# How often do you replace your heaters?



## fury165

I had the ViaAqua Titanium heater fail on my main display yesterday after 4 years of service. No big drama of an explosion or fire, it just went quietly into the night. Luckily I had another Titanium heater by Finnex that was way too oversized for my fragtank so I put it into service.

I've seen the advice of people that insist that heaters need to be replaced *yearly* as a cheap form of insurance. I am now considering this but wanted to know what you guys do WRT your heaters.


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## corpusse

I think titanium ones are less of a threat since they aren't going to explode. Also if you keep them on a controller the worst they can do is quit.

That being said I only replace mine every 2-3 years if that. Older ones can be used on mixing tanks, QT tanks ect as their ability to cause damage is a lot more limited when not in constant use with all of your prized creatures.


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## altcharacter

I have dual 100w heaters on my DT hooked up to a RKL so I really don't worry about it. If one goes, then I just change it out for a new one...although the ones in there have been in service for over 3 years so far.

I do have a few backups downstairs so I'm ready!!


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## kookie_guy

My eheim jager heater is going strong after about 6 years of use now. I don't believe in routine replacements just because it MAY fail soon. But I do always have a backup on hand for when it does.


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## sig

2 heaters set on the maximum and hooked to RKL. The controllers inside the heaters probably do not work well, but since RKL does the job, it is not problem until probe is OK
I had few and used them for ~ 6 years

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## fury165

kookie_guy said:


> My eheim jager heater is going strong after about 6 years of use now. I don't believe in routine replacements just because it MAY fail soon. But I do always have a backup on hand for when it does.


Agreed, seems wasteful to just throw out a *functioning* piece of equipment, however I Tend to use glass heaters for light or temporary duty.



sig said:


> 2 heaters set on the maximum and hooked to RKL. The controllers inside the heaters probably do not work well, but since RKL does the job, it is not problem until probe is OK
> I had few and used them for ~ 6 years


Be careful, This summer my frag tank's RKL temp probe died and the titanium heater in there had no built in thermostat - the RKL turned on the heater and it got to 96 degrees before I noticed it.  I set my DT heater's thermostat a couple of degrees higher than what I have the Apex set to. That way if the Apex probe fails the most it will get to is 80 deg.



corpusse said:


> I think titanium ones are less of a threat since they aren't going to explode. Also if you keep them on a controller the worst they can do is quit.
> 
> That being said I only replace mine every 2-3 years if that. Older ones can be used on mixing tanks, QT tanks ect as their ability to cause damage is a lot more limited when not in constant use with all of your prized creatures.


+1 I've got a number of lower wattage heaters, but I think I've just about used them all in QT tanks now. I've got to remember to label them properly.



altcharacter said:


> I have dual 100w heaters on my DT hooked up to a RKL so I really don't worry about it. If one goes, then I just change it out for a new one...although the ones in there have been in service for over 3 years so far.
> 
> I do have a few backups downstairs so I'm ready!!


I planned on doing duals on a staggered timing but I don't have the space to do that currently.


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## sig

fury165 said:


> Agreed, seems wasteful to just throw out a *functioning* piece of equipment, however I Tend to use glass heaters for light or temporary duty.
> 
> Be careful, This summer my frag tank's RKL temp probe died and the titanium heater in there had no built in thermostat - the RKL turned on the heater and it got to 96 degrees before I noticed it.  I set my DT heater's thermostat a couple of degrees higher than what I have the Apex set to. That way if the Apex probe fails the most it will get to is 80 deg.
> 
> +1 I've got a number of lower wattage heaters, but I think I've just about used them all in QT tanks now. I've got to remember to label them properly.
> 
> I planned on doing duals on a staggered timing but I don't have the space to do that currently.


Thanks. good advice. Look like I was fortunate 

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## rburns24

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"I set my DT heater's thermostat a couple of degrees higher than what I have the Apex set to. That way if the Apex probe fails the most it will get to is 80 deg."

I do the same thing. That way, if something fails, it won't be catastrophic. 
-


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## fesso clown

Me too, I set just above the DT temp and let the Apex keep it 2-3 degrees lower. I have a pair of brand new Blue line titanium heaters that I have been afraid to use becauce they don't have thermostats.


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## fury165

fesso clown said:


> Me too, I set just above the DT temp and let the Apex keep it 2-3 degrees lower. I have a pair of brand new Blue line titanium heaters that I have been afraid to use becauce they don't have thermostats.


Just get a separate thermostat. I had a Ranco ETC unit that is supposed to be the best.. It had the E2 error and I never bothered to replace it since they run ~100.00 shipped.
Instead I picked up this finnex temperature controller that they sell seperately or in a bundle with their Ti tubes. http://www.reefsupplies.ca/online-store/Finnex-HC-0800U-Electronic-Temperature-Controller.html


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## sig

fury165 said:


> .
> Instead I picked up this finnex temperature controller that they sell seperately or in a bundle with their Ti tubes. http://www.reefsupplies.ca/online-store/Finnex-HC-0800U-Electronic-Temperature-Controller.html


thanks for posting

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## deeznutz

Woke up at 5am to a burning smell from the basement. Investigated and found my Ehime heater sparking/bubbling under water in my sump.
I unplugged and tossed it. Kinda scary. I'm surprised it didn't trip my gfci. 

Would it matter if the heater is plugged into a controller and not directly into the gfci?

The heaters were pretty old, I'd say about 5-7 years old. 

From now on, I'll be replacing my heaters every 2-3 years. Just to be safe.
So if you guy have older heaters running 24/7 duties, I'd swap them out for new ones.

Play safe folks.

-dan


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## fury165

deeznutz said:


> Woke up at 5am to a burning smell from the basement. Investigated and found my Ehime heater sparking/bubbling under water in my sump.
> I unplugged and tossed it. Kinda scary. I'm surprised it didn't trip my gfci.
> 
> Would it matter if the heater is plugged into a controller and not directly into the gfci?
> 
> The heaters were pretty old, I'd say about 5-7 years old.
> 
> From now on, I'll be replacing my heaters every 2-3 years. Just to be safe.
> So if you guy have older heaters running 24/7 duties, I'd swap them out for new ones.
> 
> Play safe folks.
> 
> -dan


Yikes! Had a similar incident last week, burning smell growing stronger by the day. Turns out it is the wall receptacle behind some furniture that I had a couple of things plugged in, but all light duty low wattage stuff. Drove me crazy finding it and I thought it was related to the replacement 500 watt heater I installed in the DT's sump.... But the problem was not with the receptacle where the heater and controller is installed - weird.

I bumped up my heater temp recently to 78.5 F and noticed my heater comes on every 2.5 - 3 hours (room temp is usually 75F with the heater off). You guys with controllers, what do you see when you look at your heater stats?


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## sig

the the probes on my RTL started to play games after 1 year and required calibration. It happened twice on yearly basis. I know that DA recommends temp probe replacement after 1 year.

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## rburns24

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I use an Apex with the low set at 77.4 and the high at 78.2. The variance is one degree.
-


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## fury165

rburns24 said:


> -
> I use an Apex with the low set at 77.4 and the high at 78.2. The variance is one degree.
> -


That is where I normally keep it, but with a half a degree variance. I figured the heater would run more frequently but for less time. I will also start using the Apex's seasonal tables and let it control my temps.


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## fury165

sig said:


> the the probes on my RTL started to play games after 1 year and required calibration. It happened twice on yearly basis. I know that DA recommends temp probe replacement after 1 year.


I didn't realize that..wtf  I have 3 RKL and 1 RKE systems and only had the one probe go bad. The probes are at least 2+ years old.


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## Midland

What happens if the heater fails and the water cools to room temp (68). Will corals or fish die if short term?


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