Cobalt neotherm heater just blew up!!!
- Thread starter fifthtoe
- Start date
Mine was hooked up to a digital aquatics reef keeper control unit. The tank is going fine now after restarting it, i have regular old glass heaters again and the anger and frustration has worn off. Still following this thread though.
Mine was connected to an Apex controller. I traded them both in for Jagers, and I'm using some of the stuff I requested as a replacement from Cobalt (foods and such).
sleepydoc
Team RC
After re-reading several of the posts, it seems none of the heaters actually overheated, nor did they short out since the GFI outlets were not tripped. It would appear that the epoxy resin they used to fill the casing started to melt/burn and/or ruptured the case, leading to all the smoke.
I could be wrong, but if that's the case, a separate controller wouldn't do anything since the tank temperature never actually overheated. The primary risk would seem to be exposure of the tank inhabitants to a potentially toxic substance and/or stray voltage if the actual element became exposed. Does any one know if there were actual livestock casualties from any of these events?
I could be wrong, but if that's the case, a separate controller wouldn't do anything since the tank temperature never actually overheated. The primary risk would seem to be exposure of the tank inhabitants to a potentially toxic substance and/or stray voltage if the actual element became exposed. Does any one know if there were actual livestock casualties from any of these events?
Piranha_Owns
New member
Has anyone heard anything from cobalt are the new heaters still experiencing these problems
dodgerblew
Team RC
This exactly what happened. Secondly my tank experienced both. Within 24 hrs of the incident my fish were dead or dying. I ended up losing 75% of my fish and two somehow recovered after being very distressed and looking very bad. The only fish that showed no signs of illness was a banghaii cardinal
Metal Man 1221
FMMAS Executive Director
That would certainly be the safest route, but based on the mess it can create, it would still be an unpleasant experience.
At this point, without much information on the scale and cause of the problem, there doesn't seem to be an effective way to circumvent or detect this seemingly consistent occurrence.
Why risk it? The cost of replacement for a heater is negligible when compared to the synergistic value of time and passion invested into our tanks.
shaggss
Active member
Yes, it was Kent who had the carbon issue
Chalk up another failed 200W neotherm heater.
Two days ago the GFCI for tripped when I turned the circulation pumps on after feeding the fish and doing a water change. I unplugged everything and reset the GFCI and plugged in everything one at a time to find out what was causing the trip. The only thing that was tripping the circuit was the chiller so I disconnected it, and everything worked fine againg.
I came home from work the next day and checked on the tank to se if the temperature was good and noticed a wierd burning smell. Did a bunch or sniffing around until it became clear the smell was coming from the tank. The water temp was where it normally was so i figured that maybe smell was from the gunk that came out of the chiller lines, or maybe i stirred up too much of the sand bed during the water change. I tossed in a new bag of chem pure and figured that should take care of it.
Woke up early the next day to check on the tank and the smell was horrible. I saw the yellow tang laying on the sand dead and the tail spot blenny stuck belly up in the over flow wier. Called in sick and began mixing up new salt water for an emergency water change, but my RO bin was low and could only make up 10 gallons. I got out the back up circulation pumps and heater and started filling up the 100g rubbermaid and transferred everything that was still alive.
We drained the tank and the smell went away. Fast forward 9 hours and we had enoug water to start filling the tank again since I thougth we got out all the funk. To speed thing up I took the heater out of the chamber in the back of the RSM250 and set it in the front of the tank to get the wate heate up. I plugged the heater back in and watched it run the startup sequence with the leds... then I saw bubble come out the sides and bottom! I pulled the plug and removed it, wow it stank. I touched it along the crack and got a tar like substance on my hands that also stank. We ended up having to wipe down everything. That stuff is extremely hard to remove.
Did a google search on the 200w neotherm failure and saw this thread. Did a little reading and found out that I wasnt the only one. I am very upset that the manufacturer has not recalled or contacted their vendors to inform their customers of the probelms with this model.
I dont recall when I bought this unit but the manufacture date was February 2013, which matches up with a lot of other failed units.
This unit was not on a controller.
Two days ago the GFCI for tripped when I turned the circulation pumps on after feeding the fish and doing a water change. I unplugged everything and reset the GFCI and plugged in everything one at a time to find out what was causing the trip. The only thing that was tripping the circuit was the chiller so I disconnected it, and everything worked fine againg.
I came home from work the next day and checked on the tank to se if the temperature was good and noticed a wierd burning smell. Did a bunch or sniffing around until it became clear the smell was coming from the tank. The water temp was where it normally was so i figured that maybe smell was from the gunk that came out of the chiller lines, or maybe i stirred up too much of the sand bed during the water change. I tossed in a new bag of chem pure and figured that should take care of it.
Woke up early the next day to check on the tank and the smell was horrible. I saw the yellow tang laying on the sand dead and the tail spot blenny stuck belly up in the over flow wier. Called in sick and began mixing up new salt water for an emergency water change, but my RO bin was low and could only make up 10 gallons. I got out the back up circulation pumps and heater and started filling up the 100g rubbermaid and transferred everything that was still alive.
We drained the tank and the smell went away. Fast forward 9 hours and we had enoug water to start filling the tank again since I thougth we got out all the funk. To speed thing up I took the heater out of the chamber in the back of the RSM250 and set it in the front of the tank to get the wate heate up. I plugged the heater back in and watched it run the startup sequence with the leds... then I saw bubble come out the sides and bottom! I pulled the plug and removed it, wow it stank. I touched it along the crack and got a tar like substance on my hands that also stank. We ended up having to wipe down everything. That stuff is extremely hard to remove.
Did a google search on the 200w neotherm failure and saw this thread. Did a little reading and found out that I wasnt the only one. I am very upset that the manufacturer has not recalled or contacted their vendors to inform their customers of the probelms with this model.
I dont recall when I bought this unit but the manufacture date was February 2013, which matches up with a lot of other failed units.
This unit was not on a controller.
dodgerblew
Team RC
Really sorry to hear of your nightmare
tkeracer619
New member
Dang sorry for your loss and trouble.
I used to purchase a bunch of cobalt stuff but have made a conscious effort to avoid anything they sell or the stores that sell their product. I let the stores know how I feel as well.
I have to say they are doing a great job getting into places and pushing out some other brands that have been a staple for a long time. I don't trust em at all.
I used to purchase a bunch of cobalt stuff but have made a conscious effort to avoid anything they sell or the stores that sell their product. I let the stores know how I feel as well.
I have to say they are doing a great job getting into places and pushing out some other brands that have been a staple for a long time. I don't trust em at all.
dodgerblew
Team RC
You should be. Why wait for a disaster, better to prepare for one by getting that stick of dynamite out of there
CaminDFW2
New member
I too would like to know as I have a 200W in my Reefer 250....!!!! :headwallblue:
Cobalt neotherm heater just blew up!!!
I spoke to cobalt on the phone today they said a small batch between late 2013-early 2014 were poor manufacturing I think they said about 0.3% affected. They are sending me new 200w with the new manufacturing / design and swapping out my other 200w with new ones.
the other two I had are fine and I never heard of the other sizes have any issues so I still trust them.
Additionally the new 300 and 400 watt versions are said to be coming out soon. So I would believe they fixed the issue with the 200 as the 400 is essentially 2 x 200 watts daisy chained together.
I spoke to cobalt on the phone today they said a small batch between late 2013-early 2014 were poor manufacturing I think they said about 0.3% affected. They are sending me new 200w with the new manufacturing / design and swapping out my other 200w with new ones.
the other two I had are fine and I never heard of the other sizes have any issues so I still trust them.
Additionally the new 300 and 400 watt versions are said to be coming out soon. So I would believe they fixed the issue with the 200 as the 400 is essentially 2 x 200 watts daisy chained together.
Send cobalt aquatics an email and ask them to swap it out for you. There was no charge since it's under warranty too. They respond quick info1@cobaltaquatics.com
dodgerblew
Team RC
This was aLOT more then a small batch and that right there is why I'll pass on Cobalt heaters
