I hate aquarium heaters!!!!!!!!!!

[aquaman05]

Was this the plastic one or glass?
I had a glass one explode so I switched to the plastic one.
I'm getting nervous now.
What else is everyone using that's suppose to be the best?

 

[ninjazx777]

I have had 3 stealth all went bad in less then 6 months from purchase. I will never buy another one again

 

[Pallobi]

marineland heaters = pure junk ... sorry for your misfortune

 

[fcmatt]

Was this the plastic one or glass?
I had a glass one explode so I switched to the plastic one.
I'm getting nervous now.
What else is everyone using that's suppose to be the best?

from what i understand there is no best. each and every manufacturer has horror
stories if you do a search.

the people who have had bad events happen before normally get a controller
to handle "odd" situations like getting stuck on or failing to turn on.

blowing up.. well this is the first i have heard of that!
edited to add: blowing up while fully submerged.. naturally i know of heaters
blowing up when people let the water get too low.. heater gets really hot.. and
then water hits it. that never ends well.

 

[Camel413]

I bought one but luckily before I had the chance to use it in my sump I came across one of those horror stories here on RC. I researched them and decided not to use it on my reef.

I use mine for a day at a time when I make a new batch of saltwater. Even if it over heats the water or explodes not a whole lot of harm done in mixing bucket.

 

[James404]

Yet another stealth explosion, really doesn't surprise me. I'm just glad noone was hurt with this. I used to run them until I read all the horror stories here. I now only use one in my mixing bucket for about 15 mins a week to get it up to temp.

 

[zma21]

I don't have a heater on my nanocube, and hopefully I won't have to have a heater on this, or my next 25 rimless build.

Things like this freak me out.

 

[scubasteve06]

Word to anyone getting into this hobby or buying a new heater. DO NOT buy a Stealth heater no matter what member says that he/she has had one for years and it is fine. All the heater explosion threads I have ever seen are due to Stealth Heaters. I use the hydor heaters, they are cheap and pretty good quality. Anything but a Stealth, as someone else said they should be black listed.

 

[ccsuzy]

When I was looking for a heater recently the salesperson at my LFS steered me away from the Stealth heaters for this very reason. She told me it had to do with the sealant they were using on them now (it doesn't expand properly). I won't chance it and ended up with a titanium heater.

 

[sslak]

Same here. And I have two of them!

You couldn't pay me to put a Stealth heater in my tank.

Jager is the way to go.

 

[jadavis01]

Have you called Tetra about this? Contact Barbara (sorry I cannot remember her last name at the moment) in Customer Service. She has been there about 17 years and usually handles these types of issues. Or try Rosemary Hartmann, the CS manager. I know both of them, personally, and I can honestly tell you they are hobbyists themselves and will go out of the way to try to help! I have used Stealth heaters for years without issue but don't have any newer ones.

 

[olemiss reb]

I've had two heaters break. A glass one that a mantis smashed, the other was a stealth. It split open from top to bottom. Luckily it was in a mixing tub and not my tank. As stated by others, stealth heaters are junk. I use fluval e series in my tanks, no problems so far.

 

[RVANANO]

Ditto on Jager. My stealth also exploded in my 34 a few years back. Luckily I was right there when it happened. I don't know why anyone still buys those things...

 

[shaggss]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune......

I did a lot of research before I bought mine. And as already stated, each brand has had some horror stories, but the stealths were the ones with the most.

The most recommended one was the Jager heaters. So I bought two slightly smaller than required and connected them through a Profilux. That way if one stays on, it wont cook the tank.

HTH?!

cheers :beer:

 

[JTL]

What is the lot number? I know from other threads that 01H31 is a problem and they replaced mine. Supposedly this was a problem with this batch, although there may be others. The speculation is that water is getting into the area of the heating element (bad seal) and building up steam pressure. If that is the case having a controller may not make any difference unless it only happens if it overheats.

 

[frankpayne32]

these stealth heater stories are really scaring me. I've had great luck with them... but these stories make me very nervous

Same here! I have never had a problem with stealths. In fact, my old stealths are running in my system now as my Finnex titantium exploded...

 

[Shmax]

Back when I was breeding fw fish, Ebo Jager heaters were bar none the best on the market. At one point, I had almost 50 tanks running, all of them with Jager heaters, and never once had a problem with any of them. Not only that, they were within 1 degree of where you set them, which unfortunately is rare. About 7-8 years ago or so, they were bought out by someone... don't remember who... and for a short stint, their heaters weren't even fully submersible anymore. They have gone back to the fully submersible version, but I'm not sure on the quality. It has to be safer than the new models of Stealth, those things are dangerous.

 

[aleonn]

I'm scared of heaters now, and hope my JBJ titanium 800W doesn't go crazy on me. I think I'll have to get two 400W Ebo Jager heaters down the line!

 

[James404]

Back when I was breeding fw fish, Ebo Jager heaters were bar none the best on the market. At one point, I had almost 50 tanks running, all of them with Jager heaters, and never once had a problem with any of them. Not only that, they were within 1 degree of where you set them, which unfortunately is rare. About 7-8 years ago or so, they were bought out by someone... don't remember who... and for a short stint, their heaters weren't even fully submersible anymore. They have gone back to the fully submersible version, but I'm not sure on the quality. It has to be safer than the new models of Stealth, those things are dangerous.

Jager heaters are now made by eheim.

 

[keith sprague]

right when i read your title i said to myself its gotta be a stealth. ive heard this story many times on here. sorry to hear bout it. get an ebo jaeger or something.