Inkbird ITC-306a - Continuous Heating Settings

[Alexander1312]

It would be great if someone could briefly explain what I am doing wrong with my Heater Controller and Inkbird redundancy setup.

The way I have done it in the past couple of weeks seemed to have damaged a 'hygger Saltwater Tank Titanium Tube Submersible Pinpoint Aquarium Heater with Digital Thermostat, IC Temp Controller 200 Watt' (reads now 95F while it is only 76F water temperature).

The current setup:

• I had initially setup the Inkbird so that it would only turn off the heater controller if it exceeded 79F (target temperature 78F), i.e., protect against a potential failure of the separate heater controller.
• The Heater controller itself was setup with the correct target temperature of 78F (which was initially very correctly factory calibrated as confirmed by Neptune and Hanna temperature readers).
• Unfortunately, this led to an alarm at 2 am at night that signaled that the continuous heating time was exceeded as it would require the Inkbird to stay on the entire time unless there is an equipment failure. I understand there is no way to turn of the continuous heating time alarm and max time is 96h.
• Therefore, I lowered the Inkbird setting to 75.5-78F so it would turn off the heater controller on a regular basis to not exceed the continuous heating time. Unfortunately, this continuous on and off of the heater controller unit triggered by the Inkbird seemed to have damaged it and the probe setting of the heater controller started to deteriorate gradually until this night (2:45 am again) it showed 95F while the Inkbird sent an alarm that the water was below 76F (confirmed by Neptune temperature probe and Hanna reference thermometer).

In summary, what did I do wrong with the setup above and what should I have done instead to make this setup work and achieve its objective to prevent the impact from potential equipment failure? Or are there any better ways to achieve this? Thank you!

 

[grizfyrfyter]

If you're using redundant systems, let the first line heater controller run the heater and use the inkbird as a safety and notification system.

I think you are right, power cycling the heater controller may have caused the issue.

 

[Kensington Reefer]

IMHO
Aqualogic and ranco are so much easier than the inkbird to set

 

[Alexander1312]

IMHO
Aqualogic and ranco are so much easier than the inkbird to set

Thank you. Any more details on this setup, i.e., which devices exactly?

 

[Darkxerox]

Thank you. Any more details on this setup, i.e., which devices exactly?

These are really really sturdy and I know Erin and I can't stop saying that they're a much better option than buying the cheaper units. Single stage is heater only, dual can control a chiller or fan: https://aqualogicinc.com/product/digital-temperature-controllers/ built off of a Ranco controller but with a corrosion proof probe.

Champion lighting carries them too. BRS stopped carrying them after they partnered with inkbird only.

 

[Alexander1312]

These are really really sturdy and I know Erin and I can't stop saying that they're a much better option than buying the cheaper units. Single stage is heater only, dual can control a chiller or fan: https://aqualogicinc.com/product/digital-temperature-controllers/ built off of a Ranco controller but with a corrosion proof probe.

Champion lighting carries them too. BRS stopped carrying them after they partnered with inkbird only.

That looks like much better quality, thanks so much for sharing. While we are on this topic, any recommendation for a good heater? I will be returning the hygger and in the meantime go back to the aquatop titanium heater. Also, are you guys typically use a chiller over the summer? Walnut Creek does get hot, and when we bought the tank end of August, it went up to 80 F or so. Thanks again for all that great advice.

 

[Darkxerox]

@JVU is out your way and might have a better idea on keeping a tank in the inland summer heat. Depending on where your tank is located (in the house, garage, etc) and if you have AC, you might not need one.

Also how big is your tank (total water volume including sump)? I've used Eheim Jagers for the last 25 years and they're great if you can protect them from getting dry or hit by rocks.

I don't have any experience with titanium heaters so maybe someone else has a recommendation here.

 

[grizfyrfyter]

That looks like much better quality, thanks so much for sharing. While we are on this topic, any recommendation for a good heater? I will be returning the hygger and in the meantime go back to the aquatop titanium heater. Also, are you guys typically use a chiller over the summer? Walnut Creek does get hot, and when we bought the tank end of August, it went up to 80 F or so. Thanks again for all that great advice.

80 isn't anything to freak out about. Prior to leds, tanks regularly ran at 80-82+ during summer.

I live in the central valley and just a fan blowing over the water surface during peak time of day was enough to keep the tank cool. Then again, I have a small jungle of houseplants to help with moisture so ymmv

 

[Meshmez]

It looks like you are using it correctly. The cycling shouldn't really damage the temp controller, though electronics on and off certainly can do weird things. I would think the temp controller might have failed regardless.

You can get the ITC-308 instead of the 306a. It doesn't have the run time alarm. It also has a cooling outlet instead of 2 heat, if that matters to you.

You could use a titanium element alone without controller, use the inkbird to turn it on and off, and use your apex to shut off the outlet if it's over temp. Stand alone elements seem to be harder and harder to find though.

 

[JVU]

That looks like much better quality, thanks so much for sharing. While we are on this topic, any recommendation for a good heater? I will be returning the hygger and in the meantime go back to the aquatop titanium heater. Also, are you guys typically use a chiller over the summer? Walnut Creek does get hot, and when we bought the tank end of August, it went up to 80 F or so. Thanks again for all that great advice.

In our dry air, fans work as well or better than chillers. I have a fan pointed at the surface of my display water controlled by my Apex. On medium speed, it is able cool the water faster than 600w of heater can heat it. Really I see no functional reason anyone should get a chiller in our area. Maybe an aesthetic one, but even then I wouldn’t since they take up more space and are louder.

 

[JVU]

Also I like InkBirds. I have 7 in use and never had any problems with them in my particular setups. Designing safe heating systems is a big discussion, you can see what I did in this post in my journal:
https://www.bareefers.org/forum/threads/jvu’s-rsr750.24825/page-2#post-362518

The general principal is you MUST be protected against fail-on scenarios by having 2 different ways a heater that is stuck on will be shut off, and it’s nice to also be protected against fail-off scenarios, or at least get alerted to them asap.

The Ranco’s are heavier duty and lots of people say great things about them. Back when I was seriously considering them, they were big, bulky, and they were user-unfriendly where you had to wire them yourself, so I lost interest pretty quickly.