heater recomendation?

[NYPDFrogman]

hey all want to can my won bros heaters, but I dont want a glass heater

need something submersible to for in sump

 

[Dmitry]

Why not won bros? I ask because I use one and wonder if there's a problem!

 

[NYPDFrogman]

the 250watt Won bros heater has a digital readout it's reads about 10 degrees warmer than it is and works intermittenly.

the 500 w I have on my 180 does not have the digital readout. I 've noticed when it's calling for heat the relay clicks alot. sometimes I have to unplug it to reset.

I really like the titatium heating element but I'm not that wild about the control

 

[Dmitry]

Yeah, my heater's thermometer is about 2 degrees off from what my mercury thermometer reads. So perhaps I got lucky! :irked: :sigh1:

 

[House of Laughter]

Why is this such a moving target when this hobby is so precious? Are there better heaters out there?

House

 

[cali_reef]

Why is this such a moving target when this hobby is so precious? Are there better heaters out there?

House

Nope!!! I looked for a good heater with a built-in controller, no such product made.

Your best and safest solution is to use a titatium heating element with a ranco controller, or an aqua controller with a DC-4, no x-10's, too unstable. With the price of electricity, I am thinking about using my boiler to heat my system this winter.

 

[jackson6745]

I agree with Cali, titanium heater and ranco controller.

 

[Dmitry]

What's a ranco?

Titanium is the way to go, I think. No chance of shattering it, which I would have done several times already if it wasn't made of metal! But it's not exact. Actually, the glass heaters aren't exact either. I use one for pre-mixing water and it's off by several degrees as well. This isn't rocket science! Perhaps if it was they'd make something more exact and reliable! :arg:

 

[pecan2phat]

I agree about not having glass heaters in a sump. I have one Ebo-Jager but am using one of those plastic heater guards on it. As for the Won titaniums, I have four of them on various tanks. The digital readout ones that I have are pretty close to actual tank temp and that's what I go by vs the dial setting and with the analog controller ones, I go by a independent digital readout thermometer and they have all preformed pretty well over the last few years.
Titanium heaters with a quality temp controller works best but the Won heaters have their big butt controllers on the electrical plug so that kind of blows if your using a Reef Keeper or AC controller. (exception is their 500w unit)
I just bought some Via Aqua titanium heaters to try since their controller is not part of the electrical plug. I'll see how they work, they'll be on a Reef Keeper controller so I won't be really using their built in controller. They always made the stainless steel versions which started to rust in saltwater, so I'll see if these are better.

The other possibility are the Stealth heaters by Visi-Therm. They are aluminum cored heaters encased in plastic. They would have been good for an external controller but I never liked their regular heater which this one looks like the electronics are the same.