Hydor in-line heater and human error

[toby]

I have in-line Hydors on all my tanks and have been running them for 3-4 years with absolutely no issues - love them and highly recommend them. They function well by keeping steady temps and keep clutter out of the tank.
So this morning I was doing a filter cleaning on one of my tanks - a little bit of a squeeze to get into the back and disconnect the filter. Anyhow, filter cleaned , all is well. As I normally do after a filter cleaning, I check on the filter every couple of hours to make sure all is cool, no leaks. Disconnect power to the filter and also check for leaks. First time I walked by, I noticed the temp up by one degree (I use digital lab thermometers on all my tanks) but didn't really find it alarming because the readout is in full degrees only. Checked the tank another couple of hours later and now it is another 2 degrees up, for a total of 3 degrees in a couple of hours (77 to 80). Sure enough, I take a look at the back of the tank and the Hydor indicator light is on and still heating. When I was disconnecting the filter earlier today, I must have brushed my arm up against the temperature dial and it cranked "up". I'm glad I was paying attention and lesson learned before any damage was done. On some of my larger tanks where I run multiple heaters I run Ranco controllers and that takes the "human error" out of it. Just a heads up for any Hydor ETH users. A digital read out/ button type adjustment rather than the dial would probably be a great fix.

[2wheelsx2]

I personally run controllers on all my tanks that require higher heat because of potential accidents like this. Too cool is manageable, but boiling the fish worth $$ is a big tragedy. The only tanks I don't have controllers on are my growout tanks that I watch every single day, several times a day.