Originally Posted by
Nine28girl
Ok, but the controllers that come with them are ok right? I was trying to read the archives before I posted and someone mentioned something about not using the electronic ones like Won Brothers and said use something called Stealth which I have never heard of?? If it is not electronic what is it- sorry if stupid question.
Sam
I have about 5 Won heaters. 1 is still in operation on my FOWLR system, but all of my other Wons have been replaced with Jager heaters. The reason why is that of the 5 I had, 3 have failed. Won replaced one, but it took almost two weeks for the complete RMA process to go through. I'd have been hosed if I didn't have a spare heater.
Stories abound these boards about these heaters cooking tanks because the controller fails and sticks "ON." I've never had that, mine have always failed "OFF."
The problem comes in with bigger tanks. Most heaters simply don't go as large as you need, about the biggest normally available heater is 250w, so we are forced to turn to Won, which is one of the few manufacturers that make them >500w. Personally, I wouldn't run one on a tank that big without a second controller due to the risk of failure.
Back in the day, Aquanetics (now called Aqua Logic) made an inline heater called a Fireplug. These came in up to 1000w, and they were AWESOME. Unfortunately they stopped making them even though they had a niche market.
For my 180g reef, I'm using (4) Jager 250w heaters. If you don't have room for that many heaters, here's SCSI's super duper heater setup:
(2) Won Bros 500w heaters
(1) Ranco Single Stage Controller
Assuming you want your tank at 77 degrees, set it up like this:
Plug both heaters into the controller. Set your heaters for 77 and 75 degrees. Set the controller for 80.
It'll work like this:
If your tank's temperature drops to 76 degrees, the first Won will kick in. If this heater keeps up, great. If the tank requires extra heat or the first heater fails, the second one will kick in to pick up the slack. If either heater fails "ON" and the tank reaches 80 degrees, the Ranco controller will kick out as a "safety mechanism."
This way you don't have to worry about a controller on a heater failing off or on, nor do you have to worry about a total failure of a heater, as you'll have two for protection. Call me paranoid, but $100 on a Ranco controller is worth it to protect how ever many thousands in livestock you'll have.