MR Teee
01-13-2007, 09:09 AM
Morning peeps, Just thought I would give some fedback on some equipment I have had. The item in question is a tmperature controller, that controls the switching of a heater rather than relying on the internals of the heater (these are notoriously unreliable)
The item in question is this one.
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r5/adambirkitt/temperature_controller_adapter.jpghttp://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r5/adambirkitt/temperature_controllr_atc_3.jpg
After I had got it set up from the instructions that really weren't much use, and in some cases had information missing, I noted the following things. The resolution of te readout is poor. I.e it only goes up in 0.3 of a degree, this leads to inaccuracies in the switching of the heater. Taking it to its extreme you could be 0.3 f a degree either side of the switching points you have set. Not really a fine degree of control.
The other functions bar this worked erll i.e the alarm etc.
However 4 months on, and one day the alarm starts going off. look at the readout and it says 21.2 degrees. You can imagine my response. However being an engineer I whip out another thermometer and thankfully read 26.5 degrees. Phew.
When I take the probe out it makes the display go back to 26.2 on the controller. The probe had started to breakdown, resulting in a false reading. But when the controller decided the temp was 21.2 it switched the heater on!! Potentially a disaster if I was not sat right next to the tank.
Looking on the website where I got this from, I have now found out that they do not recommend this for marine environments (something that was not there when I bought it), but i have received no notice,. or no message saying that my controller might no be suitable for marine. Not the type of service I look for from a supplier.
Safe to say this thing went in the bin, and I am currently developing a new controller myself that will be the dogs danglies!
As always in this hobby "Buy cheap - Buy twice!"
Thanks for your attention.
P.S Mods I have left out names, etc deliberatly so that it is suitable for the forum. If there are any problems let me know.
The item in question is this one.
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r5/adambirkitt/temperature_controller_adapter.jpghttp://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r5/adambirkitt/temperature_controllr_atc_3.jpg
After I had got it set up from the instructions that really weren't much use, and in some cases had information missing, I noted the following things. The resolution of te readout is poor. I.e it only goes up in 0.3 of a degree, this leads to inaccuracies in the switching of the heater. Taking it to its extreme you could be 0.3 f a degree either side of the switching points you have set. Not really a fine degree of control.
The other functions bar this worked erll i.e the alarm etc.
However 4 months on, and one day the alarm starts going off. look at the readout and it says 21.2 degrees. You can imagine my response. However being an engineer I whip out another thermometer and thankfully read 26.5 degrees. Phew.
When I take the probe out it makes the display go back to 26.2 on the controller. The probe had started to breakdown, resulting in a false reading. But when the controller decided the temp was 21.2 it switched the heater on!! Potentially a disaster if I was not sat right next to the tank.
Looking on the website where I got this from, I have now found out that they do not recommend this for marine environments (something that was not there when I bought it), but i have received no notice,. or no message saying that my controller might no be suitable for marine. Not the type of service I look for from a supplier.
Safe to say this thing went in the bin, and I am currently developing a new controller myself that will be the dogs danglies!
As always in this hobby "Buy cheap - Buy twice!"
Thanks for your attention.
P.S Mods I have left out names, etc deliberatly so that it is suitable for the forum. If there are any problems let me know.