Chiller/heater temp swings???

[tigerpaw]

I have a question about my Current brand chiller...

I have a 55g tank with a 200w in-line heater that
I just got instead of a submersible, the heater is
plugged into the chiller port for the heater.

At night it drops to 71'f, in the day it's at 77'f... Wtf!?

I sat and sat and sat until the chiller unit light came
on and turned the heater on, @71'f... Kicked off @77'f.

My question is... Should I let the temp swing that much?
Or should I bypass the chiller and plug the heater strait
into the wall? But I don't want the chiller & heater to
conflict with each other... ??? :dontknow:

 

[kingrb]

that much of a swing could stress your coral.
I keep my mixed reefs between 78 - 80

 

[shapermike]

ya that is to much of a swing in a small amount of time. are you using a controller?

 

[tigerpaw]

The chiller has a "Integrated dual stage temperature controller heater port"... Obviously doesn't work too well!

Maybe try to set the temp at 78'f or 79'f??? It most likely
will cook in the summer though, 4'f off makes it 83'f or 84'f.

 

[Drew Shark]

Have you read in the instruction manual about calibrating the temperature sensor? You could also try a temperature controller that is outside the chiller.

 

[tigerpaw]

I did read about how to set it up, I have a pretty
accurate Infrared Thermometer!

When I first set it up it was 3 degrees off, didn't
take long to dial it in but I noticed it does vary 1
to 2 degrees even after calibration.

I have it pretty steady now, but I had to adjust
the heater output to 78'f and the chiller to 80'f.
Basically the heater is controlling the temp until
it reaches a hotter temp then the chiller will kick
off the heater port then possibly cool another 4 or
5 degrees til it turns it on again!

I think I will try your idea with an external temp
controller, It just sucks because you pay the extra
money for that feature in a chiller! Bummer!