should i continue w/ Stealth Heaters?

[polish]

I'd say a few months.

http://www.marineland.com/sites/marineland/products/categories.aspx?id=2054&cid=1213&mid=3226

I've still seen some of the older ones for sale around but I think it's just old stock. They will all be gone eventually though.

 

[zennzzo]

I'd say a few months.

http://www.marineland.com/sites/marineland/products/categories.aspx?id=2054&cid=1213&mid=3226

I've still seen some of the older ones for sale around but I think it's just old stock. They will all be gone eventually though.

SAD day...
Just got off the phone with Marineland and polish is correct!
2009, 4 months ago they stopped production on the Standard STEALTH and for 2010 they now ONLY have the Pro's in production...Oh well, if they are as good as the old non-pros, I can deal with the lights...I guess...

 

[Toby_H]

However, with all this bad experience being reported on this forum, are you suggesting we should ignore it and give VisiTherm a free pass?

What good is a forum where people share good and bad product experiences, and then people like yourself suggest we ignore the bad?

Not at all...

I'm suggesting we should realize a lot of people misuse a product and then criticize the product...

I am also sharing that I have experience of using many (more than 12) stealth heaters over many (7~10) years and in my experience, when they are used properly, they are wonderful heaters...

This isn't giving anyone a 'free pass'... it's placing blame/credit where it is deserved...

SAD day...
Just got off the phone with Marineland and polish is correct!
2009, 4 months ago they stopped production on the Standard STEALTH and for 2010 they now ONLY have the Pro's in production...Oh well, if they are as good as the old non-pros, I can deal with the lights...I guess...

I agree...

While it's nice to know when the heater is on and when it is off... I hate the glowign red light in the tank when the tanklights are off...

Besides, when I did use heaters that had the light... I never paid attention to when it was on and when it was off... I still caught them being stuck on by checkign the thermometer...

 

[12 Volt Man]

I'm suggesting we should realize a lot of people misuse a product and then criticize the product...

I am also sharing that I have experience of using many (more than 12) stealth heaters over many (7~10) years and in my experience, when they are used properly, they are wonderful heaters...

This isn't giving anyone a 'free pass'... it's placing blame/credit where it is deserved...

what kind of misuse do you think is contributing to all the failing stealth heater and split open stealth heater threads lately?

to me, this looks much more like a quality issue rather than a user error issue.

which, to me, isn't really that surprising. As I have said elsewhere, Marineland's whole product line has never really impressed me. except for their 'deep dimension' line of tanks. those are very nice. but their normal Perfecto stock tanks leave a lot to be desired in terms of build quality at least compared to Aqueon/Oceanic IMO.

 

[zennzzo]

what kind of misuse do you think is contributing to all the failing stealth heater and split open stealth heater threads lately?

to me, this looks much more like a quality issue rather than a user error issue.

which, to me, isn't really that surprising. As I have said elsewhere, Marineland's whole product line has never really impressed me. except for their 'deep dimension' line of tanks. those are very nice. but their normal Perfecto stock tanks leave a lot to be desired in terms of build quality at least compared to Aqueon/Oceanic IMO.

That blowing up STEALTHS BS has been squashed...
"gtgg" took his time and researched the problem and it turns out it was all fabricated...show me 1 picture of a blown-up or split heater that did the damage spoken of...can't do it...not even a cheesy photochopped picture exist...
I personally talked to Marineland to find out about the Pro vs Standard heater availability
Well, there is no recall as stated and the numbering system isn't even like was listed in the "hater" threads...
You stated yourself you couldn't verify the recall with marineland...

Everybody has their opinions on certain product lines. I personally haven't had any problems with them other than the dumbass mistakes I've made with them...I can't very well blame Marineland for warning me not to do something I did over and over...

 

[12 Volt Man]

okay, I haven't done any research on the validity of the exploding/splitting stealth pics, but I have seen several pics on various forums.

eg:
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=232201&pid=2771471&st=0&#entry2771471

note lots of pics.

just saying that if these and others like them are all faked, there is quite a conspiracy going on out there.

if so, and it is all BS, then that is bad.

its hard enough to make informed decisions on products if there is misinformation being spread about the web..

 

[12 Volt Man]

a quick search shows there are a lot of 'anti stealth' threads all over the place on various fish forums.

it seems these 'heater wars' are going on all over the place on various fish forums.

I think in the end, people need to keep using what they have been successful with.

if you have had good success with Stealths, keep using them.

if you have had good success with Ebo's, hydor etc, well, keep using them too.

for a new user, sorting through all the info can be tough though.

 

[12 Volt Man]

Everybody has their opinions on certain product lines.

agreed.

you know what they say. opinions are like uh..earlobes. everyone has one.

(well, thats not what they say, but "earlobes" is more forum friendly than the real saying )

 

[vfc]

Not at all...

I'm suggesting we should realize a lot of people misuse a product and then criticize the product...

I am also sharing that I have experience of using many (more than 12) stealth heaters over many (7~10) years and in my experience, when they are used properly, they are wonderful heaters...

This isn't giving anyone a 'free pass'... it's placing blame/credit where it is deserved...

Blaming the high failure rate of Stealth heaters on "user error" sounds like a response from a corporation. Many corporation's initial response to product failures is to attack the credibility of the customers who are complaining.

Are you suggesting that Stealth owners are dumber than owners of other brand heaters? Would we not see the same "user-caused" failures across all manufacturers?

A high rate of user errors for one particular manufacturer is a product defect. Either the instructions are unclear, not included in the package, or hard to access on-line. A quality manufacturer would design a product to allow for a certain amount of misuse of a product.

BTW - A counter argument to those who are defending Stealth heaters would be the environment they are in. If you keep all your tanks in a heated room and the Stealth heaters rarely cycle on/off, then your positive experience is irrelevant.

 

[zennzzo]

Calling it a "high failure rate" is moot as well.
Without knowing the amount of "units sold" vs "units with failure"

A high failure rate is an assumption period.

As consumers we always voice the negative much more than you hear praise. That's just human nature, and we expect everything we spend money on, to work perfectly, and with good reason.
If asked, we will give praise but we don't make it a point to go around praising products that work, unsolicited.