RKE and Temp Problem

[sra_chipmunk]

I have had this problem ongoing for a while now. I since I hooleked the tank up to start its cycle. I have a RKE with a Finnex 300w heater. I "tried" to program it to keep my tank stabalized at 78.4 degrees, however, during the evening, the temp drops to around 76 degrees with the heater not showing "ON" on the head unit. The heater kickes on later on towards lunch time and brings the tank up to 78.4 degrees and dosent let it drop below that throughout the day. I must bemissing somehting simple but I cant figure it out. Here are a couple pics of how I have it set up.

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[curtismaximus]

So it works fine during the day but not at night? You might have a mode set to keep it from coming on. What kind of heater do you have? What temp do you have the heater itself set on?

 

[sn4k33y3z]

sra_chipmunk;844877 wrote: I have had this problem ongoing for a while now. I since I hooleked the tank up to start its cycle. I have a RKE with a Finnex 300w heater. I "tried" to program it to keep my tank stabalized at 78.4 degrees, however, during the evening, the temp drops to around 76 degrees with the heater not showing "ON" on the head unit. The heater kickes on later on towards lunch time and brings the tank up to 78.4 degrees and dosent let it drop below that throughout the day. I must bemissing somehting simple but I cant figure it out. Here are a couple pics of how I have it set up.

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I wonder if there is a two degree dead-band on the heater. Another words, having it set at 78 degree as a set point it will try to maintain that temp, but perhaps the dead band is two degrees causing the temp to drop to 76 degrees. Once it reaches 76 degrees does the heater turn on?

Also, some devices have limit switches that cause the unit to turn off to prevent any kind of over heating... I would check to insure your controller to the heater is well ventilated.

 

[sra_chipmunk]

Curtismaximus;844883 wrote: So it works fine during the day but not at night? You might have a mode set to keep it from coming on. What kind of heater do you have? What temp do you have the heater itself set on?

It's the Finnex titanium heater 300w. Here is the link
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/finnex-deluxe-titatium-heating-tube.html">http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/finnex-deluxe-titatium-heating-tube.html</a>

I do t know of any setting that would cause the heater not to come on during the evening

Edit: I can't find any ware about dead band for this heater.

 

[curtismaximus]

It would be hard to tell without being there. I would make sure you have the heater turned up high enough. Other than that I'm not sure. Is it starting to affect your corals? If not I wouldn't worry about it too much.

 

[sra_chipmunk]

Curtismaximus;844897 wrote: It would be hard to tell without being there. I would make sure you have the heater turned up high enough. Other than that I'm not sure. Is it starting to affect your corals? If not I wouldn't worry about it too much.

There is no mechanical or electrical setting on the heater itself that can be set. It's just plug it in and it gets hot. That's why it needs to be plugged into a controller. The tank is still cycling so there is no coral, fish, or cleanup crew in there. I just need to iron this out before I add anything living to the tank.

 

[mc524]

There should be a setting for how much of a drop off the RKE will allow, hysteresis. Too small and your heater will be on/off too often, too large and you will get bigger swings. Also, another thing to keep in mind is, what is the temp difference in your home
at night. I have my Thermostat set to a lower temp at night as you are in a warm bed. So I get a small drop at night, about a degree. I also had to add a heater to my DT as I was getting a bigger drop at night. The heater in the sump couldn't pick up the slack at night.
Something to think about.
Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk 2

 

[sra_chipmunk]

I keep the house around 74 to 75 at night. The hysteresis is set to .1

Even with the house being cooler at night the heater should still show on on the head unit

 

[curtismaximus]

This is how BRS set theirs up.
Channel mode = Auto
Function = Heater
Set point = 78 Deg
Hysterisis = 0.1
Everything else is set to default.

Make sure those are correct first. If it continues to happen I would call or email Digital Aquatics. They have good Customer Service.

 

[sra_chipmunk]

Curtismaximus;844920 wrote: This is how BRS set theirs up.
Channel mode = Auto
Function = Heater
Set point = 78 Deg
Hysterisis = 0.1
Everything else is set to default.

Make sure those are correct first. If it continues to happen I would call or email Digital Aquatics. They have good Customer Service.

Yeah that's what I have on the pics above. I'm going to send a message to digital aquatics

 

[ddaddy2420]

Is that some sort of computer program you are running that you have everything hooked to? How are you running it, on an apple tv box or do you have some sort of laptop?

 

[chris s]

Change your default to off. If you loose communication with the head unit with your default set to on the heater will turn on and stay on.

Other than that your program looks right, but it has been a while since I setup a RKE.

 

[jimmystephens]

Default needs to be off. I believe ur just by passing it with default on