chimera Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 since this forum is a little stale as late, im interested in seeing what heating/cooling people use. it goes without saying everyone utilises a heater of some sort. but those who are running multiple heaters - its sometimes less effective doing this without some sort of temperature controller (coz they power on/off etc - or at least thats what im led to believe). likewise running a chiller is easier with a controller too. i know jetskisteve has imported a heap recently, a model that many of us use already. consider this post basically a survey... Q. how many litres, how many heaters do you use and what wattage? do you run a chiller? do you run a temperature controller? and i guess last, do you find you have issues with temperature fluctuations throughout the day? 950 litres total, run 2 x 300W and 1 x 200W heaters, an aquamedic temperature controller (which i highly recommend!) and a aquamedic 1/2HP chiller Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KP Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 550L total, planning 2x 250W heaters Do the controllers have a single heating output plug? I was planing to run the heaters on seperate GFIs so if one trips there is still redundancy. Has anyone got theirs setup like this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted May 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 Do the controllers have a single heating output plug? yes only single. power into the controller, then heater power out and chiller power out. temperature detected via a titanium probe. you set low and high temperature values, eg: 24 degrees and 26 degrees respectively. if temp hits high value, it directs power to chiller power, if temp hits low value, it directs power to heaters. with temperature swings, IMO its the rising temperature that is more critical than lowering temperature. i found with my tank (after a power problem) that over about 12 hours, my tank temperature only dropped from 25 degrees to about 22.5 degrees (ambient room temperature at the time was probably around 18 degrees) usually your home has adequate insulation to stop the temperature dropping too quick. i seem to recall cookie saying his tank has dropped to 19 degrees (or somewhere thereabouts) without any issues. contrary to this, over summer (just before the chiller was installed) my tank temperature went from 25 degrees to 29.5 degrees in less than 4 hours. granted, the ambient room temperature was about 24 degrees at the time. over 30 degrees i think you'll start having serious issues. so add to this direct heat from halides, pumps etc generally speaking there is more chance on temperature rising too quickly than dropping too quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KP Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 So when does it switch the heater off? 25C What resolution does the probe have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetskisteve Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 Can handle 8 amps so plug a fair bit into it, I have total of 350L approx I plug 2x300w heaters & a 1/2 HP chiller my temp never drops below 25degrees & never go's over 26.4 could let the temp go higher but it doesnt bother me. Pies plugs 4 heaters & fans into his! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted May 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 resolution is 1 degree, cant set it lower unfortunately but still work particularly well. the heater output goes to a 4-way power box which each heater is plugged into. with the cooling, other than the chiller i've also got a big arse fan mounted on the wall over the display tank. I made up a box with 4 power points and controlled by a relay (coz the digital timer kept blowing up when the halides came on! drew too much power at startup that it couldnt handle the load ) three of the plugs in the box go to each of the halides, the last one goes to the fan. usually the fan is switched off, however over summer, if i go away on holiday i turn the switch to the fan on (its also on a separate RCD to the chiller). that way if the RCD trips to the controller, at least the fan keeps the tank cool (plus the fan only comes on when the timer kicks the halides on) works well. because the tank is an inwall, i've also got the room the tank sits in wired up for a temperature controller. im putting two vents in the floor and 2 extractor fans in the ceiling. so, should the room go above a certain temperature, the controller will activate 2 battery backed up extractor fans that will suck cool air from under the house into the room then extract it outside. overboard perhaps, but at the end of the day im just protecting my investment 8) Lighting box: "Backup" fan: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puttputt Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 1100 litres, one 500watt heater on a weipro controller. Airconditioner runs in the fish room during summer. Temp fluctuates between 25.0 and 25.5. Very pleased. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrineShrimp Guy Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 I have built controllers in the past, for commercial and domestic applications. Seems most of the controllers on the market are to expensive for what they offer. I have been considering designing a controller. Apart from an adequately rated heating and chiller outputs (both 10 amps), resolution of 0.1ºC instead of 1ºC, what else would people like to see in a temperature controller? BS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misnoma Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 1x300W heater for 380L, it's almost never on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tel Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 750lts total, 2 x 300 wt heaters. set to 26 and varies 26- 29. new tank and not ideal. new v/large sump, temp controller, chiller and new heaters/ different layout coming soon. my thoughts would be to have some reliable cyclic temp varience but i'll do some research as to what happens in nature etc. (i also dont know much as its my first setup) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drifty Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 1200l total, 3 300w heaters on a temp controller, no chiller but 4 fans on lights when on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KP Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 Chim, just to confirm what I'm looking at. You got those four powerpoints connected to the relay in the middle. The relay's signal is from the green cord going to the timer and power is the white cord going to a RCD? What sort of relay is it? You would get a decent amount of current surge when you start your halides simultaneously :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 About 800L 2 x 300watt heater in the sump under the house and they are set at 24deg. They are controlled by a Resan CL650 Chiller, 1/4hp. I'm assuming this will be too small in summer as it is rated to 650L. It's worked great on my old tank and the temp would vary 2deg. Hoping that with the sump under the house and a nice breeze I won't have to buy a new chiller. Well it some time to summer and the wife will have forgotten how poor this tank build has made us and bingo a new chiller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracker Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 No chiller..1400 litres..2 x 300 watt and 1 x 150 watt heaters. Never have an issue with cooling. My 1050 watts of metal hallides crank up the heat too much. I am running between 26 and 27.8 every day at the moment. Seems to be ok...I keep an eye on it. One day I'll get a controller I think! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracker Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 never have an issue with heating I meant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 800l, 2xheater dont know what they are dont think they ever come on, 2x fan 1 on display, one 1 on sump. all plugged into controller (jetskisteve type), if you switch the controller from C to F the control is a little finer. extractor fan taking wet air outside on a timer. I think the expensive part of the salt water controllers is the titanium probe, IMO a must have. I have killed a few temp probes that are in plastic or stainless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeBlog Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 ~800 litres total, run 1 x 300W and 1 x 200W heater, an aquamedic temperature controller and a lot of fans (also hooked up to temp controller). No real problems with temp control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted May 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 if you switch the controller from C to F the control is a little finer clever idea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevan Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 About 910 litres and have 1 x 300w and 1 x 150 w no controler and running tank between 22.9 - 24 C . summer have room air conditioned so last year kept temp to about 26C. New tank has sump in garage with 10 m of piping so hope this will have cooling effect in summer (no chiller) . I have not insulated sump yet so will do this weekend and my temp should stay closer to 24 c . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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