Condensation inside heater

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
CarpCharacin said:
I am treating them for ich. The heater is working right now. This is just so frustrating having a second heater leak. Could it cause a problem?
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The only immediate problem I see that is a possibility is that it may have an open current of electricity. The easy way to find out is to simply stick your hand or a finger in the water and if it shocks you, there is an electrical current coming from the heater. My old aqueon heater had a crack on the bottom causing the electric current in the water. If there is a shock it won't harm you unless you have a pacemaker or something to its equivalent. It will scare you more than hurt you lol trust me 100 watts isn't enough to damage you, I got shocked by my 300 and it just scared me but I wasn't hurt by it. But if you don't have a shock I guess it's okay to use but I'd still go pick up a different heater brand.
 
CarpCharacin said:
The condensation appears to be gone. It is strange. Should I still replace it?
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Yes I'd still replace it because normally condensation indicates that the heater will fail. The condensation is probably caused be a broken/bad seal on the rubber head on the top where you controle the temperature that is attached to the glass part of the heater. I assume when the heater is on the condensation will appear because of the small amount of water that is trapped inside. When the heater turns off the condensation disappears. So what I would do is get the head of the heater out of the water (and only the head) because if you expose the glass part to air it will burn the heater out and fry your fish. So I'd drain some water out of your tank until just the rubber head is out of the water. But condensation is just a matter of time until the current will be exposed to the aquarium and cause problems so I would definitely get a different brand of heater ASAP.
 
CarpCharacin said:
The heater has remained on since I put it in and the condensation has gone away. It didn't go away when the heater was off.
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Huh, idk but I still think that the seal might be defective because water had to have gotten in there somehow for condensation to appear. Which is still a sign of a failing heater, and more than likely will cause a electric current to make its way into the aquarium. Regardless it is absolutley stupid on aqueon's part that you have received 2 broken and possibly unsafe heaters back to back.
 
I wanted to get an aqueon heater because I can get a rebate because I got 2 more 40 breeders at the dollar per gallon sale at petco and they came with rebate cards for aqueon products that I can send in and get a $5 rebate. I have had good luck with aqueon heaters in the back. I can't believe they keep leaking.
 
CarpCharacin said:
I wanted to get an aqueon heater because I can get a rebate because I got 2 more 40 breeders at the dollar per gallon sale at petco and they came with rebate cards for aqueon products that I can send in and get a $5 rebate. I have had good luck with aqueon heaters in the back. I can't believe they keep leaking.
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If you want to run aqueon then I'd get a different watt aqueon heater. Maybe the 100 watts have something weird going on with them so I'd get a 150 watt and hope that it doesn't get any leaks.
 
VettesAndAros said:
If you want to run aqueon then I'd get a different watt aqueon heater. Maybe the 100 watts have something weird going on with them so I'd get a 150 watt and hope that it doesn't get any leaks.
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The 150 watt ones are more expensive and I don't need 150 watts. I am going to wait and see if the condensation comes back.
 
Could it be some kind of lubricant they use to assemble them?
Sounds like something I've experienced before on a heater that still runs with no problem after 3 years.

Or it could be a broken model, no way for me to know. :(
 
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