Problems settign an Ebo Jaeger heater

[slojmn]

I received a 200w Ebo Jaeger heater the other day and have had a bit of a time getting it to stay off when my tank is 81-83degrees. I originally set it for 78 and placed it in one of the overflow boxes in my 120g AGA tank. I could not fit it in the sump due to its long size. My water level is about 12-14" heater is 18". I can put it in the sump if need be but I thought the overflow box would be fine. Anyways, the sucker went on when the temp in the tank was at 82. So I set it at about 76. I got up this mornign to find the heater on and the temp in the tank at 82. This is frustrating me. Is it my placement? I find it hard to beleive that the temp in the overflow box is that low. I put my probe in the overflow box and it registered a few 1/10's of a degree cooler than the sump, 82.6 compared to 83 in the sump. This was in the afternoon with the MH on. My tank is running between 81-84 depending on lights. I wanted the heater for winter time to keep the nightime temp from falling to much when the lights go out. I don't want major swings in temp. Anyone else have this problem with this highly recommended heater?

[Doug]

Hi Slojmn,

I think that the water level in your overflow may be too low for the heater to work properly. The temperature sensor may be getting a false reading because it is not fully submersed.

HTH

Doug

[Doug]

Hi Slojmn,

One more thing, I just looked at my spare Ebo heater and on the top of the unit there is a minimun water level line. The line is located about <2 inches below the top of the heater.

HTH

Doug

[slojmn]

Doug, Thanks for your replies. The heater is fully submerged, right at the line. I have a Durso standpipe in the overflow so my boxes are pretty full. Since I put it at 74 degrees it has stayed off, but this seems really inaccurate. I would like to set it at 79 so if it got that low it would kick on and keep the temp close to 80.

[Snailman]

What size is your tank (gallons) and is it glass or acrylic? What temperature is the room that the tank is in and what temperature do you want the tank to be? I will consult PR and see what he says. :)

[slojmn]

Snailman, The tank is 120g All Glass Aquarium. The room temp is between 70-80 depending on the day and weather. We have no air conditioning or heating. The heater in the house is being replaced in the next week or so. It sits within three feet of the tank so I'm sure it will affect the tank. I would like to keep the tank between 80-83. It dipped to 78.8 last night and into this morning. It is now at 79. I am running MH's for three hours and by the end of that the temp should be around 83.5 or so. I am ramping the MH's up on this new tank. I also keep a little 100w heater bcalled the Accura 1000. This sucker is set at 72 and is now on and the tank is reading 79. I am using one of those Radio Shack indoor/outdoor temperature dealy bobs to get temp readings. I just put the little heater in the sump just in case the other one went out and temp dropped. Both of these heaters appear to be off. My concern is the temperature swings being to drastic at night and during the day. Thanks for looking into this. The Ebo Jaeger has not come back on since I dropped the temp down to 75.

[Snailman]

PR's table says that you need 250 watts for a 15 degree differential. Your 200 watt heater is just about right if the room is 70 but is serious overkill if it is 80. I always recomend finding out how many watts you need and then divide that by three and buy three heaters that size. I know that will cost more but a runaway or dead heater can kill everything in your tank so with that in mind the two extra heaters are cheap. If one of these heaters sticks on it is to small to drive the tank very far from where you want it. It one fails to heat then the other two heaters will keep the tank from cooling down very much much. I don't pay any attention to the dials on heaters because I have never had much faith in them. I adjust the heater until the tank is where I want it and the heater has just gone off. This may take days but the result is well worth it. I bought one Ebo and was not happy with it's regulation. We own over a dozen Visitherms and have used them for many years and have never had one fail. I know that some people don't like them but we have had great luck. :)

[slojmn]

Thanks for your replies. In the winter I should be fine. In the summer I take out all heaters anyways and that is when the house is in the 80's. I will adjust as you mentioned just by tank and the unit going off. I have a little heater in the sump in case this one never goes on, if it gets stuck I'll be screwed I guess. I do check my temp readings a few times per day, but if I am out of town the person that takes care of my tanks will not be as diligent. Thats when it always happens to!

[ejloomis]

I have an Ebo Jaeger as well as several other types of heaters and none of them are ever really accurate -- usually they seem to come on at much higher temperatures then they are set to, as you've experienced.
The $40 solution in my case was to hook all of my heaters up to a Ranco temp. controller (see the RC DIY section). I set the heaters at 82 and the controller at 80, so they always come on at 80.
This gives greater temp. control and also gives double protection against accedental overheating (both the controller and the heater thermostats would have to fail to overheat the tank).

[Snailman]

ejloomis... I have the very same setup on my tank and I love it. The ranco came with my wife's chiller and she uses an Octopus 3000 to control her chiller and heaters. I use it to drive three 250 watt heaters and it holds the temp just fine.

[Frisco]

The EJ heaters that I've used were pretty consistent once they were set right, but I was never able to use their recommended settings.