My New Ranco, A Controller For The Heaters.

I have never been able to get my heaters to heat at the same time and the Visitherm Stealths do not have an on light to aid in the process. I have looked around for a controller for them but just do not like the quality of the units that are in my price range.
It came via UPS, the box was mangled but the contents were in great shape. Sometimes I wonder how many gorillas must jump on my packages before I get them. The folks at Pexsupply.com have a great selection of Ranco's. I got this one, Ranco ETC-111000 - Ranco - Single Stage ETC Temperature Control w/ Sensor (120/240V Input)
A few minutes with two cheep extension cords, wire cutters, a couple of screw drivers and a soldering iron and she was ready for use. The cords are for power in and out to the heaters. I used the soldering iron to solder the ends of the cords to keep them neat. The rest of the tools were used to remove the cover and cut the ends off of the cords.
Here she is and the heaters she is driving.

 

Nice. I'm also looking at Ranco and also at the Dwyer TSS2 to control a heater and fan.

A word of caution on the Stealth. I had one in my sump for a while and I was feeling a shock whenever my arm was in the tank and I touched my light fixture. I tracked it down to the Stealth heater. I have read numerous reports of other people experiencing the same thing with the Stealths. Looks like you have a big investment in them but your own well-being and the well-being of your livestock, in my opinion, is worth the investment to change them out.

 

Rancos are great, almost bulletproof. I used a dual stage for years to control fans and a chiller, in fact I only sold it when I bought a ReefKeeper Lite L3 to replace it last week.

 

I'm trying to decide between a temperature switch like the Ranco or Dwyer or getting a controller leike the Reefkeeper Lite L1. Have read some reports of the temp sensors dying on the Reefkeepers and the temperature being off. They also aren't UL approved.

 

The RK controllers rock. When I move on that is the direction I will go, but for now I have the controllers I need as separate items.
The stealth’s have not given me any problems yet, they are about 4 years old. I check for voltage in the system once a week, and no problem yet.

 

With the RKL I was able to sell my Milwaukee SMS-122 pH controller, Ranco temp controller, electronic and mechanical timers, Coralife moonlights and adapters and several outlet strips.
I would not let the UL approval worry you, it is a long very expensive drawn out process and would necessitate them doubling the cost of the RKL to get UL approval. Its nice but not worth the extra money and time it would delay their introduction of products.
I calibrated the itemp probe using a high dollar digital AC probe and it was almost perfect out of the box. The pH probe is like everyone elses and calibrated right up too. Not as simple as the Ranco but it can do much much more.

 

Yep the RK is in my future. Things I use today Ranco temp controller, SMS-120 PH monitor, SMS PH controller, mechanical timers. The timers drive the relays that power my VHO and MH ballasts. I do not see how they would be helped by the RK, the lights are upstairs and the ballasts are in the garage. The calcium reactor is in the basement with the controllers; my heaters are also in the basement sump. I am happy with the light setup and see no reason to run wire to them from a RK.

 

The RK modules hook up using bus cables which can be quite long and it does not matter where they get their 120v AC power. This means the PC-4 or SL-1 or 2 modules can be remote from the RKL and still on the network. May work good for you!
Digital Aquatics Online Store

They are basically telephone plugs and cables.

One big advantage of having the lights on the RKL is the overtemperature alarm and shutdown feature, if the tank goes over a user defined temp it will shut itself off until it cools down. It also has a feature where in a power outage the ballasts have a 15 minute cool down feature before they relight. Great feature.