Stealth Heater almost killed my fish!

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Crazy! My fish aren't charring(haha jk) but I do notice a SLIGHT bit of similar things going on with my tank. I will be conducting a test with tin foil after work to make sure it's working properly. Awesome catch by the way and thanks for posting!

My heater isn't a stealth F.Y.I.
 
I've heard a lot about these getting stuck (I'm afraid for my fish, I have one of these heaters) but I've never heard of them becoming an electrical hazard.

Couple questions for you nicknwillys:
1. Did you have a GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) and if so, did it ever trip?
2. Was your heater ever removed from water while it was running or shortly after it was running? (for example, during water change.)


Due to the insulating plastic on the outside, the inside must get VERY hot. Definitely hot enough to melt the plastic shell even if its unplugged before being removed from water. That's my theory.

If your gfci didn't trip, test it by pressing the "test" button on it, and then reset it by pressing "reset."
 
3 out of 5 of mine have stuck on overheating the tank.
 
jschall....... Yeah...I do have a GFCI but it did not trip for some reason..........the electricity was strong enough to hurt my hand and make it burn and when I saw the spark from the foil I knew...I was trying to figure out what caused this and it occured to me that it was something in my tank not working right...so I kept unplugging things to see what was causing this and it turned out to be the heater. The heater has always been submerged in water...even during water changes.
 
I think I need to ditch mine to protect my investment in my fish. What's reliable but not too pricey? Is there a cheap heater controller I can get that will cut power if the temp goes too high?
 
tcarswell;3909695; said:
3 out of 5 of mine have stuck on overheating the tank.
Click to expand...


How old were they?

Mine from 4yrs ago are fine..

the newer ones from the last 2yrs have all failed...

I have 4 from 75w-200w that are defective...

Marineland doesn't care... I called them to complain about it.. first thing out of their mouth was do you have a receipt?
I think they need to redo their advertising to read from lasting a long time to working for 6-8months then being able to make fish chowda once it chits the bed.
 
Everyone is telling me to go with Rena heaters and that they are the best......I was looking them up and a 300w is about 30 dollars and the rest are below that. That is not too bad of a price for a heater... I put a digital temp. that tells the precise temp of the tank. But I dont think they make anything that turns off the power if the temp goes too high....but I will have to look it up.
 
Mine was less than a year old..... it was a 250w...and I had no problem with it until recently. How many of us actually keep our receipt from years ago...
 
I have had problems with them too.Mine never stayed on and overheated,but did not turn on at all.I sent them a email about them.They requested some number of the heater itself,and sent me visi therm heaters as replacements,at no charge.
 
My stealth puts electricity in the water too. I found out the same way..with a cut on my finger. Turns out, a lot of equipment puts stray voltage in the water. Doesn't seem to hurt the fish though. I found which component by unplugging each item with my cut finger in the water. I put a voltmeter in there and it was only a few volts. Just enough to sting on a cut.
If you have a voltmeter handy,check out your tanks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom