DIY External Heater Housing? - Page 2

**scolley** · 03-28-2005, 02:01 PM

Snowman - unless I'm missing something, these are the same thing as the "Fast-n-tite" fittings I linked to in my prior post. Your link points to couplings for inserting hard, round instruments approximately 1/2" in diameter, not "wire". At that kind of diameter, you could use it for some types of "cable".

Is is possible that you have found something else that works with significantly smaller diameters? Like 6 mm or less? I'm dying to find something like that and having a very hard time. Thanks.

snowman · 03-28-2005, 02:52 PM

Scolley

I ran a Google search on Gland fittings and found these...I found ones that went smaller too. I think I saw one that listed 6mm to 8mm but don't remember where. How far down can you crank the ones you have? If you don't have any I can send you one to try.

Snowman

**scolley** · 03-28-2005, 03:10 PM

Thanks for the kind offer Snowman.

But since my post I did some more measuring and found I need something that ranges between 7 and 8.5mm. And I found them here at Heyco. So I ordered a few to try.

It looks like they have things that will work up beyond 1" in diameter, so maybe they'll work for heaters too.

travdawg · 03-28-2005, 03:11 PM

Snow,

To clarify it for me, are you talking about a length of PVC with both ends closed off... Then cutting your submersible heater power cable, threading it thru a small hole in one "cap" then sealing it off? If thats the plan, how would you center the heater?

Might seem like a stupid question, but I am trying to get a mental image of the build.

snowman · 03-28-2005, 03:13 PM

I think my fittings are Heyco's I didn't buy them from them but believe they manufactured them. I haven't found the listing where they have stuff past or up to 1" so I may need a little assistance with a link.

snowman · 03-28-2005, 03:25 PM

Travdawg

I don't think the heater would have to be centered to get good heat exchange but it should be fairly easy to do so if you wanted to. It would however be a good idea to have it held in place so it doesn't bang back and forth allowing it to break. You could tank a piece of acrylic drill a hole the size of your heater in the center, remove the majority of remaining material and glue it to the inside of the pipe. I'll try and discribe it... take a disk draw say a 1/4" wide X on it and a 1/4" wide line around the disk. Drill the center of the disk to the size of your heater then remove the area that isn't part of your 1/4" lines. You would then be able to glue it in place allowing water to flow around it. Did I do an OK job of giving a mental picture?

**scolley** · 03-28-2005, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snowman

I think my fittings are Heyco's I didn't buy them from them but believe they manufactured them. I haven't found the listing where they have stuff past or up to 1" so I may need a little assistance with a link.

Take a look at the "specs" tab on the web page. But even then it only goes up to 1.2". So a 1" heater is the max.

Another alternative is to fully insert the heater into your housing, mounted as appropriate, and use a smaller sized fittings like these to accommodate the AC cord, reinforced with a bit of silicone on the inside (needs to be inside to better fight the pressurized water). That would probably mean cutting off the male wall plug, and attaching a new one after the AC cord was threaded trough everything. But replacement AC plugs should be dirt cheap.

I suggest it as an alternative to trying to make a partially enclosed heater work.

travdawg · 03-28-2005, 03:51 PM

Yeah, I think I have it... The external heating is something that I REALLY want to do. But with a 90 gall tank, I would need to have 2 Hydors (~$100) or one rainbow heater module + 500 watt titanium heater & controller for about the same. I just wonder if in the long run it would be better just to go with the rainbow modular for a few dollars more than what I would spend on DIY & still ending up having to buy the heaters.

**scolley** · 03-28-2005, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by travdawg

I just wonder if in the long run it would be better just to go with the rainbow modular for a few dollars more than what I would spend on DIY & still ending up having to buy the heaters.

That's why I have a Hydor.

travdawg · 03-28-2005, 03:59 PM

Well, I was fairly certain I was going to get 2 hydors, until I read this thread & the problems with them being noisy.

snowman · 03-28-2005, 04:01 PM

I guess it depends on what you like to do...I really like DIY projects and have plenty of good heaters. On the other hand if DIY is a stuggle for you or you want the look of Rainbow then by all means go for what makes sense for you! The only reason I would go with a heater controller setup is if you fear having a stuck heater...I've never had a Ebo Jager stick but I'm sure some have.

Quote:

Originally Posted by travdawg

Yeah, I think I have it... The external heating is something that I REALLY want to do. But with a 90 gall tank, I would need to have 2 Hydors (~$100) or one rainbow heater module + 500 watt titanium heater & controller for about the same. I just wonder if in the long run it would be better just to go with the rainbow modular for a few dollars more than what I would spend on DIY & still ending up having to buy the heaters.

**scolley** · 03-28-2005, 04:24 PM

As to the "clicking", my Hydor does click. And you can hear it with the cabinet door shut. But the fan on the light is much louder (and I have a quiet fan), and I could never hear that click in the next room, much less upstairs.

I would think that if Hydors were all noisy they would have a bad rap here. Or maybe I'm just deaf.

briandmiles · 03-28-2005, 04:24 PM

I think the only problem with the straight through connectors is that I want to be able to adjust the temp without taking everything apart. Also even if they had a 1" fitting (I couldn't find one but didn't look too hard) the heater has to be emersed right up to the top end of the glass tube that's where the minimum water level line is at so unfortunately siliconing it in is still the best solution that I can see. I'm glad to see that this has fostered a good discussion.

As far as the noise goes I'm sure I've just had the bad luck of getting two bad units in a row. It has sort of soured me on Hydors but the submersible I'm using is one and I don't have a problem with that.

Brian

**scolley** · 03-28-2005, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by briandmiles

I think the only problem with the straight through connectors is that I want to be able to adjust the temp without taking everything apart.

In the interest of leaving no stone unturned, you could put the heater(s) completely inside an enclosure if you purchased a separate single-stage temp controller($$) to turn them on/off. Then you could go el cheapo on the heaters themselves to reduce cost. But you'd also have to have to find a way to get the controller's probe into the water.

briandmiles · 03-28-2005, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scolley

In the interest of leaving no stone unturned, you could put the heater(s) completely inside an enclosure if you purchased a separate single-stage temp controller($$) to turn them on/off. Then you could go el cheapo on the heaters themselves to reduce cost. But you'd also have to have to find a way to get the controller's probe into the water.

I think the controller would eat up the money I've freed up for the pressurized CO2. However it may be a future purchase.

Brian

03-28-2005, 02:01 PM	#16 (permalink)
scolley Planted Tank Guru (View User Tanks) PTrader: (10) Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: connecticut Posts: 3,176	Snowman - unless I'm missing something, these are the same thing as the "Fast-n-tite" fittings I linked to in my prior post. Your link points to couplings for inserting hard, round instruments approximately 1/2" in diameter, not "wire". At that kind of diameter, you could use it for some types of "cable". Is is possible that you have found something else that works with significantly smaller diameters? Like 6 mm or less? I'm dying to find something like that and having a very hard time. Thanks. __________________ steve You wanna know what I really think? You can see at www.wetplantlogic.com. 180g high tech, "generally" low maintenance, planted discus tank

03-28-2005, 03:10 PM	#18 (permalink)
scolley Planted Tank Guru (View User Tanks) PTrader: (10) Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: connecticut Posts: 3,176	Thanks for the kind offer Snowman. But since my post I did some more measuring and found I need something that ranges between 7 and 8.5mm. And I found them here at Heyco. So I ordered a few to try. It looks like they have things that will work up beyond 1" in diameter, so maybe they'll work for heaters too. __________________ steve You wanna know what I really think? You can see at www.wetplantlogic.com. 180g high tech, "generally" low maintenance, planted discus tank

03-28-2005, 04:24 PM	#27 (permalink)
scolley Planted Tank Guru (View User Tanks) PTrader: (10) Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: connecticut Posts: 3,176	As to the "clicking", my Hydor does click. And you can hear it with the cabinet door shut. But the fan on the light is much louder (and I have a quiet fan), and I could never hear that click in the next room, much less upstairs. I would think that if Hydors were all noisy they would have a bad rap here. Or maybe I'm just deaf. __________________ steve You wanna know what I really think? You can see at www.wetplantlogic.com. 180g high tech, "generally" low maintenance, planted discus tank

03-28-2005, 04:24 PM	#28 (permalink)
briandmiles Planted Tank Enthusiast (View User Tanks) PTrader: (17) Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Temecula, CA Posts: 525	I think the only problem with the straight through connectors is that I want to be able to adjust the temp without taking everything apart. Also even if they had a 1" fitting (I couldn't find one but didn't look too hard) the heater has to be emersed right up to the top end of the glass tube that's where the minimum water level line is at so unfortunately siliconing it in is still the best solution that I can see. I'm glad to see that this has fostered a good discussion. As far as the noise goes I'm sure I've just had the bad luck of getting two bad units in a row. It has sort of soured me on Hydors but the submersible I'm using is one and I don't have a problem with that. Brian __________________ Eheim Pimp #134 ALL GONE FOR NOW

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03-28-2005, 02:52 PM	#17 (permalink)
snowman Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0) Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Olathe, Kansas Posts: 148	Scolley I ran a Google search on Gland fittings and found these...I found ones that went smaller too. I think I saw one that listed 6mm to 8mm but don't remember where. How far down can you crank the ones you have? If you don't have any I can send you one to try. Snowman

03-28-2005, 03:11 PM	#19 (permalink)
travdawg Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0) Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: charleston, wv Posts: 64	Snow, To clarify it for me, are you talking about a length of PVC with both ends closed off... Then cutting your submersible heater power cable, threading it thru a small hole in one "cap" then sealing it off? If thats the plan, how would you center the heater? Might seem like a stupid question, but I am trying to get a mental image of the build.

03-28-2005, 03:13 PM	#20 (permalink)
snowman Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0) Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Olathe, Kansas Posts: 148	I think my fittings are Heyco's I didn't buy them from them but believe they manufactured them. I haven't found the listing where they have stuff past or up to 1" so I may need a little assistance with a link.

03-28-2005, 03:25 PM	#21 (permalink)
snowman Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0) Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Olathe, Kansas Posts: 148	Travdawg I don't think the heater would have to be centered to get good heat exchange but it should be fairly easy to do so if you wanted to. It would however be a good idea to have it held in place so it doesn't bang back and forth allowing it to break. You could tank a piece of acrylic drill a hole the size of your heater in the center, remove the majority of remaining material and glue it to the inside of the pipe. I'll try and discribe it... take a disk draw say a 1/4" wide X on it and a 1/4" wide line around the disk. Drill the center of the disk to the size of your heater then remove the area that isn't part of your 1/4" lines. You would then be able to glue it in place allowing water to flow around it. Did I do an OK job of giving a mental picture?

03-28-2005, 03:51 PM	#23 (permalink)
travdawg Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0) Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: charleston, wv Posts: 64	Yeah, I think I have it... The external heating is something that I REALLY want to do. But with a 90 gall tank, I would need to have 2 Hydors (~$100) or one rainbow heater module + 500 watt titanium heater & controller for about the same. I just wonder if in the long run it would be better just to go with the rainbow modular for a few dollars more than what I would spend on DIY & still ending up having to buy the heaters.

03-28-2005, 03:59 PM	#25 (permalink)
travdawg Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0) Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: charleston, wv Posts: 64	Well, I was fairly certain I was going to get 2 hydors, until I read this thread & the problems with them being noisy.