New product: flexible heating panel

[nightlight]

Aquarium heaters fail, and fail often (putting the reefer in dangerous situations).
A company in China started selling flexible heating panels to be put in the aquarium. It is a pad containing an electronic circuit that becomes warm. It looks to me that the surface area that is in contact with the water is much bigger then with a regular heater, but are they efficient and reliable?

Does anybody had the opportunity to test this product?

Link of manufacturer

 

[Brwestern]

Looks like a heating pad with rubber on the outside.

 

[nodak]

Looks like same idea as a waterbed heater.

 

[HanoverFist]

Stuff like that out already. Better quality too. Think Hydor and Tetra both have them. Mainly for small/nano tanks though. Even looking at the size there I can tell those are small like theirs.

 

[noahm]

The concept isn't new, but I haven't seen it in aquarium use. I would wait until a proper brand that will warranty them come out. I would be a little concerned about growth on them in a marine tank. It would likely begin to compromise the surface over time.

 

[OregonReefer]

+1 on the waterbed heater... maybe they work the same way and you put it under the sump...

 

[peppie]

Ive seen one of those before
When I was little it was hanging on the shower curtain rod in my moms bathroom.

 

[Mouse]

FW planted tanks use heated sandbeds to accel the plant growth, perhaps this product is related or a spinnoff?

 

[fishysteve]

If you're gonna go that route just get a reptile heat pad that sticks to the bottom of the tank thats controlled with a rheostat. Zoo med (Hagen), Exo Terra, and Flukers make them. They are a lot bigger.

 

[Fishfish0001]

What happens if something bites or pinches the rubber off?

 

[nightlight]

I managed to get my hands on a few details of the used material:

• the electric film that is inside the insulated material has a tensile strength of 20 kg
• due to the anti-aging, never degenerating material has the durability been tested to be over 30 years
• in a 2100 hour aging tests the shrinkage of the material was found smaller than 2%; These tests estimate that the characteristics and the size of the material doesn't change for at least 26.000 hours of continuous operation at a surface temperature of 40 degrees celcius
• the material has tested to remain soft and durable after repeating breaking and stretching

These heaters will next to the small models (as in the pictures of the initial post) also become available in 100W and 200W versions. The Hydor version (7.5W) where Hanoverfist refers to is on --beep-- (I'm not sure if I can mention a name of a webshop on the forum ) in the top spot of best selling aquarium heaters.
The only issue reviewers point out is that the product doesn't have a thermostat which makes the fish to be fried in the summer time.

 

[usefulidiot213]

A heater with out a thermostat.. That's not good. Would have to only use them with a controller.

 

[nightlight]

Prototypes heating panels for discussion

Prototypes heating panels for discussion

I managed to get two prototypes of a heating panel targeted for aquarium usage. On the left a 200W version, and on the right a 100W version.
I've tested the 100W in a bucket with cold water together with another bucket containing a 100W titanium heater and measured the temperature and power consumption.
I noticed the heating panel to heat up the water 15% faster than the titanium heater (= 15% less power).

Pro's:

• they consume 15% less power and heat up the water faster
• the panels spread the heat over a bigger surface and they do not become as hot as a titanium rod. This make it less likely to "explode"
• low price (target price is $10-$15)

Cons:

• they are extremely thin (less then half a millimeter) which makes it sensitive to be damaged during maintenance or by live stock. A safe position in the sump may be an option
• the prototypes did not have a method to attach them to the wall, or the ground of the tank
• long term side affects in reefs: unknown

Would somebody consider such product to buy?

(the glow on the 200W version is from the flash of the camera. The panels do not change in color when turned on)

 

[frankpayne32]

*cough* marketing spam*cough*

 

[nightlight]

I am not affiliated with the manufacturer of this product, neither I am selling/nor involved in selling this product.
I do was interested in using it for my own tanks because of the affordable price and its expecting superior performance in terms of electricity usage, but decided not to due to the risk of it getting damaged during maintenance (causing a disaster in terms of risking a shock).
I decided to share pictures of the sample of this new product and my measured test result for those who do may consider such a product (and to know if someone do weight the pro's more then the cons).

 

[Ethan Music]

If thier anything like the ones in the reptile hobby they suck. Been through like 4 in less than a year. If it goes inside the aquarium than it might work. Reason being is you have to have a way to cool them down. And the ones I used you place it under the tank and you have to raise the tank up so that the pad is not sandwich between the glass and whatever your sitting it on. I had a fan blowing under my terrarium and it still managed to cook it self over and over.

 

[nightlight]

Valid point. I once saw a water cooker consisting of a metal spiral that you have to hang on the edge of the pan to make the water boil. It was in the instructions to never let this thing run dry, and never put it in the pan after it already heated up.
The same I noticed with these pads. They are only intending to be used submerged inside the tank. I ran it for 10 seconds in clear air and the film started to bend. I hereby assume it should be avoided at all times having them to run in clear air.