heater malfunction

[OckMed]

So I leave for work every thing looks ok in the tank and when I get home my water temp is a blazing 95. Every thing is dead fish, sps, lps olny the zoa's were alive. The black plastic STEALTH point of sale heater malfunctiond it said 76 on the dial but was at 95. I tryed to salvage any sign of live in a qt/frag tank. Water changes are under way. Please share any thoughts or exp with this topic

 

[stunreefer Verified Sponsor]

Crap, another stealth gone bad!

I've used and trusted these heaters for years but have seen several posts lately of scary things like this! I personally have two dead one's right now (out of about 8), but they fully back their lifetime warranty.

I would contact the manufacturer and tell them what happened - make sure you have all the numbers off of the labels on the heater, that's how they track the batch # etc. You might be reimbursed by them, or partially, for your losses.

No matter what brand heater your run, it should always be connected to an external controller along with the internal controller built into the heater. Also, I always run two undersized heaters, never oversize a heater as that's an easy way to fry a tank if it goes bad.

So sorry for your losses... it's too bad that such an important piece of equipment is the biggest piece of crap no matter what brand you use! ELOS is working on a "high quality" heater and I would be willing to spend big bucks on it if it's actually reliable.

 

[RBursek]

A heater is one of the hardes working items in a aquarium, because they are constantly going on and off, not like a pump or PH that is constantly running. When they fail they usually weld the contacts together and fail in the on position. that is why a controller for a header is on of the best investments, I have the 3 original heaters still running and I contribute that to that they are on a controller.

 

[acronautical]

I found my in-sump Stealth with a hole burned through it several years ago. I have no idea how long this condition existed. Fortunately, there didn't seem to be any damage associated with this problem. Nevertheless, I'm a titanium man now.

 

[Troylee]

sorry man... i had one actually break and kept popping the breaker on my power box i couldnt figure out the problem for the life of me....darn heater it was....since then i have never used one and i never will my tank runs and 80* without it and since my house is kept at a stable temp i can't see why anyone really needs one???? unless your house is not a controlled climate then maybe, but out here in the desert the last things we need is heat i actually don't know a single person who runs one out here...pumps generate enough heat on top of the light's to keep your water toasty imo....

 

[Blackhawk Fan]

sorry man... i had one actually break and kept popping the breaker on my power box i couldnt figure out the problem for the life of me....darn heater it was....since then i have never used one and i never will my tank runs and 80* without it and since my house is kept at a stable temp i can't see why anyone really needs one???? unless your house is not a controlled climate then maybe, but out here in the desert the last things we need is heat i actually don't know a single person who runs one out here...pumps generate enough heat on top of the light's to keep your water toasty imo....

My sump is in my basement. It gets down to 60 degrees in my sump room. I have to use heaters. I have three 250w ebo jagers on a controller. I bought them about 8 years ago.

 

[MikeB]

This happened to use. We were having problems with corals Acans and certain chalice just started to look bad. Finally checked the tank water and it was warm, 92 degrees.... We replaced all heaters with the Titanium heaters and have not had a problem since. The real way to keep this in check is with a controller to monitor temps. Then you can shut off the heaters if there is a malfunction.

 

[mike_dani]

Keep record of all that was killed they have a good claim service unfortunitly I only know this because I have had three die in the last 5 weeks. Also get a controller it will keep from having the high temps. I also found this out the hard way but my RKL has not let me down and has saved my display twice now.

 

[SaraB]

I personally believe that heaters are one of the least expensive items that function in our systems and the one thing that can really cause a whole lot of damage if they run amuck. My rule - 1 year of use and out of the tank they come. Use them for heating water change water, etc., but don't risk your whole system for such a cheap maintenace item.

I agree controllers for the heaters are key as well, but that won't help a heater that just stops heating if you run your tanks in a cool environment. If you have a fancy controller, it may tell you the tank is too cold, but not everyone has that fancy of a controller is all.

 

[650-IS350]

I use contoller on my heaters as well.

 

[Emoney]

Apex temp prob got pulled out of sump some how, tank went up to 84 before i caught it...Lucky i was home! No disaters, thank god

 

[RBursek]

SaraBI sure would rather have a tank go to lets say 66* in the winter time for a day or 2 then then 94* fro that same period of time. Just the other night forgot to turn on the return pump, it was off for 20hrs, tank dropped to 74* and not a problem, PH were on but the heaters were off also.

 

[gparr]

I personally believe that heaters are one of the least expensive items that function in our systems and the one thing that can really cause a whole lot of damage if they run amuck. My rule - 1 year of use and out of the tank they come. Use them for heating water change water, etc., but don't risk your whole system for such a cheap maintenace item.

I agree controllers for the heaters are key as well, but that won't help a heater that just stops heating if you run your tanks in a cool environment. If you have a fancy controller, it may tell you the tank is too cold, but not everyone has that fancy of a controller is all.

What she said. One year for mine, too. Then they're off to heat water-change water. Not worth the risk.
Gary

 

[SaraB]

SaraBI sure would rather have a tank go to lets say 66* in the winter time for a day or 2 then then 94* fro that same period of time. Just the other night forgot to turn on the return pump, it was off for 20hrs, tank dropped to 74* and not a problem, PH were on but the heaters were off also.

I agree, I'd rather have cooler water than hot water but I'm just saying that a controller possibly won't solve all possible heater issues.

 

[stedfast82]

so guy's what's a good controller??? name, brand?

 

[stunreefer Verified Sponsor]

Ranco is a great stand alone controller (just for heating/cooling) or a RKL would do the trick for cheap too.

Everyone relying on controllers should be sure to have an additional thermometer of some kind just to double check the temp probe.

 

[mike_dani]

I personally believe that heaters are one of the least expensive items that function in our systems and the one thing that can really cause a whole lot of damage if they run amuck. My rule - 1 year of use and out of the tank they come. Use them for heating water change water, etc., but don't risk your whole system for such a cheap maintenace item.

I agree controllers for the heaters are key as well, but that won't help a heater that just stops heating if you run your tanks in a cool environment. If you have a fancy controller, it may tell you the tank is too cold, but not everyone has that fancy of a controller is all.

Reef Keeper Lite 99 bucks plus some shipping. It will save your tank, if you have a stuck heater it will turn off that outlet only if it does not come on you can setup logic to turn on lights and such so cooling will be at a minimum and it will also alarm if you wish.

Fancy and powerful YES...... But at the same price as a nice SPS or good heater it's worth more than 99 bucks. I get upset at comment like these above. We have a great forum here with tons of horific stories about heaters and nobody will spend a small coin to save the stuff they spen so much on. OK enough of my rant

 

[gilmour01]

i use 2 undersized heaters on a controller to decrease my chances of a tank disaster.

 

[OckMed]

Ill never use one again I live in florida so 10 months out of a year its warm. I lost to much to put another one in my tank

 

[spc1spc1]

I don't use them any more, after I got shocked and blew some of my finger all over the front glass of my tank. I had a titanium heater and the temp probe was cracked. put my hand in the tank, and thats when it grabbed me. fell back out of the tank, and there was blood every where. grabbed my fluke meter and I had 127 vac in the tank. stared unplugging things until I found that chinese made heater crap.