Aquarium Heater for Citric Acid Bath

[Dr.Al]

I've got a lot of derusting lined up at the moment, so I decided to treat myself to an aquarium heater to speed up the reaction a bit. I bought one of these 500 W ones on ebay:

It seems a bit, well, rubbish to be honest. Has anyone tried one of these? It's got a thermostat dial on the top to set the target temperature. The biggest number on the dial is 32, so I turned it all the way up to the maximum. It's got a light to show whether it's heating or whether the thermostat has tripped and it spends most of its time with the thermostat seemingly tripped and the heater not heating.

This is the bath it's in (an 84 litre really useful box):

As you can see, the reaction is happening, but the water temperature is 19°C which (given the ambient temperature is also 19°C) doesn't make me think the aquarium heater is doing very much!

If I fiddle with the temperature dial, the light comes on suggesting it's heating, but then a minute or so later the light goes back off.

Is it just bust and in need of being returned or am I doing something stupid?

 

[garethp]

Sounds faulty, I used an aquarium heater with good results before I managed to break it.

Mine was glass and i made sure it was unplugged before doing anything in the tank.

 

[Shox Dr]

They are not designed to heat up quickly, don't want to locally fry your fish in a tank. You’d be better off with a kettle element with a shroud over it

 

[Dcal]

It's bust.

If it's working properly to would be running all the time.
I cut a block of polystyrene for a tank and with something like that, they works great.
Without insulation they struggle to keep the heat up in a cool / cold garage.
Should work fine in a heated home if you can get permission from the boss.

 

[Dr.Al]

They are not designed to heat up quickly, don't want to locally fry your fish in a tank. You’d be better off with a kettle element with a shroud over it

I don't mind it not being quick, but I started it running at 5pm yesterday and I was hoping to have at least seen some difference by now.

Sounds faulty, I used an aquarium heater with good results before I managed to break it.

Mine was glass and i made sure it was unplugged before doing anything in the tank.

I've been making sure I unplug it before reaching in too - not convinced I trust the electrical safety.

It's bust.

If it's working properly to would be running all the time.
I cut a block of polystyrene for a tank and with something like that, they works great.
Without insulation they struggle to keep the heat up in a cool / cold garage.
Should work fine in a heated home if you can get permission from the boss.

The one I've got claims to be able to heat a 400 litre aquarium, so I was hoping it would be fine with about 70 litres of water in a plastic bucket. I imagine it's the thermostat that's bust. I'll contact the seller and see what they say. Being ebay, I'm not holding out much hope though.

 

[gaz1]

They are not designed to heat up quickly, don't want to locally fry your fish in a tank. You’d be better off with a kettle element with a shroud over it

better of with an emersion heater element thats has in built thermostat cheap enough when needed to replace

 

[Shox Dr]

I don't mind it not being quick, but I started it running at 5pm yesterday and I was hoping to have at least seen some difference by now.

When I kept tropical fish my tank held 300ltr, if I didnt replace the water at the same temp as the tank it could take hours to balance that's with a a base heating mat and 2 intank heaters.

 

[Dcal]

Great being at home, I can just pop out and take a photo.
This is the insulation I use, it saves on the electric, I wouldn't want to have to run a 2 or 3kW immersion just to do a bit of de-rusting.

 

[Kayos]

I use them to heat chemicals for developing film. I turned them past maximum and used an external temp controller, 40ish degree water

 

[Onoff]

My little set up is magic. Old element in an aluminium box. Got a cylinder stat strapped to the side.

I originally made it to try plating from memory.

I run it at 70degC. I just follow the instructions for Deox-C powder. As per the attached PDF.

Just bought another 20kg of citric acid powder. Need to do 2 steel wheels.

 

[RaceDiagnostics]

I've been using a cup boiler element for years now, works perfectly. Self regulates to about 60 deg in a bucket.

 

[Agroshield]

...I wouldn't want to have to run a 2 or 3kW immersion just to do a bit of de-rusting.

Do you think you could couple up a cheap PID controller to an immersion to save cash?

Another option for a heater might be from a cheap deep fat fryer.

 

[Ed.]

I also would say that it is faulty, I used to breed aquarium fish and had about 13 tropical aquarium tanks for many years, those heaters should stay on until the water temp gets close to the set temp and then it will cycle on and off, having said that, even if it was working properly it would only heat the water to a max of 32C, which may not be hot enough for your purpose.

 

[Onoff]

Thinking with this hot, sunny weather how warm a black dustbin filled with a citric acid solution would get. Might be time to resurrect my pop can water heater.