rena heaters

dwag88

dwag88

AC Members
Jun 15, 2007
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Chattanooga, TN
anybody ever had a problem with rena top cal heaters? i have one in a 10 gallon tank right now. got it on sale at petsmart for 10 bucks. its been very hot the past few days, right now the water temp in the tank is up to 84.7 degrees according to my thermometer, but i looked at the heater and it was still cycling on and off every few minutes! i just got this thing three days ago, i hope it isnt broken.
 
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i should probably add that the heater is set to 77 so there is no reason for it to be on right now. i unplugged it to see if that helps the temp drop.
 
I have one in my 30gal, been using it for about a year with no problems. I've found that usually the markings on the heater for temp settings are wildly inaccurate. I will plug the heater in, and check the temp with a thermometer. I'll then adjust it a little bit at a time until the tank is the temp I want it, and leave it, regardless of what the setting on the heater is.
 
The little light should go on and off periodically. That means that the heater is working. If the heater is making the water too warm then by all means turn it down. Sometimes this happens in my tanks too. I just turn it down and watch it carefully over several hours to days to make sure it is at the temperature that I want it to be inside my tank. I double check it with a thermometer. Then i just leave it at that. I have found that this happens to some of my smaller heaters.The temp. I set it to is rarely the temp it reads inside the tank.

Marinemom
 
well i guess the markings are VERY inaccurate. temp is now down to 80.6 which is closer to what i want but the heater has been unplugged for an hour now. i suppose it just needs more careful calibration. im gonna lower the set temp and see if it can hold it around 80 or so. thats the best i can hope for with this weather. its 99 outside my house right now
 
Keep an eye on the heater. If the little light just stays on all of the time and does not turn itself off then chances are it is stuck in the on position and is most likely broken. If this is the case then you will have to replace the heater.

Marinemom
 
well it wasnt staying on for longer than four or five minutes at a time but it was still getting hotter than i wanted
 
dwag88 said:
well i guess the markings are VERY inaccurate. temp is now down to 80.6 which is closer to what i want but the heater has been unplugged for an hour now. i suppose it just needs more careful calibration. im gonna lower the set temp and see if it can hold it around 80 or so. thats the best i can hope for with this weather. its 99 outside my house right now
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I've never had a heater that the markings are accurate:) The one I have in my 16g is set at 75 to keep the tank at 82.
 
dwag88 said:
well it wasnt staying on for longer than four or five minutes at a time but it was still getting hotter than i wanted
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Then just turn it down and keep an eye on it. However, if the water is way too hot right now just keep it unplugged for awhile so the temp in the tank goes down gradually. Then when you plug the heater back in just have the dial turned down and keep an eye on the temp in the tank until you get it where you want it to be.

Marinemom
 
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