cainechow Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 Remember when the old computer keyboard would get a stuck key and the OS would tell you that there was a "Stuck Key Failure"? If you do, you are old Well I discovered that my Hydor Theo on the little 4 gallon SW tank has had a stuck thermostat and is running temps pretty high. In a 4 galon that is a big deal. Are all these heaters all just as bad? I've heard that Jager is bad, Stealth heaters are bad... and then I read other places that these brands also get thumbs up from people... What is your favorite small heater? We are talking about reliable & accurate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cainechow Posted March 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 Anyone ever run a Neo-Therm digital? Is it worth 60.00? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigs Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 cannot say about the Hydor Theo, but I've changed over to the little tetra heaters and they are doing fine, in 2.5G to 5G tanks no sweat. (rated for up to 15G) I'd tried the marineland 3-5G? ones in the same setup and they overheated by 2-3 degrees. Tossed them into 10G tanks and they hold 24degrees well, so not sure what their problem is, cutoff might not be wired in to operate soon enough. cheers, Antonio PS the tetra heaters walmart (yes I know) had on sale at the time for $10 per....couldn't pass it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 One thing I've been seeing become more common is installing a thermostatically controlled plug. Basically, a waterproof thermostat I wired to control a plug or power bar; then plug your heaters into it. It basically makes it impossible for the heaters to cook your tank when they fail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cainechow Posted March 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 (edited) Looks like the only affordable one is the one from Finnex. Anyone seen this locally? looks like 30.00 online... or we get our nerd on and build something out of an arduino board. Edited March 11, 2013 by cainechow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekbottom Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 I haven't seen the Finnex locally but Amazon will ship them to your door. If you want to get your nerd on you can pick up something similar on ebay. It's called an STC-1000. You have to do some wiring but you can hook up a heater plus a fan or chiller to control temp. Just make sure to get a 110V model. If I can wire this thing, almost anyone can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigs Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 One thing I've been seeing become more common is installing a thermostatically controlled plug. Basically, a waterproof thermostat I wired to control a plug or power bar; then plug your heaters into it. It basically makes it impossible for the heaters to cook your tank when they fail. Care to toss me more info on that setup Jason, sounds like something I might want to invest in cheers, Antonio Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cainechow Posted March 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 (edited) That STC is like 23.00 shipped? Wow not bad at all! Looks pretty industrial. Does it come with the sensor or is that generally separate? Edit: Yeah after digging around looks like you can get it with the sensor. Now to figure out if the sensors are submersible. Edited March 11, 2013 by cainechow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekbottom Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 It comes with the sensor. However, you have to provide and sacrifice at least 2 power cords. One to power the box and another to power the heater. There are quite a few vids on youtube about using this thing, mostly for home brewing setups. It's actually a fairly small box, 3x3 inches or so. And it has memory so it will remember your settings if there is a power failure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cainechow Posted March 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 So easy to wire too! (http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f3/diy-temperature-controller-30645/) Well worth the the cost I think. And it looks like they might be had for a bit less via ebay in auction mode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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