Owners of the Helio PTC Smart Heaters

[DHill6]

It must be really hot where you live day and night!

CA high desert.

 

[Oceanavekid]

@Innovative Marine pretty sure I already registered mine but incase I didn’t where do we find the serial number? It’s not on the card in the box or on the box(at least nothing I can see that says serial number)

Mine has been keeping a consistent 78 for weeks and today at work I got a notification on my apex that said temp was under 75

I saw an E5 for a bit but looks like it’s gone now. I cleaned the element and now it looks like it’s starting to go back up 74.7 now. I’ll give it an hour or two and see if it’s back to 78

 

[Innovative Marine]

@Innovative Marine pretty sure I already registered mine but incase I didn’t where do we find the serial number? It’s not on the card in the box or on the box(at least nothing I can see that says serial number)

Mine has been keeping a consistent 78 for weeks and today at work I got a notification on my apex that said temp was under 75

I saw an E5 for a bit but looks like it’s gone now. I cleaned the element and now it looks like it’s starting to go back up 74.7 now. I’ll give it an hour or two and see if it’s back to 78

Oceanavekid, as long as you have the original receipt you are covered for 5 years.
The E5 and E6 correspond to line 1 or line 2 of the heaters connections. These two alerts appear in the following circumstances:

A. Low or no flow over the element
B. Out of Water
C. Mineral/Organic build up on the elements that slow the dissipation of heat

These E5 and E6 are dynamic, meaning if element senses temperatures that are normal they will turn back on automatically without reset of the controller.

Let us know if you need further assistance.
IM Team

 

[mizukage]

Hi @Innovative Marine can you advise the proper size/wattage for my tank? It’s 49.1 gallons and I want to use dual elements. Thanks

 

[Innovative Marine]

Hi @Innovative Marine can you advise the proper size/wattage for my tank? It’s 49.1 gallons and I want to use dual elements. Thanks

What is the coldest temperature the aquarium would be in the winter months? The heaters have a +10 degree heating range.

 

[mizukage]

What is the coldest temperature the aquarium would be in the winter months? The heaters have a +10 degree heating range.

Great question, I have no idea as it's the first time I'm keeping a tank. I do live in Canada so it gets pretty cold. The basement where the tank is placed is best described as warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

 

[Innovative Marine]

Great question, I have no idea as it's the first time I'm keeping a tank. I do live in Canada so it gets pretty cold. The basement where the tank is placed is best described as warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

I would suggest the Helio 400 watt (2x200 watt) for extra heating capacity during the winter months and redundancy by having dual elements.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

thanks
IM Team

 

[mizukage]

I would suggest the Helio 400 watt (2x200 watt) for extra heating capacity during the winter months and redundancy by having dual elements.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

thanks
IM Team

Thank you!

 

[buruskeee]

Just wanted to add my input so far for my 150g system.

I was in search for better warranty heaters as the dual (2x300W) Finnex titanium elements with analog in line controllers both failed within 1 week of each other (thankfully in the tail end of Spring) after owning them only 9 months. I guess true redundancy is really a third heater huh lol. I even had them rotate in operation for which heater turned on first daily.

The packaging is top notch for the 700W PTC kit (2x350W) and the simplicity of setting them up is great.

My only gripe with the controller is that you can only set the target temp at 1 degree intervals. I kept my tank (using Apex to control) at 77.5 degrees (swung between 77.2 and 77.8 because I used a bigger range) and now I have to set it either 77 or 78 which is a bummer for me (not a huge deal, but something this expensive should have better resolution on temp targets).

@Innovative Marine i do have a question I haven’t found the answer to yet. When a single element turns on, do they alternate to help longevity? Or is element 1 always turning on and element 2 is the backup for creating extra heat?

 

[zerokewl]

@Innovative Marine iv had my controller fall below the set safety/alarm feature due to my house being to cold ....the controller will then turn off the heater and keep them off on a already cold tank this becomes a problem when I'm not home to correct the issue is there away to fix this

 

[Innovative Marine]

Just wanted to add my input so far for my 150g system.

I was in search for better warranty heaters as the dual (2x300W) Finnex titanium elements with analog in line controllers both failed within 1 week of each other (thankfully in the tail end of Spring) after owning them only 9 months. I guess true redundancy is really a third heater huh lol. I even had them rotate in operation for which heater turned on first daily.

The packaging is top notch for the 700W PTC kit (2x350W) and the simplicity of setting them up is great.

My only gripe with the controller is that you can only set the target temp at 1 degree intervals. I kept my tank (using Apex to control) at 77.5 degrees (swung between 77.2 and 77.8 because I used a bigger range) and now I have to set it either 77 or 78 which is a bummer for me (not a huge deal, but something this expensive should have better resolution on temp targets).

@Innovative Marine i do have a question I haven’t found the answer to yet. When a single element turns on, do they alternate to help longevity? Or is element 1 always turning on and element 2 is the backup for creating extra heat?

Calibration: You are correct that the set temperature can only be set in 1 degree increments, but there is a work around using the calibration feature. Just add or subtract on the calibration feature and although it wont show directly on the screen it will adjust. You can tell by looking at your apex for temperature comparison.

Number of heating elements: Generally both elements will turn on when the set temperature has not been reached. But, when the heater gets closer to the set point one element may turn off to save energy since it doesn't require both to be on.

 

[Innovative Marine]

@Innovative Marine iv had my controller fall below the set safety/alarm feature due to my house being to cold ....the controller will then turn off the heater and keep them off on a already cold tank this becomes a problem when I'm not home to correct the issue is there away to fix this

E4 Low Temp Alarm: if your temperature is -2F from your set point, the E4 low temp alarm will sound and audible alarm with blinking on the screen. This E4 alarm does not stop the elements from heating. They will keep heating until the set point temperature is reached. You can press any button on the side of the controller to disable the audio alarm but the system will keep heating.

 

[buruskeee]

Number of heating elements: Generally both elements will turn on when the set temperature has not been reached. But, when the heater gets closer to the set point one element may turn off to save energy since it doesn't require both to be on.

But when a single one turns on, is it always heater 1 or do they alternate each one?

 

[Innovative Marine]

But when a single one turns on, is it always heater 1 or do they alternate each one?

It can be either heater 1 or heater 2, it will depend on the temperature of the element.

 

[mizukage]

@Innovative Marine I got my tank and need a heater! For the correct model and wattage, do I calculate based on Total system volume (display + sump)? My tank is 105 gallons display and 38 gallon sump.

Wondering if I need the 400W or 700W (DUAL).

Thanks

 

[Innovative Marine]

@Innovative Marine I got my tank and need a heater! For the correct model and wattage, do I calculate based on Total system volume (display + sump)? My tank is 105 gallons display and 38 gallon sump.

Wondering if I need the 400W or 700W (DUAL).

Thanks

I would recommend the 700W (Dual), you want to base the wattage needed by total gallons and the ambient temp. For example, if your ambient temp is 70F the Helio Heating system can heat 10F degrees above that.

Thank you for the consideration,
IM Team

 

[Back2Reef]

Greetings. Newbie here.

I'm thinking of getting an IM Helio PTC Smart Heater for my 25 Gallon AIO tank.

I'm wondering if I should go for the 2x 100 watt of Helio PTC Smart Heaters or only get the 1 single Helio 100 watt PTC Smart Heater AND also continue to use my old Cobalt 100 watt Neo-Therm heater.

I have some LPS that like colder temp so I was thinking have the new single 100 watt Helio PTC set at 77. And have my old Cobalt heater set at lower temp at 74 as my backup redundancy heater.

If one of the goal is to avoid a single point of failure, this is better. isn't it ?

Which would be better ? a 2x100 watt Helio PTC Smart Heaters or a single 100 watt and a 100 Cobalt heater ?

Please advise. thx.

​

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

If you can afford it, I would get 2 of the 100w . One is enough but it would be nice to have a back up

 

[buruskeee]

Greetings. Newbie here.

I'm thinking of getting an IM Helio PTC Smart Heater for my 25 Gallon AIO tank.

I'm wondering if I should go for the 2x 100 watt of Helio PTC Smart Heaters or only get the 1 single Helio 100 watt PTC Smart Heater AND also continue to use my old Cobalt 100 watt Neo-Therm heater.

I have some LPS that like colder temp so I was thinking have the new single 100 watt Helio PTC set at 77. And have my old Cobalt heater set at lower temp at 74 as my backup redundancy heater.

If one of the goal is to avoid a single point of failure, this is better. isn't it ?

Which would be better ? a 2x100 watt Helio PTC Smart Heaters or a single 100 watt and a 100 Cobalt heater ?

Please advise. thx.

​

As said earlier, get the 2x100W since it’s on its own controller and then use the other 100W as the fail safe if the Helio fails both heaters.

 

[rogueshrimp88]

I got a single 100w for my Waterbox 25 AIO at first but it was constantly kicking on and for a long time. I upgraded to 2x 100w and now it works perfectly. It all depends on the temp you keep your room.