Have you had a Marineland Stealth or Stealth Pro Heater Failure?

[James404]

With so many threads popping up recently about these heaters, I would like to see how many people here have actually had failures with the Marineland Stealth and Stealth Pro series. I know just this last week there was 4 counts on this forum alone that was posted.

If possible please post your Lot # as well. I know this may not be an option for some, since they tend to wear off eventually. Thank you in advance.

[mchud]

Not yet but i only use them for one year in my tank, And then use them to warm my salt mix buckets. I never trust any heater.

[andrewkw]

Weird mine just blew yesterday. It had been in my frag tanks sump (unplugged) for a long time I took it out to warm up some mixing water and there was a spark and a pop when I plugged it in and quickly unplugged it and the heater blew. It was cracked open. I just threw it out as I don't remember how long I've had it and I'm not going to complain to just get a new one.

I agree with mchud that no heater is trustworthy. The heaters in my display tank are hooked up to a controller that turns them on and off.

[RotaryGeek]

Mine didn't explode, but it doesn't work anymore.

[saltwater4life1]

I have 2 pros in my tanks no problems yet I did have a stealth leaking electricity after like 2 years but I think it was because I turned my hob skimmer off while the heater was in it even though they have auto shut off I still blame that. Also they have life time replacement. So when I get around to it I'll send mine in for a new one.

[James404]

I agree that every heater should be run on a controller. These heaters seem to have a much higher rate of failure than most and it's not a matter of just failing on, they explode. I am asking for failures here, whether it's explosion or just stop working etc..

[preef]

Bought mine about 3 years ago (regular non-Pro). After about a year of use I noticed I was getting a shock when my arm was in the tank and it touched my light fixture. Tracked it down to the Stealth heater and threw it out. I had just gotten the new light fixture so I don't know how long it had been leaking current into my tank before I bought the fixture.

Heater is long gone so I don't have any lot numbers.

Using Hydor Theos now.

[zma21]

Yes, a few years ago.

[fcmatt]

one has to wonder if this company, marineland, sells so many more heaters then anyone
else that naturally they will have more failures mentioned on forums. If you sell 500,000 units in 6 months
and have a .001% percent failure rate that is 500 units that will get complained about.

Then compare that to another company that thinks selling 500,000 units over a couple years
is a big deal with the same failure rate.. it is all spread out and not a constant bombardment
of forum complaints.

with that said i own two stealth pros, smaller wattage, and they work really well.
my theo heater.. i am not impressed at all. the twist knob to control the heat is way off.

anyway.. i just got a aquacontroller jr and plan to put the heater on that to keep it off
most of the time.

[muttley000]

I have 5 stealths all smaller wattage ranging from 2 years to 6 moths old, and have not had any problems.

[fcmatt]

i should probably also add that marineland has mentioned some bad batches.. and combine
that with the natural failure rate of heaters.. and sure enough their reputation will suffer
due to a higher overall failure rate.

plus it seems everyone is complaining about the larger heaters.. i wonder why? the bad
batches perhaps?

i will admit i have been keeping an eye out for something else...

[scubasteve06]

If they are bad batches and are supposedly happening more because they sell more why is the poll 10 yes and 8 no? Not trying to start a ****ing match, but the math doesn't add up. I wouldn't trust one of those heater's as far as I could throw one.

[Surf&turf]

I voted no, but I only had it in the system a little while. When I started reading about them exploding I removed it.

[mchud]

I swapped to Jaegers heaters this year. And i bought one of the newer Fluvals, got a great deal on it. But mine are all on a controller to be safe. It is funny how the choices swing over the years not long ago Finnex was all the rage and then they all started failing. Maybe some day some one will make a good heater for us.

[fcmatt]

scubasteve,

polls are often biased. take this forum for example. readers see the thread and if they had
one fail they will go out of their way to put in their vote.. while others who never had a problem
skip over it because they have no interest.

plus this forum has some group think going on.. no offense. every forum seems to have
a type of it. i can do a google search for "ehiem heater failure" and you will find a forum
that thinks stealths are top notch and an easily recommended brand! Then i can do the
same for other brands including titanium heaters.

alas.. i also think heaters get abused. people do water changes and allow the heater to
be plugged in and not fully submerged up to the right point.. i have no idea what kind of
stress that must cause to the unit.. and then pour water right in and stress out the shell
when it cools quickly. i bet things like that fail to get mentioned when heaters "go bad"
if you know what i mean!

anway.. i probably would not recommend stealths anymore.. matter of fact i would not
recommend anything to anyone when it comes to heaters only to find out what I recommended
nuked their tank. i would tell them to research and gamble themselves ;-|

[m2434]

I've had 3, all 3 have failed within a year. they are the only non-glass heater my local fish store stocks. Naively, eventually get one that would last....

[supernovabjt]

I have had two Stealths fail, one on and one off. They were both replaced with Stealth pros under warranty and so far so good.

[scubasteve06]

scubasteve,

polls are often biased. take this forum for example. readers see the thread and if they had
one fail they will go out of their way to put in their vote.. while others who never had a problem
skip over it because they have no interest.

plus this forum has some group think going on.. no offense. every forum seems to have
a type of it. i can do a google search for "ehiem heater failure" and you will find a forum
that thinks stealths are top notch and an easily recommended brand! Then i can do the
same for other brands including titanium heaters.

alas.. i also think heaters get abused. people do water changes and allow the heater to
be plugged in and not fully submerged up to the right point.. i have no idea what kind of
stress that must cause to the unit.. and then pour water right in and stress out the shell
when it cools quickly. i bet things like that fail to get mentioned when heaters "go bad"
if you know what i mean!

anway.. i probably would not recommend stealths anymore.. matter of fact i would not
recommend anything to anyone when it comes to heaters only to find out what I recommended
nuked their tank. i would tell them to research and gamble themselves ;-|

Definitly a good case, and I can see where you are coming from. All good valid points. No arguement from me here.:)

[shifty51008]

i have 2 running for 6 years no problems, but I have always ran them on a ranco also.

[Im14abeer]

Yes vote here, regular stealth 150w leaking voltage. Forgot about the lifetime warranty and trashed it.

[Blown76mav]

I had two, one exploded the other is still going strong 3yrs. Bought both at same time, both had same amount of usage.

[100%hydrophylic]

well... i would have to agree with everything fcmatt has said. basically said anything i wanted to say before i said it :p

but i mean, the stealth heaters seem kinda like a standard "i dont feel like spending too much on a cool heater" item, soooo you get what you pay for really :/

[James404]

I would say that the majority of us are running sumps with our heaters in them, I doubt they are being abused and left unsubmerged. When we do water changes we cut off the return pump and drain from the main tank. My heater has been sitting in the same spot for months without me touching it.

[ejcatmul]

I have had no problem with with proper use.

[Squall]

Had my stealth heater explode. Lot number 01k31
Used them for years in freshwater, no problems. First time in salt, blows up. The heater that blew up I had just bought and was in the tank for only a week. Bad gasket or something.

[James404]

28 people so far with failures.

[kimack@tampabay]

My Stealth was working great and then one day I smelled a burning smell and looked at my aquarium and there was smoke and popping coming from the heater. I quickly unplugged it and threw it out. Once burned, it is hard for
me to trust them again. It may be operator error however I won't use them again. Too much to lose and if I hadn't been home when it happened, I would have lost the whole tank.

[aznepydna]

Had one split open and fry the whole tank.

[HndMafia]

only use mine to heat fresh salt water when doing a water change and had it explode. I am ocd about my equipment so I don't believe I did anything to damage it

[syrinx]

I have had one stick on- no loss of life or anything. I have had dozens of ebos and visis and the like explode or stick on over the years- so this is just more of the same. Don`t get me wrong- I am not hard on heaters- just have retail as well as hobby experiences to count.

[ludnix]

A customer in our store had one explode and marine land reimbursed his tank for $800. If you've had an issue I encourage you to contact marineland with photos.

[xr4kw]

Found this thread on another post. I had one explode, lost 6 fish and half my corals...

[meco65]

I just happened to get up at about 4am and I smelt something burning. Upon looking around the house I heard a intermittent sizzle from my 75 Gal tank. When I looked closer there were puffs of smoke coming from my Marineland stealth heater, had a small split down the side. I don't want to think what might of happened had I not gotten up when I did. I'm blessed I caught it in time. My tank and inhabitable seem to be ok. All I can read on the # was 3t-t1
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b86/meco65/Stealth.jpg

[supra400hptt]

1- split and shock the crap out of me 6 months ago.

2-stuck on and made the tank 94F killing some of my coral, 3 wks ago.

[Aporia]

I replaced an EHEIM with a Stealth Pro a couple of months ago. The EHEIM had been in use for years but I noticed it was "sticking" on. When I took it out the plastic end piece was cracked and swollen. This heater was in the sump and never left on out of water. I liked the idea of the solid state control on the Pro vs. the bi-metallic strip, but I am second guessing my choice now! I guess I need to either build / buy a controller and just use the heater temp setting as a fail-safe. For those with controllers, are you using the fancy whole tank setups or just a temperature controller to run the heater?

[Metal Man 1221]

Bought mine about 3 years ago (regular non-Pro). After about a year of use I noticed I was getting a shock when my arm was in the tank and it touched my light fixture. Tracked it down to the Stealth heater and threw it out. I had just gotten the new light fixture so I don't know how long it had been leaking current into my tank before I bought the fixture.

Heater is long gone so I don't have any lot numbers.

Using Hydor Theos now.


+1 Theos are all i use now (after my stealth went out), very reliable heaters, with very accurate thermostat

[s.reef]

they are complete garbage. exploded when i was on vacation tripped the gfi and killed everything

[that0neguy1126]

I haven't had a problem with any of mine. I always run 2 heaters though to heat the system with a combined wattage of what I need. This way if on fail's (either stuck on or off) it doesn't crash the system.

One day I will put in a controller.

[Porcupinepuffer]

I haven't had a problem with any of mine. I always run 2 heaters though to heat the system with a combined wattage of what I need. This way if on fail's (either stuck on or off) it doesn't crash the system.

One day I will put in a controller.

Except most, if not all of the complaints are about how they EXPLODE and leach all sorts of garbage in to the tank. Which seems to be one of the causes for why the tank crashes. A controller cannot prevent this either.

[joejoe1055]

mine split as well( just like a bannana)

[alsteezy1st]

Had mine in for about a month with no problems but after reading all the horror stories I decided to return it and am now using a Jaeger.

[Flippers4pups]

I believe that you shouldn't completely submerge one of these, even though they say that they can be. The seals that are used at the top around the head and thermostat dial are where these leak. Water then seeps into the case and down into the coils causing the case to rupture. Bam, voltage leak, failure and nuking of all living things in the tank. Also that saltwater may make the seals fail prematurely as they are most likely rubber and shrink with exposure. I wouldn't buy one again.