(01/31/2010) - Installed 11-09 Went out in less than a month E-mailed Finnex, Here's their reply HC-0800 was discontinued 4 years ago. The controller can be fixed by replacing the fuse. Soldering is required. Thats it not even a signature!!! Dont waste good money on their crap!!!!

(10/16/2007) - Installed 8/6/07. Difficult to find a spot on the dial that would remain stable at 77 degrees. Adjustment of this large dial was suprisingly touchy. Additionally, there is almost no friction drag in the dial. I was concerned that accidentally brushing something against it would move the dial and cook/freeze my fish, so once I had a stable setting, I put a strip of duct tape over the dial to lock it in place.

(02/21/2006) - I purchased this unit as a safty measure. Basically I am using visatherm heaters but wanted a device that would shutdown the heaters in case one of them got stuck on, although I have never had a visitherm heater fail. I am using dual 300Watt heaters for my application. I got this unit and it worked great for my application. I set the unit to shutoff the heaters at 90 degrees. Within 1 month the unit failed. The thermostat worked because I could hear the relay turning on and off but there was not 120VAC going to the heaters. I thought that the internal fuse went in the unit, but that was not the case. I opened the unit and measured the output of the relay going to the power cord. I found that the unit was fine and the voltage was not coming out of the other end of the cord. I found the HOT line in the AC pigtail was open. I replaced the power cord pigtail and it was back up and running. I would also like to note that the PCB in this unit is low quality. The printed circuit board is a single sided board with no plated through holes. I still like the unit and it seems reliable once I replaced the faulty cord and cleaned up the solder joints on the PCB. The cords are pretty heafty which I like. I would also like to note that I am an Electrical Engineer and would not recomend anybody takes the unit apart if it fails, but if you are good with a soldering iron go for it. I am guessing that I just had a faulty unit. Bottom line is the unit is a great buy for $25.00.

(10/06/2005) - I recently purchased a Finnex Heater controller. It is a unit that can hang on the side of the tank or be wall mounted. The substantial unit has heavy wiring and seems to be well made. I was surprised by the size. It is at least 4” x 6”. It has one grounded female and one grounded male electrical sockets as well as a rubberized temperature probe leading from the unit. The rubberized temperature probe is similar to the ones used in digital thermometers but is slightly larger. It comes with a nice wire hanger so that it may be hung on the side of the tank or it can be wall mounted with the keyed screw slot on the back. The Finnex heating elements that are designed to go with the unit have no thermostat in them and plug into the controller’s female electrical socket. I’m guessing that having them separate will make the setup more reliable than most heater for these reasons; the switch is outside the tank external to the heater and the temp probe is away from the heating element so neither is stressed from heating and cooling. This seems like a better solution than cramming all those parts in one piece them putting them under saltwater. Having the adjustment outside the tank makes it much easier to dial in the temp as well. I bought only the control unit but they also sell the control unit with the heat probe. My heater’s thermostat was broken and seemed to want to stick on so I was able to just get away with only buying the control unit. I just basically just put a new thermostat on my existing heater. The control units everyone touts are expensive and not for all hobbyists. This seemed like a good solution for me and so far is working well. Time will be the ultimate test.