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Thread: Heater fall back - on or off ?

  1. #1
    Regular Vistor
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    Heater fall back - on or off ?

    I have a 300 W Marine land heater that had a thermostat in it. ... I am not sure what to set the fall back setting.
    I heard that if a heater has its own thermostat then the fall back should be' ON '. But that seems like it would allow that
    tank to cook if the heater ever malfunctioned.
    To me, it seems like the fall back setting to be ' OFF ' so that way it I would be shut off and not over heat
    Pleas advise as to the best ' safest ' setting for the fall back
    Thank you for your time
    Steve Barta

  2. #2
    New User
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    Set the fallback to OFF... a cooling off tank is going to survive much better than a cooked tank

  3. #3
    Frequent Contributor zombie's Avatar
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    My rule of thumb is that the first heater in the tank should be fallback OFF. If using multiple heaters (you should always use multiple small heaters rather than one appropriately sized) with a built in thermostat, half of less should be fallback ON with temp set 2 degrees above normal tank temp.

    You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.

  4. #4
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    I am confused...why would the fallback on heater # 2 be ON. Isn't that the ' cook your tank issue ' ?

  5. #5
    Frequent Contributor zombie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by msudvm97 View Post
    I am confused...why would the fallback on heater # 2 be ON. Isn't that the ' cook your tank issue ' ?
    No. Because when using two or more smaller heaters, the rate at which temperature can rise is fairly long and even a failed thermostat in conjunction with an energy bar in fallback (incredibly rare occurance) the temperature would still be limited to the low 80s due to heater power.

    You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.

  6. #6
    Master Control Freak RussM's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by msudvm97 View Post
    I heard that if a heater has its own thermostat then the fall back should be' ON '. But that seems like it would allow that tank to cook if the heater ever malfunctioned.
    For that to happen, there would have to be a double failure: there would have to be an Apex-related problem causing loss of communications between the EnergyBar the Apex *and* the heater thermostat would have to also fail in the ON state.
    Please do not send me PMs with technical questions or requesting assistance - use the forums for Apex help. PM me ONLY if the matter is of a private or personal nature. Thanks.

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