The topfin heater came with my 55 gal starter kit and flickers an orange light on and off. Is this normal? The temperature stays consistent, so I'm assuming the light indicates the heater is warming the water when the temperature drops slightly?
Flickering heater?
- Thread starter Brooke Owens
- Start date
Hello; Yes the light is an indicator on most heaters I am familiar with. Heater is on when the light is on. Mine will flicker a bit as well.
take the TopFin back to Petsmart and trade it in for a better name brand - Aqueon Pro models come w/ a limited LIFETIME warranty, Eheim Jagers are also durable and 3 year warranty, I avoid TopFin and Marineland heater like a plague nowadays.
TopFin is the Petsmart namebrand and they replace Topfin products without a receipt. TopFin is garbage.
Just an FYI, the Top Fin heater in my three year old son's GloFish tank just recently went bad. It got stuck on and cooked the water up to 102 degrees, killing all the fish in the tank. It was a 50W heater in a ten gallon tank.
I replaced the heater with a 75W AquaTop and now I run an InkBird heater controller on the tank that will automatically cut the power to the heater if the temp raises to 85 degrees. The heater is set at 80 degrees. Then, I have a low alarm on set for 75 degrees and a high alarm set for 90 degrees.
The InkBird can be bought on Amazon for about $35.
I replaced the heater with a 75W AquaTop and now I run an InkBird heater controller on the tank that will automatically cut the power to the heater if the temp raises to 85 degrees. The heater is set at 80 degrees. Then, I have a low alarm on set for 75 degrees and a high alarm set for 90 degrees.
The InkBird can be bought on Amazon for about $35.
My marineland has out lasted my aqueon pro. The marineland ive had for years has a constant orange light while its on. The aqueon warranty only works if you have the receipt. I do like the fact that they aren't glass though.
I'm not a huge Top Fin fan, but there's nothing wrong with their products. They're rebadged United Pet Group products for the most part (Marineland, Tetra, etc..)
The other thing to keep in mind, your Top Fin heater may have a lifetime warranty as well. It's kind of a pain, but always save the box and receipt from your heaters and filters if you can because of this.
The flickering you see is most likely just the little neon indicator light. Why they still use 1970s technology like neon indicator lights as opposed to LED is beyond me, but many still do. Neon lamps will flicker at times.
The other thing to keep in mind, your Top Fin heater may have a lifetime warranty as well. It's kind of a pain, but always save the box and receipt from your heaters and filters if you can because of this.
The flickering you see is most likely just the little neon indicator light. Why they still use 1970s technology like neon indicator lights as opposed to LED is beyond me, but many still do. Neon lamps will flicker at times.
Explain more about the neon lamps.. there is another light that flashes besides the amber colored light and this is a bright white light. I have no clue why it does this scared me at first thought the cord was in the water or something lol.