What the heck did I do?

the_colonel · 03-08-2005, 11:09 AM

Alright, I may take over "TCMAS Village Idiot of the Week" from Wolfgang on this one:

I have been doing allot of work to my tank the last few weeks: Drilling the tank, adding a sump and new skimmer, new lights, etc... Yesterday morning I noticed a small leak from my drain line so I took the sump off-line. I moved the heater and Digital Aqautics Reefkeeper temp probe to the main tank. Last time I did this the temp probe came out of the tank and caused the controller to read the room air temp, and therefore keep the heater on 100%. I caught this early, and the temp only got up to about 83. I did not want this to happen again, so I used my mag-float to hold the temp probe in place. Got home from work testerday, and the DA Reefkeeper said the tank temp was 116. Checked the temp with a normal thermometer, and it was actually about 74. Since the controller thought the temp was high, the heater never came on all day.

Since I move the temp probe back into place (away from the mag-float) the temp is all over the place, moves 5 to 10 degrees every minute.

Can a magnet screw up a temp probe? Did I miss this in Physics class? Will it eventually get back to normal, or will I have to get a new temp probe from Digital Aquatics?

redwinger · 03-08-2005, 11:15 AM

I have never heard of it but I wouldn't rule it out. Depends on how the temp is read through the probe. I would send DA a email and describe it to them. That sucks and hopefully the temp reading will stabilize. I would also try calibrating the temp in the reefkeeper.

geshields · 03-08-2005, 11:18 AM

Very possible. You just introduced a magnetic field to a wire that uses resistance to read temperature. Think electromagnetic field... Once you remove the magnet it should go back to normal...

redlion4 · 03-08-2005, 11:23 AM

Should return to normal, unless the (physical) force of the magnet damaged the wire. This could be internal, causing a partial open circuit from broken wires. Or it could be external, damaging the plastic sheath allowing water to contact the wire.

Frogbone · 03-08-2005, 11:27 AM

JP, as much as I would love to pass on the title I don't think what you did qualifies to be the TCMASVIOTW

I am watching you though.....

the_colonel · 03-08-2005, 11:28 AM

I took the heater off the controller, and am just running it normal. No damage to the plastic sheath. I tried to recalibrate it, but the temp was fluctuating way too much. Actually, it seemed to be stabilizing this morning, so I'll see what it is doing tonight. I'll email Nick at Digital Aquatics if it does not go back to normal, actually will prolly email him anyway, they might want to put this in their documentation.

the_colonel · 03-08-2005, 11:29 AM

I'll try harder next time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frogbone

JP, as much as I would love to pass on the title I don't think what you did qualifies to be the TCMASVIOTW

I am watching you though.....

FastFish720 · 03-08-2005, 11:31 AM

JP, They have had excellent customer service for me. Try shutting down the entire reefkeeper. Unplugging the the probe. Replug in the probe, but out of the water. Unplug your heater. Turn on the RK and see if you get a good temp readout.

redwinger · 03-08-2005, 11:34 AM

I will keep an eye out for a owners manual addendum! Not only is your tank fetured on their site but it will kind of be featured in the owners manual now. LOL

the_colonel · 03-09-2005, 12:18 PM

Update:

Well, it took about a day, but the temp probe stabilized, and I recalibrated the reefkeeper. Everything seems to be back to normal. I still plan on sending an email to Digital Aquatics, to see if they want to add something to the documentation, to keep other people from making the same bonehead move.

redwinger · 03-09-2005, 01:46 PM

Thanks for the update. Glad to see everything stabilized. Hopefully their was no damage to any of the circuits in the RK.

Jive Turkey · 03-09-2005, 06:27 PM

Funny you mention this. I did the same thing once. Found a leak near the sump, took it offline, and rubberbanded the probe to the magnet.

the_colonel · 03-09-2005, 06:46 PM

Did you have the same results? (Probe goes haywire).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jive Turkey

Funny you mention this. I did the same thing once. Found a leak near the sump, took it offline, and rubberbanded the probe to the magnet.

Jive Turkey · 03-09-2005, 09:47 PM

Same thing. But it returned to normal.