Is Ranco worthless with a controller?

[ralphie16]

I would like to purchase some sort of controller for my heaters. The Ranco units are great for this purpose but they do nothing else. I believe most of the aquarium controllers (like Neptune Systems, ReefKeeper, Lighthouse, etc) on the market have some sort of heater controller.

Am I wasting my money buying a Ranco when I could just buy a controller that does the same thing plus a whole lot more?

Or is a dedicated temp controller like a Ranco important?

[SDguy]

I don't think having a separate dedicated heater controller is necessary. But if you don't need the other stuff provided by the controllers you mentioned, then I'd just get the ranco.

[Paintbug]

well i have just went through a heater malfunction myself. my heater stuck wide open. luckily i caught it before the water raised to high and killed everything. im in process of getting a Ranco controller myself just for the heater. you can get the ones you have to wire up yourself for around $50 probably less on Ebay. now if i had the money i would get a Reefkeeper or some other nice controller that does more, but thats not going to happen. so i will stick with the Ranco. you can get the duel channel Ranco, and have it turn on the heater when the water is cold, and fans or chiller when the water is to hot.

[Kurt03]

what kind of wiring is involved? just wiring plugs into it? I bought the one that came pre wired 4-5months ago i guess. I love it. Was thinking about another one and if i can save alot by some simple wiring im up for that. Is there somewhere with instructions on doing this? Wheres the best place to get one cheap and not wired? looking for a dual stage.

Thanks

[Paintbug]

cheapest i have found online is ebay. you can check with local electical suppliers or appliance service suppliers as well. one here sells them for $48. the single stage model # is ETC-111000 and the duel is ETC-211000. as far as wiring, i personally couldnt tell you. i havent bought mine yet. i did find this though http://www.zymico.com/thermostat.shtml . it seems simple, but they do come with wiring diagrams, so if you can read them should be a piece of cake.

[Kurt03]

well diyreef has the dual stage for 129 right now, found an unwired on ebay for 104, wired for 131. I will prob just buy the dual from diyreef again, got great service last time with them and my 2stage from them is great.

[Paintbug]

i havent heard anything but good about them myself.

[leeweber85]

i'm a big fan of the neptune controllers. You can get the ACJR w/DC8 for $224 (i think) right now. it's nice to be able to keep a stable temp...if it gets too hot a fan kicks on... if it gets hotter yet you can have it turn off your lamps. They are well worth the money, I wouldnt ever go without it after using it.

[elephen]

I had a Ranco dual-stage controller catch fire and dam near burn half the room down... Scorched the tank, the stand, the wiring, my sump and everything else under the stand.

Beware... This was one I purchased from DIYReef.com. I contacted the owner and she did nothing.

I finally invested in an AquaController III and it by far was the best investment in this hobby I have ever made.

[Kurt03]

What where you running on the ranco? What do you think caused the ranco to catch fire?

[LOTUS50GOD]

I would invest in a aquacontroller. I have the ACIII.. and it has made reefing easy.

[DLBerlin]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9408804#post9408804 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by elephen
I had a Ranco dual-stage controller catch fire and dam near burn half the room down... Scorched the tank, the stand, the wiring, my sump and everything else under the stand.

Beware... This was one I purchased from DIYReef.com. I contacted the owner and she did nothing.

I finally invested in an AquaController III and it by far was the best investment in this hobby I have ever made.

elephen, thats not fair!
I contacted you by PM to discuss this when you posted about it, as you had never contacted me. You said that the Ranco was "a little burnt" but you hadnt opened it up to see what the problem was, and that you would do that and get back to me. I never heard from you again?
I have a 1 year warranty on the Ranco controllers that I would have been more than happy to honor if you had contacted me about it and sent the controller back. You chose not to do either, and now start slamming me for not doing anything?

You also posted that you had a sump overflow, which could have gotten saltwater in the controller and caused a short, and posted that it was your powerstrips that burnt your carpet?

[DLBerlin]

elephen
$geek++;



Registered: Sep 2004
Posts: 2768

Re: Ranco

quote:
dberlin wrote on 11/17/2005 11:50 AM:
Hi Elephen
I am Debbie Berlin-the new owner of diyreef.com
I am very sorry to hear about the fire you had.
I am also very concerned about what may have gone wrong with the controller.
Would you mind if I ask a few questions?
What was plugged into the controller? Do you know how many watts or amps the load was on each cord?
Did you open the controller to see where the fire started?
Debbie



I don't mind at all, I appreciate the follow up, I really do.

On the cooling side I had a little Honeywell fan plugged in, .80 amps and on the other side I had a 250w heater, I'm not sure of the watts/amps that your standard 250w heater uses.

I have not opened the controller to see. I know the inside was burnt a bit.

I will open it tonight to see if I can find the source.
---------------------------------------------------------

I never heard back from you after this PM, and you continued to recommend my store after this, and posted about other possible causes of your fire? I could only assume that you had traced the problem to another cause, until a short time ago when you posted something similar to this. You never answered my reply to that post either?
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1004477

[DLBerlin]

Seems you have alot of posts edited with-
"removed for violation of our commercial policies"

Shall I chalk this up to an unhappy competitor?
That seems to be the only thing that makes sense here?

[Kurt03]

no worries debbie.

For those that haven't delt with diyreef, i have and received great service. I will be ordering a ranco from diyreef again when i need one. I love my dual stage and it keeps my mind at rest from heater failure + turns on my fan when needed.

[dougchambers]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9442901#post9442901 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dberlin
Seems you have alot of posts edited with-
"removed for violation of our commercial policies"

Shall I chalk this up to an unhappy competitor?
That seems to be the only thing that makes sense here? Debbie,

That's outstanding! Keep up the great work and for the record, the 2-Stage controller we bought from DIYReef ran without fault for years.

-Doug

[DLBerlin]

Thank you Doug and Kurt!