Kessil

Reliable Heaters? (eheim jagers consistently crapping out)

I'm still using the Jaegers but they're hooked up to the Apex so I'm not too worried about them. Even before they were hooked up to the controller, they were keeping the tanks at a warm 80 degrees. When it's time to replace them, I'll probably go with Cobalts to try them out as I hear good things about them.
 
The simple solution would be to replace the 150W I have with like 200W or 250W but the damn Eheim Jagers are so damn looooooooooong.

They're probably the longest heaters available. lol The bigger versions don't fit in my sump compartment!

I will have to switch brands.


Thanks a bunch for the replies guys, I will have to replace my heater.
 
Enderturtle said:
The simple solution would be to replace the 150W I have with like 200W or 250W but the damn Eheim Jagers are so damn looooooooooong.

They're probably the longest heaters available. lol The bigger versions don't fit in my sump compartment!

I will have to switch brands.


Thanks a bunch for the replies guys, I will have to replace my heater.
Click to expand...

OK, let me know if you want to borrow a 100W or 150W Aqueon Pro. I have some spares.
 
wpeterson said:
I should have mentioned this earlier, but ambient temperature plays a big role in how much heater wattage is required for your tank.
...
Click to expand...

Yes, but with a big caveat.
As air temperature increases, evaporation increases.
And evaporation can be the dominant heat loss, depending on tank setup.

For example, air can hold 10X the moisture at 100F versus 32F.
And if you heat cold air from outside, you end up with warm very dry air, that
will significantly increase evaporation.

So heating the air around your tank in the winter helps, but not as much as you might hope.

That said, you are heating with gas, which is a lot cheaper than heating with electricity.
 
I have my tanks in the garage and it's been pretty cold recently. I've found that I'm going through much more ro/di for top off than in the summer. Right now my 40g is going through about 2g every 2-3 days. During the summer, I can go almost a week before I have to refill. This is not counting the few days it goes over 100deg.

I have 2 150w Cobalt NeoTherm heaters in the back chambers. Apex is set to start both at 78 n stop at 78.5 ( usually creeps to 78.8-78.9)

I have my temp gauge sitting in the DT right before the overflow so it measures actual DT water temp n not water being heated by the heaters before it returns to the DT.


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Energy needed to raise 1 pound of water 1 degree = 1 BTU
Energy loss in evaporating 1 pound of water = 970 BTUs

1000 BTU = 0.3 KWH, and at $0.25 per KWH = $0.075

I figure about 1/2 gallon a day for my system, so that is $100 per year in heating costs, just for evaporation.
My best estimate on overall aquarium heating bill was $500 per year, so evaporation is 20%.
(Warning, not very accurate numbers)

My tank and sump are acrylic plus insulated, and skimmer area of sump is sealed, so it is actually pretty efficient.
Unfortunately a CO2/PH issue, but that is another story.
 
:( I just burned out 2 heaters in less than two weeks. First was a Fluval E300, that ran for about 2-3 weeks before burning out, second a Marineland visi-term 250 that lasted lass than a week. I had them controlled by my RKE.

Now, the Fluval turns on, shows me the temperature & I can select the target temperature on its display, it changes the color to blue which means the heater element is on, but the heater remains cold. Similarly the Marineland heater turns on its red LED indicating that it is heating, but it stays cold.

Did I burned them out because I had them fully controlled by the RKE?!? The RKE was set to maintain a temperature of 77F +/- 0.4. The heaters' controllers were set at 79F. So the RKE was the one that was turning them on & off as needed.

I'll buy a heater locally tomorrow and set it in the other mode: its controller will be set to 77F and the RKE will be set to 79F. I'm curious if that will make it last longer.
 
I have qt tanks in the garage and I keep the door to the house propped open to keep it heated. My gas bill is much much less than electric bill and this helps a lot. As a side note, I have ~20 ehim jaeger heaters and only one has ever failed(water got inside somehow).


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Ebo, now Eheim-Jager have been my go to heater for years. I've got one in my FW tank that must be at least 10 years old.

In the reef tank I have them set two degrees above the off point controlled by the Apex. This way their thermostats never cycle unless the Apex goes bonkers (two times in the last two years).

Just to be safe, I'll replace them soon. Perhaps I'll get to it before 2020! o_O:rolleyes:
 
Enderturtle said:
They're probably the longest heaters available. lol The bigger versions don't fit in my sump compartment!
Click to expand...

I should have mentioned this, but one of the reasons I chose Finnex was because the tube is only 10" long for the 300W model, so it fits cross-wise in my sump.

If you want to save some cash, the 300W titanium tubes (w/out controller are only $30 on sale from BRS black friday):

Tube only: http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/finnex-deluxe-titanium-heating-tube.html

Tube & Controller: http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/finnex-hma-heater-w-analog-controller.html
 
@robert4025

Actually I had to recalibrate my heaters, crank the power up 1 or 2 clicks to meet up with the cold weather. So far they've been good.

I wonder though, are we suppose to crank these heaters up to match the cold weather?

What happens in the summer if I forget to recalibrate? The heater would make the water uncomfortably hot.

I only feel comfortable doing this because my controller will turn off the heater in the summer if I forget to recalibrate for warmer conditions.
 
Coral reefer said:
Not familiar w either of those brands...you are keeping them submerged though correct?
Click to expand...

Yes, they were fully submerged in my sump the whole time. I took the Fluval guard out and visually checked the heating element. No burn out signs, everything looks fine. It just doesn't heat up anymore, almost as its controller is locked out. I bought a new Aqueon heater for the Petco store near by to last me until I get some better heaters. My water temp was at 72F. Now it's back at 78F. All corals seem fine. Next time I'll have to order a new heater as soon as the main one dies. I didn't expect the backup heater to also die in less than a week.
 
I am going through the same thing but the opposite. The eheim is not turning off. I usually don't use heaters but with the cold spell coming, I thought I would dial them in. Unfortunately, I messed with the red dial and now I am frantically trying to calibrate them. Hope my fish don't fry overnight. Gonna get some real heaters this week, cobalt neotherm :)
 
i know the original ebo jaegers were super reliable. Not usre how the Eheim ones are. I usually use 2 heaters in my tank and they been working great.
 
sjbro said:
... Did I burned them out because I had them fully controlled by the RKE?!? The RKE was set to maintain a temperature of 77F +/- 0.4. The heaters' controllers were set at 79F. So the RKE was the one that was turning them on & off as needed....
Click to expand...

Perhaps.
If the controller cycles heaters on and off very quickly, that can cause damage the heater coil.

Normally, there is a bit of hysteresis programmed in.
Turn on when temp is below 76
Turn off when temp is above 78
If your on/off point is at the exact same temp, it can go crazy.
 
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