Bad Heater or Probe

God bless my Apex controller, because I probably never would have noticed this potential issue with my heater. Last night my heater stopped working and by this morning the temp was down to 74.1 a 3.6 degree drop. About 6am the heater came back on-line and started heating again. Comparing my temp to the amps I can see that power was on to the system so the problem either lies with my temp sensor or the heater itself. You can see where the temp started dropping last night. The blue spikes show each time my heater kicked on. All this was noticed while at work after checking my tank status. I travel for work quite a bit and I'm glad I have this little peace of mind.

 

Not the probe. Just checked the Apex again and it shows heater is on, but the temp has dropped to 77.1 again which is .4 below set minimum. I guess I'll be stopping at LFS on the way home for a new heater.

EDIT: Wow, just check conductivity probe for salinity and it drops when the heater is on but not heating. It's putting voltage in my sump. I turned off the heater from my desk at work. Hope my fish are ok. On second thought, the drop in conductivity is likely due to the calibration temp being higher.

My wife says all fish are accounted for and swimming happily.

 

I always install 2 matching heaters in my sump. If one fails the other will continue unless the breaker blows.

 

When I was doing my build I received the advice to have a back up heater. I did not heed this warning. Now I have a new heater in and a backup in place and the temp is returning to normal.

 

My old heater would keep my tank anywhere from 78-81. My new heater keeps it at 78. Who ever thought a heater could cause so much trouble.

 

I would recommend getting a controller of some kind to control your heater(s). Way too many stories of heaters staying on and cooking tanks.

 

Yeah, it's on an Apex controller, that's how I discovered the issue. Turns out the heater was almost dead and only working intermittently. The Apex may have saved my bacon, now she is controlling a new one and a back up. :O)

 

Sorry Marty, I meant the poster after you

 

Oh, duh, I should have picked up on that. lol Long day.

 

One day i might be able to afford one.