a little overkill, but my Apex is the first control at 78, Ranco set at 79 and Jagers set at 80. A lot of failures have to take place before the tank gets cooked. I do the same on my chiller, but it just has 2 safeguards - Apex then Ranco. Malfunctionoing heaters or chillers are the largest cause of complete tank failures I hear about.

Ranco for sure. I was too lazy to hook my ranco up and froze my tank (57 degrees when I found it). Needless to say, that didn't end well. Worst part: I know better.

 

[jennm]

Ouch, Raj.

I had a customer with a Ranco that went bad and his chiller chilled his tank to 52 degrees once. That was one heck of a chiller... on a 225 even.

Curious about the Jager heater going out after only 3 months - they do have a warranty, you can probably get an exchange on it. Jagers can be calibrated too - if yours isn't, you might want to try that before you write it off - most people don't realize they can be calibrated, let alone perform a calibration. If you aren't sure how, check YouTube, there's a video, it is easy to do.

Thermometers... yep the old glass with alcohol is probably the most reliable (they don't use mercury anymore - but it's the same idea). Digital ones can be all over the place, if you prefer digital, spend the money and get a Lifegard one (Little Time/Temp or Big Temp/Alarm) the latter can be set to beep if temp goes outside your specified range. You have to hear it to act on it - it's not like a controller, but it works well. Any digital will go weird when the battery gets low. The Lifegard ones take AAA batteries, not hearing-aid batteries like the Coralife and similar crappy digital ones.

Jenn

 

[skriz]

Yep. 2.5 HP chiller here.

I've gutted the system and am revamping the electronics. I've added and adjusted so many times over the years, it's a mess. Long overdue for a rewire.

Ebos should last forever. They're like the old school nokias of the heater world..virtually indestructible.


R

JennM;911056 wrote: Ouch, Raj.

I had a customer with a Ranco that went bad and his chiller chilled his tank to 52 degrees once. That was one heck of a chiller... on a 225 even.

Curious about the Jager heater going out after only 3 months - they do have a warranty, you can probably get an exchange on it. Jagers can be calibrated too - if yours isn't, you might want to try that before you write it off - most people don't realize they can be calibrated, let alone perform a calibration. If you aren't sure how, check YouTube, there's a video, it is easy to do.

Thermometers... yep the old glass with alcohol is probably the most reliable (they don't use mercury anymore - but it's the same idea). Digital ones can be all over the place, if you prefer digital, spend the money and get a Lifegard one (Little Time/Temp or Big Temp/Alarm) the latter can be set to beep if temp goes outside your specified range. You have to hear it to act on it - it's not like a controller, but it works well. Any digital will go weird when the battery gets low. The Lifegard ones take AAA batteries, not hearing-aid batteries like the Coralife and similar crappy digital ones.

Jenn

 

[grouper therapy]

JennM;911056 wrote: Ouch, Raj.

I had a customer with a Ranco that went bad and his chiller chilled his tank to 52 degrees once. That was one heck of a chiller... on a 225 even.

Curious about the Jager heater going out after only 3 months - they do have a warranty, you can probably get an exchange on it. Jagers can be calibrated too - if yours isn't, you might want to try that before you write it off - most people don't realize they can be calibrated, let alone perform a calibration. If you aren't sure how, check YouTube, there's a video, it is easy to do.

Thermometers... yep the old glass with alcohol is probably the most reliable (they don't use mercury anymore - but it's the same idea). Digital ones can be all over the place, if you prefer digital, spend the money and get a Lifegard one (Little Time/Temp or Big Temp/Alarm) the latter can be set to beep if temp goes outside your specified range. You have to hear it to act on it - it's not like a controller, but it works well. Any digital will go weird when the battery gets low. The Lifegard ones take AAA batteries, not hearing-aid batteries like the Coralife and similar crappy digital ones.

Jenn

Do you remember what portion of it failed? Really rare for a Ranco to stick on due to it being a normally open relay. A failure like that is usually due to human error or a bad thermsistor. They almost always fail on the off side.