looking for controller

[e46er]

hey
I was always under the impression the entry level controllers were around the $400 mark
Im sick of cheep heaters sticking, not working ect
was surfing around on JLs and came across the reefkeeper lite level 1 for $130 seems perfect for what Im looking for

the temp control being the main thing
the feed mode would be convienent
wave make modes would be nice
the alarms well i cant see a downside to those!

it says the pc4 power bar has 4 outlets and can add up to 4 modules so if i needed i could grab a second powerbar- does this plug into the head unit or 1 of the outlets off the first powerbar?
basically Is this a decent unit? Im not into spending huge $$ on a controller.

thanks for any thoughts

[toytech]

Im in the same boat , ive had too many heaters fail and wanted a wave maker to run some koralia evo powerheads . And bang for buck the reefkeeper lite looks good to me . Im actualy going to buy one next week once i get some money people own me.And the power bars plug into the head unit so you can contol each individual socket.

[blacknife]

Seriously looking at the reef angel myself

[tim the toolman]

I run the reef keeper lite with an extra pc4 and I love it. It also included a ph probe which is also a nice feature. The pc4 runs inline with one another using a connector cable included and more can be daisied inline with the others. They do all require an independent wall plug in.
Great system at a great price. Many add ons and upgrades available.

[Snaz]

Has anyone built or seen a DIY controller yet?
http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&sa...iw=360&bih=592

[e46er]

so would I set a heater at like full on 90* and the controller gets set at say 77* heater plug on and and 80* heater plug off?

becuase the thermometers in the heaters are crappy if the controller gives the plug power at 77* and the stupid cheep heater says its fine it wont come on and tank keeps getting cooler...................... it would make sense to keep the ehater at a high enough temperature to make sure it would always turn on when the controller plug outlet gets power

[gregzz4]

Originally Posted by e46er

so would I set a heater at like full on 90* and the controller gets set at say 77* heater plug on and and 80* heater plug off?

becuase the thermometers in the heaters are crappy if the controller gives the plug power at 77* and the stupid cheep heater says its fine it wont come on and tank keeps getting cooler...................... it would make sense to keep the ehater at a high enough temperature to make sure it would always turn on when the controller plug outlet gets power

The controller is pretty sensitive. In a live rock rubbermaid my RKL is set for 81 and the heater for 83.
It turns on @ 80.9 and off @ 81.1
There is a 'hysterisis' you can set as well. This tells the controller how sensitive to be.
You can program the controller to have a PC4's particular outlet either 'on' or 'off' in the case of a loss of communication ( if say a com cable was to get damaged ).
So you can see the concern if in your case you were to set your heater to 90 with the PC4 to 'on'

[e46er]

oh ok thanks!
Im going to order one i think

[gregzz4]

Originally Posted by e46er

basically Is this a decent unit? Im not into spending huge $$ on a controller.

There are lots of opinions out there on the DA products, but I'd say it's a decent unit for the price.
If that's the price range you are happy with, then either the RKL or just a Ranco temp controller would suit you fine.
I thought about both for months.
I didn't want to put all my eggs in one basket in case of a controller failure causing a system-wide crash, but decided to buy one anyway.
With enough redundancy, and setting the PC4s to either 'on' or 'off', you can make it fairly safe.
For instance, I am setting my system to have both the Heaters and the Chiller 'on'
I bought a Ranco cheap and it's not connected to the RKL. It has heaters that are set just a little lower than the main ones.

[e46er]

thanks for your replys

ethernet would be nice but not worth an additonal $300 + to me

i figure worst case senerio if I grab this and decide i need more options i can sell it for 50-75 bucks or use as temp control on a QT / hosptial tank and grab a much more advanced controller