# diy in line heater



## chagovatoloco (Nov 17, 2007)

I am considering making a DIY inline heater, where do you get the fitting for the heater?


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## SpeedEuphoria (Jul 9, 2008)

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/36257-diy-external-heater-56k.html

Go online at Heyco and fill out the free sample page and they will send you it free of charge, no shipping even. I just got 2 for free so might as well get also.


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## chagovatoloco (Nov 17, 2007)

Well I filled out the form, thank you.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

I'm very paranoid about leaks. The design in which the glass heater is going through the cordgrip allows for easy adjustment of the temperature and the assembly is very easy. 

But I personally would put the entire heater inside the housing and have only the electric cord come out of the whole contraption. Since there will be good water flow in this DIY chamber if the heater ever breaks close to the cordgrip the tank will empty in a matter of minutes. 

--Nikolay


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## chagovatoloco (Nov 17, 2007)

Has any one ever had a problem with this design?


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## SpeedEuphoria (Jul 9, 2008)

just dont use a cheap glass heater and you'll be fine


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## chagovatoloco (Nov 17, 2007)

I was going to use my ebo jager.


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## Raul-7 (Feb 4, 2004)

niko said:


> I'm very paranoid about leaks. The design in which the glass heater is going through the cordgrip allows for easy adjustment of the temperature and the assembly is very easy.
> 
> But I personally would put the entire heater inside the housing and have only the electric cord come out of the whole contraption. Since there will be good water flow in this DIY chamber if the heater ever breaks close to the cordgrip the tank will empty in a matter of minutes.
> 
> --Nikolay


Wouldn't using an unbreakable [well almost] heater like the Stealth negate this issue?


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## fishyface (Feb 7, 2005)

i'm using a stealth but there is a bit of an issue since it has 4 ridges that run the length of the heater. just makes it a little more difficult to get a good seal.


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## chagovatoloco (Nov 17, 2007)

The reason I started buying ebo jegers 12 years a go is that the store sales man smacked it on the counter to show me that it would't braeak. At that time I had some big oscars that would run in to the cheap one's and brake it. The ebo stopped that, never had a heater problem again.


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## clearleaf (Oct 4, 2008)

I really liked this thread, and the diy inline heater design within. It is, like Niko suggested, with nothing but the electric cord coming out of the pipe.


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## SpeedEuphoria (Jul 9, 2008)

fishyface said:


> i'm using a stealth but there is a bit of an issue since it has 4 ridges that run the length of the heater. just makes it a little more difficult to get a good seal.


Thanks for the info, my quick test seemed like it should work w/ my stealth heater.


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## bpimm (Jun 12, 2006)

fishyface said:


> i'm using a stealth but there is a bit of an issue since it has 4 ridges that run the length of the heater. just makes it a little more difficult to get a good seal.


I use the Stealth in mine, the ridges are soft plastic. carefully cut them off and the seal works great. I use a sharp chisel to trim the ridges so it won't cut to deep.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

The metal heater sure looks like it's the perfect heater. But it's not. I had one of them overheat badly, soften the hoses of the canister filter and the outflow hose separated from the canister. 50 gals. of water shot out of the filter all over the floor in a matter of minutes. 

That was the time when I started to get paranoid about aquarium leaks (and dirty carpet too, haha).

But the Titanium heaters have round cables (easy seal with the plastic water seal gizmo part), not all heaters do.

--Nikolay


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## fishyface (Feb 7, 2005)

bpimm said:


> I use the Stealth in mine, the ridges are soft plastic. carefully cut them off and the seal works great. I use a sharp chisel to trim the ridges so it won't cut to deep.


niiiccce


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## sonaps (Nov 15, 2005)

niko said:


> The metal heater sure looks like it's the perfect heater. But it's not. I had one of them overheat badly, soften the hoses of the canister filter and the outflow hose separated from the canister. 50 gals. of water shot out of the filter all over the floor in a matter of minutes.
> 
> That was the time when I started to get paranoid about aquarium leaks (and dirty carpet too, haha).
> 
> ...


Nikolay,

That sounds like a nightmare of an experience! I can understand if you never want to use a titanium heater again because of it. However, it's hard to believe that the heater overheated because the body was made from titanium. It sounds like the temperature control was bad on your unit. The same thing could have happened with a traditional glass heater. There's always a chance that a piece of equipment will be faulty.

I've found that the Azoo titanium heater I used in the project linked above has worked very well. The two major plusses I've seen using the Azoo for an inline project are:

1. The temp control is separate from the body which allows you to not only see when it's on, but easily adjust the temperature.

2. It has an automatic shut-off if the heater is not submersed in water. A very good thing to have when the heater is out of sight, inside a pipe.


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## Scouter (Mar 3, 2008)

I'm looking into making one of these, if I'm worried about overheating, would CPVC be better? Thanks,
Scouter


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