Stealth Submersible Heater Reliabilty Poll

[Toby_H]

I started using Stealth Visi Therm heaters when they first came on the market about 5 years ago...

I was quickly impressed with their design ("unbreakable")...

My first impression was they were reliable heaters...

Ove rthe course of the last 5 years I have purchased many of them... That I can remember I've only had one stop working (heating element failed, therefore it simply stopped working)...

I like them very much and recommend them very highly...


PS - MFK only allows each member to vote one time.

 

[Camshaft Ramrod]

If anyone's trying to find some stealth heaters for cheap, go here. (there are regular coupons and discounts here too. Some good stuff for cheap)

http://www.petmountain.com/product/...nd-visi-therm-stealth-submersible-heater.html


I only use stealth.

 

[BTB0923]

I started using Stealth Visi Therm heaters when they first came on the market about 5 years ago...

I was quickly impressed with their design ("unbreakable")...

My first impression was they were reliable heaters...

Ove rthe course of the last 5 years I have purchased many of them... That I can remember I've only had one stop working (heating element failed, therefore it simply stopped working)...

I like them very much and recommend them very highly...


PS - MFK only allows each member to vote one time.

Seems like most people trust them. Its still a little unsettling that there are a few votes for heaters that broke.

BTW, you can only vote once but you can highlight more than one answer before you hit the button...I worded it badly but thats what I meant

 

[kingyella]

voted 2 years and still working, imo its a great heater and serves its purpose.

 

[dmopar74]

Seems like most people trust them. Its still a little unsettling that there are a few votes for heaters that broke.

BTW, you can only vote once but you can highlight more than one answer before you hit the button...I worded it badly but thats what I meant

no matter what there will be a certain percentage of failure in any product.

 

[scorp]

no matter what there will be a certain percentage of failure in any product.

Come on, seriously? Over 23% breakdowns within the first 5 years???

Either the people with working heaters don't vote, or that brand is real crap

I have had several Jaeger Heaters working for over 10 Years, never had a breakdown, I just broke one or two of them ^^

 

[Nic]

out of like 15 or 20 i have bought 3 or 4 failed... 1 was my fault i dropped it down a flight of steps...

 

[Pharaoh]

I won't vote because I don't remember the stats on all of mine. I have probably had a 10-25% failure rate with Stealths.

If you have a controller, you can still use the broken ones that have lock "on". Good way to recycle.

 

[ProblEmZ]

I've also got a few Stealths older than 7 years.

 

[trebor69]

If you have a controller, you can still use the broken ones that have lock "on". Good way to recycle.

oh you could do that....but I wouldn't recommend it

what you want is some redundancy when it comes to thermostats and aquariums

see my post above....had I recycled broken heaters I would have lost several thousand dollars worth of fish. When the temp controller failed the thermostats in the heaters took over and prevented a disaster.

The safest system I know of is to have a heated fishroom and simply not use aquarium heaters. They cant fail if you dont use them haha.

Aside from that the best system I know of is to use 2 smaller heaters in place of one. For example use two-200w in place of one-3-400w. Set those heaters a couple degrees above your target temp and plug them into a heater controller.

In 3rd place would be just 2 (or 3) smaller heaters and no controller. If one sticks ON its harder for it to cook your fish because it is undersized for the volume of water. If one sticks OFF then the other should prevent them from getting too cold until you can remedy the situation.



I haven't experienced the high rate of failure with stealths. But I sometimes do hate the fact that they don't have an indicator light.