Cobalt Digital Neo - Therm Question?

[FLSharkvictim]

Has anyone heard of these heaters leaching chemical back into your tank? I have a guy telling me in one of my groups on facebook called The Reef Life stating that these specific heaters leach toxic chemicals back into your tank ! Your feedback would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks,
FLSharkvictim

 

[ronl]

There were problems with some of the 200 watt models cracking and leaking black goo into the aquarium. Cobalt said it was a bad batch that was manufactured in early 2013 and that the problem has been fixed. I think water was getting in where the cord enters the top of the heater. There is a big thread about it on RC. Almost all that cracked were 200 watt, although there were some 150 watt mentioned in the thread.

 

[FLSharkvictim]

I just bought a 200 last week, so I should be good to go correct?

 

[Waters]

I have been using them for over 6 months without any issues if that means anything.

 

[ronl]

I just bought a 200 last week, so I should be good to go correct?

According to the manufacturer, they fixed the problem. As long as the one you have was not sitting on a store shelf for several years, your heater was probably manufactured after they fixed the problem. They used to put a sticker on the power cord that indicated the manufacture date, but I don't think they do that anymore.

You should check out the thread on RC because it has pictures and descriptions of what users experienced with the heater. It also tells how to determine manufacture date based on a code on the packaging if there is no sticker on the power cord.

I used a 100 watt for about 2-3 years with no issues, but I made sure the top was not submerged after reading the thread on RC (I prefer to do that with any heater). I don't use it on my current tank because I switched to multiple smaller heaters.