Modes of Failure: Glass Submersible Heaters

[johnptc]

there are many options to prevent fish loss from a heater failing:

1) dont put heaters in tanks with large fish...use inline or sump mounted

2) use multiple smaller heaters, so one failing on wont cook the fish in a short time period

3) use a temperature alarm ( hi/low) to alert you

4) use a thermostat ahead of your heaters as a high temperature cutoff

5) build almost bullet proof controls from industrial level components and use industrial heaters


.....depends on how much you value your fish versus how much you invest in the heating system






.

 

[edtriou]

Supply and demand, tends to be a bigger motivator for companies than regulation.

There are superior heaters on the market today, some without glass. If you feel those are headed in the right direction, buy/encourage those over the competition, even if that means a few extra dollars. You reinforce the innovation in that direction and take dollars away from inferior products.

It’s just a matter of time before companies recognize their not leading the pack, they copy leading companies, or simply go out of business. think Stealth heaters have done (and will do) far more for the industry than any regulation would have achieved in the same time frame.


I’d simply vote with your wallet.
Ed

 

[ercnan]

I use in tank Stealths.
Unbreakable, and when turned all the way up and attached to a controller, "non-over heatable".
The failures I've had since doing this are "Fail safe". ie. they fail to heat, not boil the tank.
They have a lifetime warranty, so, in my case, "who cares if it fails". I make a phone call and get it replaced for nothing.
Cheap to buy and you only do it once.

 

[Potts050]

bump

 

[fitznacio]

my heater failed due to water seeping the housing

 

[brcacti]

not sure what an inline heater is?, I've heard of submersibles partly buried is that the best ways to go?

 

[ShadowBass]

Most of my visitherm glass heaters just burst one day for no reason. One of my heaters burst right after buying it and putting it in the tank.
I have broken a few by accidentally leaving them out of the water, but mostly the heaters just popped eventually.

We didn't have any problems with the older ones (one of the ones I burst during water changes accidentally, but otherwise they worked good), some of them had run for years. The newer ones however didn't last long and the one I had pop right after I bought it really made me decide just to stick with stealths. I did buy a couple of titanium heaters to try out in my sump, but no more glass.

 

[ShadowBass]

not sure what an inline heater is?, I've heard of submersibles partly buried is that the best ways to go?

An inline goes in one of the tubes run to your canister filter or any other external filter that uses tubes to put water in the tank. The water is pushed through the heater.
I have one on my 90g, they work really good. My inline keeps that tank more stable than the submersibles on any of my other tanks.

 

[aquariumguy2300]

My heater leaked some strange fluid into my tank while it was still cycling. It hadn't been running for 3-4 years as I used to have a coldwater setup. I put the heater in the tank and a couple days later, I noticed that the heater wasn't heating. I fully submerged my heater forgeting that it WASN'T submersible! I come back a few hours later, and the temperature skyrocketed to 95 degrees, and there was a strange substance leaking out of it. I quickly took the heater out, and dumped all of the water into the toilet.(unfortunatly, I missed, and it spewed all over the wall) I have no idea on how much it was as I bought it 7 or 8 years ago for a tank that I never put it on.

 

[turbid]

i, m glad to hear your inlines are reliable.. mine didnt last two months. they simply stay swithced on and the tank is not heated. you see the temperature drop each day... i changed four this last year under warranty but replacements were still unreliable.