Cobalt Accu-therm heater malfunction

[ReefBrownie]

Ok so I've had my tank set up for about two weeks now. I purchased a 150w cobalt submersible heater and put it straight from the box into the return section of my sump suctioned to the bottom. It has never been run dry. So today I smelled a burnt smell and checked to see. I saw that the light on the heater was flickering so I unplugged it before removing it. When I pulled it out I fiund that the glass was broken in half and the insides were all burnt. I have tried calling Cobalt and received a voicemailbox. What do you think could have caused this? It was set to 78 and like I said has never been run dry. Nothing could have dropped on it. I am including a photo.

 

[Tuffyyyyy]

Unfortunately this is an incredibly common thing. Not usually so soon after setup, but most reefers will replace their heaters on an annual basis.

 

[Neo Jeo]

That sucks. I had a Neo-Therm heater that failed after a few weeks! They replaced it but said it has a 1% failure rate. Good thing it was just for my saltwater mixes.

 

[ReefBrownie]

Well Cobalt contacted me back and they are going to send me a replacement. I'm glad it was hassle free process but I am now leary about using the new one. I'm glad it's just a back up heater to my eheim.

 

[ReefBrownie]

Ok so I received the replacement heater today in the mail. It is also broken. :( We will see what they say this time.