Aquarium System Stealth Heater

Well Jalle isn't a "well known" brand - IMO it's a cheapie off brand.

I had another Stealth fail since I revived this thread. My tech was getting a buzzer on a cut on her hand when she stuck it in the water of a tank with another such heater.

She didn't have the volt meter with her, but used her hand as a clue. Unplugged the heater, no more lifter.

She brought the heater in - I tested it in a small (ie ~3 gallon container of saltwater) and I read 95 volts. No visible issues or burned smells... and the voltage was observed in a tiny vessel - but still. Unplugged the device - 0 volts (nothing else in the container).

So now I have 2 duds in my possession. My distributor won't take them back after a year, so I'll have to track down a sales rep.

I think I'm going to pull the few that I have remaining in service - even if I have to eat the cost of new heaters for my clients - it's not worth the damage to leave them there to potentially crap out.

Jenn
 
If you find one, let me know. I haven't met one that is infallible yet.

Ebo Jager is about the best IMO.

Jenn
 
Yeah....the controller is a nice thing to have for alot of reasons. But none of the heaters I had so far stuck on or off. Funny thing is both of the Hydors that failed were not submersed. They were to the water line and still leaked into the water.

Jagr is one I haven't tried yet. Might as well test how long that one takes to fry me.
 
I bought a couple of the Rena Smart heaters. They are really nice and worth the money. with the hollow design you have lots of surface contact. Very consistent and heat up fast. Also nice controller.
 
I use the stealth heaters in my systems becausem well thats what my LFS sells. I haven't had any problems , yet and i hop ei o not. I use these heaters in all of my poison dart frog tanks along with the salt tanks and would realy be saddened if ones of these failed. especially in the dart tank. I can also add that none of them turn off when taken out of the water.
 
There is a survey of 14 aquarium heaters at the Cichlid Forum (http://www.cichlid-forum.com/reviews/category_display.php?CatID=701) with user comments that may be helpful. I’ve been following this survey for the last few years. The Ebo Jager used to be the top ranked heater until its purchase by Eheim. Today, the Eheim Jager ranks behind the Hydor ETH, the AS Stealth, and the Hagen Tronic although I favor it for its LED indicator and its unique calibration feature.

The most highly regarded heater is the Hydor ETH, which is the only in-line heater in the survey. Notable is that of the 24 user comments, none reported a failure. Perhaps, Hydor has “built a better mousetrap” with its ETH and we should examine it to see what is being done right.

While I’ve never used the ETH, I have purchased a submersible Hydor Theo heater. It ranks very low in the Cichlid forum survey and has catastrophically failed in my tank. It floated to the surface with its hot end exposed to air and burst. Luckily, my GFCI cut off the electrical flow. Apparently, Hydor’s success with the ETH does not trickle down to its other heaters.
 
FYI, I had to replace a 100w Stealth heater 2 weeks ago - putting about 39v into the water of my QT.

The only way I knew was I was prepairing my QT tank for a new fish and put my hand in the water. I got my volt meeter and sure enough about 39v (2v comming from a Marineland powerhead/filter).

I am going to research the "lifetime guarentee" this weekend.

FYI I did replace with another Stealth heater but I mounted it vertically such that the adjustment knob and cord are NOT submerged.

My DT (heater in sump) uses 2 ti heaters but no controller yet.....

My 0.02
 
I've been looking pretty hard at articles about heaters. The ones posted here recently have been very informative. I'm really liking the concept of the in-line heaters. It appears that these seem to be aimed more at the canister filter crowd. But I did see in the write up on Marine Depot that these can easily be adapted for sump use. The only problem I can forsee is the need for two in paralell for the larger tanks 90 gal and up. And they don't seem to publish any info on a range of acceptable flowrates through these heaters.

I also saw another idea by one of the canister filter manufacturers that provide heater inserts. This just appears to be a tube approx 2 or 3 inches in diameter and approx 12 long with an inlet and an outlet. The customer supplied heater slides in from the top through a compression fitting and the incoming water gets heated and sent out the other side. This still requires the use of the above 'bashed' heaters. But it does at least keep the heater head dry. And according to a couple of items I read, it's a good idea to keep the head of the heater out of the water regardless of what the manufacturer claims. And the concept of heated water being circulated through a loop looks like it could have at least some advantages. I believe it would not be too difficult to fabricate one of these from typical pvc.

But I'm leaning more toward the Hydor in-line. If anyone can offer any feedback as to flowrates through these heaters, it would be greatly appreciated.
 
My worry with the heater module is that the head of the heater containing the thermostat is exposed to cooler air and may not regulate the temperature properly. This happened with my Jager heater when I mounted it at the surface with the head exposed to air. Do try it and let us know.

If stray electrical currents are the concern, wouldn’t placing all submerged electrical gear in the sump instead of the main tank mitigate the problem? If a stray current enters the sump and leaves via the sump, I would think that the problem can be limited to the sump.

If one wanted to eliminate the possibility that electricity will enter the water via the heater, consider heating pads that mount to the underside of a tank. I’ve used reptilian heating pads by Zoo Med for small freshwater tanks. The temperature is regulated with an Azoo or Finnex controller. Since these heating pads have low heat output, I would make sure that the room temperature is well-regulated and within a few degrees of the desired aquarium temperature.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14020759#post14020759 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pjf
My worry with the heater module is that the head of the heater containing the thermostat is exposed to cooler air and may not regulate the temperature properly. This happened with my Jager heater when I mounted it at the surface with the head exposed to air. Do try it and let us know.
Click to expand...

Both of my jagers have the heads exposed and are quite accurate. The thermostat is no in the head of the heater, just the dial that controls it. Use of a temp. controller is the best way to control a heater.
 
I have used the stealth with no issues. BUt i like the Jagers the best. I have used them for many yrs even while in freshwater.
 
Scratch one 100W Stealth here. I generally check my tank temp as sort of preventative maintenance and noticed it was 85 all of the sudden. I felt the two heaters (2 Stealth 100W) in the sump and one of them was on. I adjusted the temp knob all the way down, waited a bit, and re-checked. It was still on. When I took it out of the sump, it stayed on (contrary to their claim). I'm concerned about the propensity for a heater to fail ON. My fish weren't looking really good that day (probably triggered my looking at temp that particular time) and I suspect I just about killed them. The acanthastreas have been puckered up a lot since then too.

I'll be looking for a better heater I think.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15062803#post15062803 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by lynxpilot
Scratch one 100W Stealth here. I generally check my tank temp as sort of preventative maintenance and noticed it was 85 all of the sudden. I felt the two heaters (2 Stealth 100W) in the sump and one of them was on. I adjusted the temp knob all the way down, waited a bit, and re-checked. It was still on. When I took it out of the sump, it stayed on (contrary to their claim). I'm concerned about the propensity for a heater to fail ON. My fish weren't looking really good that day (probably triggered my looking at temp that particular time) and I suspect I just about killed them. The acanthastreas have been puckered up a lot since then too.

I'll be looking for a better heater I think.
Click to expand...

One of my stealth heaters didn't turn off when out of the water (I was doing a water change and had drained water out of my sump) and started blistering from the inside. I e-mailed Aquarium Systems and they offered to replace it no questions asked.

Having said that though, I think all heaters are at risk of sticking on. Most of them use the same mechanism to turn on/off. That's why temperature controllers such as the Ranco are awfully important. I finally got an AquaController earlier this year, and I have it controlling my stealth, and I've built in some failsafes in my AquaController's program to cover situations such as my temp probe failing, etc.

I still use the stealths and will continue to recommend them.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15062880#post15062880 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by qfrisco
One of my stealth heaters didn't turn off when out of the water (I was doing a water change and had drained water out of my sump) and started blistering from the inside.
Click to expand...
Without an LED, it is not easy to determine if the "Stealth" is ON or OFF. I hope your fingers aren't blistered.

The reasons I like the Jager are because:
(1) It has an LED on/off indicator, and
(2) It can be re-calibrated should it drift (http://www.boroniaaquarium.com.au/n...etterSession=7c5a8ab1545a1745e6514e6d836edb6f).
 
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