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Re: [APD] heaters
I believe Chris wrote this email section below:
Myself, I switched to an inline heater. It seems to be much more
efficient. The one I have has protection circuitry if it somehow is
run dry. Its a little bulky, but doesn't really matter since it's not
in the tank. No chance of cooking a plant either this way.
There are three basic types on the market.
One has mechanical parts and uses a bimetallic strip to open and close a
circuit which feeds a coil heater and this type has in the past jammed shut
causing the overheating problem.
The second is the same as the first except it also have a second backup
overheating circuit to protect the coil from getting too hot. Like for
example if it is removed from the water whilst still switched on.
The third uses electronics to sense temperature and as well as being a lot
more accurate and reliable, it also uses a semiconductor device to open and
close the heating element so in theory can never jam closed.
Needless to say the third type is also more expensive.
I build myself a 15W heater several years ago using just electronic parts as
I couldn't find a decent small heater for a small aquarium. It was in truth
more expensive than a basic 25W heater. But at least mine was tiny, accurate
and couldn't overheat.
--
Stuart Halliday
http://mytriops.com/
200 Million years in the making...
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