Heaters and Ambient

[sledge]

General Heater Question. I have 2 50W Whisper Heaters in my 29G. They keep the temperature rock steady as along as the ambient temperature is also steady.

The problem is I live in New England and in the spring and fall especially the outside temp varies greatly. So while at 70 ambient and 75 in the tank, as the ambient rises to say 75 the tank temp goes to 80 or more. I would think that the temp setting on the heater would be tied to a thermistor or something so that it would not turn on if the tank temp is above where its set at. But this is not the case and I am constantly adjusting the heater to keep the tank at a constant temp.

My question is, would a new heater like the Visi-Therm solve this problem. If I set one of those to 75 is that where it will stay despite fluctuations in ambient or does it operate like the one I have and only set a duty cycle that keeps the tank so many degrees above ambient.

 

[snakeskinner]

I believe I have a couple whisper heaters but they aren't very accurate but once I get them set, they stay pretty good. Do you not have air conditioning? the heaters shouldn't be coming on if the tank is already warmer than the setting. how do you know they are coming on? mine have a little orange light you can see when they come on but they don't if the water is already warmer. If they are coming on when set lower than actual temp, I'd get a better heater. kyle

 

[sledge]

I know they are coming on because that little orange light comes on. I have had the heaters set at a constant 75 but we recently had a couple warm days and the temp went to 83 before I caught it and the heaters were still coming on. I do have AC but the ambient had not been more than 75 itself so I have not turned it on. When the temp went up I unplugged the heaters and the tank went back down to about ambient. I just want a heater that I can set and forget. These I have to constantly tweak based on ambient. As I mentioned the setting only seems to set a duty cycle; it does not seem that the heater has an internal thermometer because they keep coming on when the water is warmer and they do not come on more frequently if the temp drops.

 

[JSchmidt]

sledge, the behavior you describe is the hallmark of cheap heaters. Get a couple of good Ebo Jagers or Tronics and your problem should disappear.

Jim

 

[Julia]

I agree, cheap heaters are no good. Sometimes you can get a couple months of reliable service out of them but eventually they will overheat and try to cook your fish.

We need a thread titled "don't waste your money"

 

[daveedka]

sledge, the behavior you describe is the hallmark of cheap heaters. Get a couple of good Ebo Jagers or Tronics and your problem should disappear.

I would agree, I use visi-therms, and love them, I have never had any reason to try another brand so I can't say good or bad. Before visi-therm, I did the cold boiled fish tank thing all the time.

 

[becky_e]

One of my friends in college had a cheap heater. She never had fish before, and she read that "people with fish tend not to fight," so she bought a tank set-up so she and her roommate wouldn't argue anymore. When she put her betta in the tank, it died instantly. She called me to check it out and I put my hand in the tank. It was as warm as a bath. She'd have been better off with no heater than the cheap heater she got with her set. The tank was only 2.5 gallons, too.