Cobalt neotherm heater just blew up!!!

[d2mini]

Originally Posted by tkeracer619

iirc bad batch of carbon, had copper in it. Each batch is now tested and they cut some serious checks to customers who were effected.

I thought that was Blue Life when they released their new canister filters?
Or did it happen with Seachem too?


I've checked this thread periodically, but has anyone had the smaller 50w melt them yet or is it still isolated to the larger ones?

[tkeracer619]

I don't know I thought it was seachem, maybe I miss spoke.

[jason2459]

I know Kent recently in the past year had a major issue with their Carbon and wiping out tanks. It hit a LFS near me. There's a few threads on it. They compensated quite a few people for their losses.

[Christian J]

Originally Posted by d2mini

I've checked this thread periodically, but has anyone had the smaller 50w melt them yet or is it still isolated to the larger ones?

I've counted to 32 200W, 8 150W and one 75W. No 50W, and (strangely) no 100W.

[tkeracer619]

Originally Posted by jason2459

I know Kent recently in the past year had a major issue with their Carbon and wiping out tanks. It hit a LFS near me. There's a few threads on it. They compensated quite a few people for their losses.

That is probably what i was referring to.

[Metal Man 1221]

Originally Posted by d2mini

I thought that was Blue Life when they released their new canister filters?
Or did it happen with Seachem too?


I've checked this thread periodically, but has anyone had the smaller 50w melt them yet or is it still isolated to the larger ones?

No issues with the 50W so far. Although, mention of a 75W unit has me concerned. I am leaning towards removing it.

The form factor will be tough to beat however.

[jason2459]

Originally Posted by Metal Man 1221

... I am leaning towards removing it.

The form factor will be tough to beat however.

I certainly would. I believe some of the titanium heaters are pretty compact.

[ReefCowboy]

Originally Posted by jason2459

I certainly would. I believe some of the titanium heaters are pretty compact.

I heard the Aqueon Pro heaters are very good. Anyone has seen them? They are also unbreakable

[jason2459]

Originally Posted by ReefCowboy

I heard the Aqueon Pro heaters are very good. Anyone has seen them? They are also unbreakable

Haven't seen them but sounds like they have some good marketing.

[sleepydoc]

After reading through this thread, several things come to mind -

It's very possible that the original defect had to do with a manufacturing process or materials defect, and as such a new heater could look exactly the same but not have the problem. That said, I don't think I would trust it either. A salt mixing tub would be a good use for it that wouldn't endanger livestock. I completely agree that some communication as to what the problem was and how it was remedied would nice and go a long way towards reassuring people that the issue has been addressed.

Most, if not all warranties limit companies' liability to replacement of the defective product, so even sending other products of equal or greater value is beyond what they are legally required to do. What is legally required and what is good customer service are not always the same.

Unfortunately, the lawyers frequently get in the way of doing what is right (on both the companies' and the customers' sides.) The corporate lawyers tell the companies not to admit anything so they don't open themselves up to liability, and not to give out more than the have to because it sets a precedent for all future cases, putting them on the hook for millions of dollars. The consumer class action lawyers see one good deed by a company and say everyone is entitled to it not matter what and turn it around to imply guilt by the company.

It certainly sounds like they had some issues, and I'm not trying to defend Cobalt or their product, rather point out that the business legal climate in the U.S. can make doing the 'right' thing difficult at times.

Finally, as was mentioned above, heater thermostats are notoriously unreliable and frequently fail in the 'on' position. for this reason, getting a heater controller like this one is good insurance to protect your livestock.

[vhuang168]

Just for a data point, how many of the faulty heaters were stand alones and how many were hooked up to either an aquarium controller like Apex or a separate temp sensor/controller like a Ranco?

[savereefs]

Originally Posted by vhuang168

Just for a data point, how many of the faulty heaters were stand alones and how many were hooked up to either an aquarium controller like Apex or a separate temp sensor/controller like a Ranco?

Mine was hooked up to a digital aquatics reef keeper control unit. The tank is going fine now after restarting it, i have regular old glass heaters again and the anger and frustration has worn off. Still following this thread though.

[kelp47]

Originally Posted by vhuang168

Just for a data point, how many of the faulty heaters were stand alones and how many were hooked up to either an aquarium controller like Apex or a separate temp sensor/controller like a Ranco?

Mine was connected to an Apex controller. I traded them both in for Jagers, and I'm using some of the stuff I requested as a replacement from Cobalt (foods and such).

[sleepydoc]

After re-reading several of the posts, it seems none of the heaters actually overheated, nor did they short out since the GFI outlets were not tripped. It would appear that the epoxy resin they used to fill the casing started to melt/burn and/or ruptured the case, leading to all the smoke.

I could be wrong, but if that's the case, a separate controller wouldn't do anything since the tank temperature never actually overheated. The primary risk would seem to be exposure of the tank inhabitants to a potentially toxic substance and/or stray voltage if the actual element became exposed. Does any one know if there were actual livestock casualties from any of these events?

[Piranha_Owns]

Has anyone heard anything from cobalt are the new heaters still experiencing these problems

[dodgerblew]

Originally Posted by sleepydoc

After re-reading several of the posts, it seems none of the heaters actually overheated, nor did they short out since the GFI outlets were not tripped. It would appear that the epoxy resin they used to fill the casing started to melt/burn and/or ruptured the case, leading to all the smoke.

I could be wrong, but if that's the case, a separate controller wouldn't do anything since the tank temperature never actually overheated. The primary risk would seem to be exposure of the tank inhabitants to a potentially toxic substance and/or stray voltage if the actual element became exposed. Does any one know if there were actual livestock casualties from any of these events?

This exactly what happened. Secondly my tank experienced both. Within 24 hrs of the incident my fish were dead or dying. I ended up losing 75% of my fish and two somehow recovered after being very distressed and looking very bad. The only fish that showed no signs of illness was a banghaii cardinal

[Metal Man 1221]

Originally Posted by sleepydoc

A salt mixing tub would be a good use for it that wouldn't endanger livestock..

That would certainly be the safest route, but based on the mess it can create, it would still be an unpleasant experience.

At this point, without much information on the scale and cause of the problem, there doesn't seem to be an effective way to circumvent or detect this seemingly consistent occurrence.

Why risk it? The cost of replacement for a heater is negligible when compared to the synergistic value of time and passion invested into our tanks.

[shaggss]

Originally Posted by jason2459

I know Kent recently in the past year had a major issue with their Carbon and wiping out tanks. It hit a LFS near me. There's a few threads on it. They compensated quite a few people for their losses.

Yes, it was Kent who had the carbon issue

[gerds77]

Chalk up another failed 200W neotherm heater.

Two days ago the GFCI for tripped when I turned the circulation pumps on after feeding the fish and doing a water change. I unplugged everything and reset the GFCI and plugged in everything one at a time to find out what was causing the trip. The only thing that was tripping the circuit was the chiller so I disconnected it, and everything worked fine againg.

I came home from work the next day and checked on the tank to se if the temperature was good and noticed a wierd burning smell. Did a bunch or sniffing around until it became clear the smell was coming from the tank. The water temp was where it normally was so i figured that maybe smell was from the gunk that came out of the chiller lines, or maybe i stirred up too much of the sand bed during the water change. I tossed in a new bag of chem pure and figured that should take care of it.

Woke up early the next day to check on the tank and the smell was horrible. I saw the yellow tang laying on the sand dead and the tail spot blenny stuck belly up in the over flow wier. Called in sick and began mixing up new salt water for an emergency water change, but my RO bin was low and could only make up 10 gallons. I got out the back up circulation pumps and heater and started filling up the 100g rubbermaid and transferred everything that was still alive.

We drained the tank and the smell went away. Fast forward 9 hours and we had enoug water to start filling the tank again since I thougth we got out all the funk. To speed thing up I took the heater out of the chamber in the back of the RSM250 and set it in the front of the tank to get the wate heate up. I plugged the heater back in and watched it run the startup sequence with the leds... then I saw bubble come out the sides and bottom! I pulled the plug and removed it, wow it stank. I touched it along the crack and got a tar like substance on my hands that also stank. We ended up having to wipe down everything. That stuff is extremely hard to remove.

Did a google search on the 200w neotherm failure and saw this thread. Did a little reading and found out that I wasnt the only one. I am very upset that the manufacturer has not recalled or contacted their vendors to inform their customers of the probelms with this model.

I dont recall when I bought this unit but the manufacture date was February 2013, which matches up with a lot of other failed units.

This unit was not on a controller.

[dodgerblew]

Really sorry to hear of your nightmare

[tkeracer619]

Dang sorry for your loss and trouble.

I used to purchase a bunch of cobalt stuff but have made a conscious effort to avoid anything they sell or the stores that sell their product. I let the stores know how I feel as well.

I have to say they are doing a great job getting into places and pushing out some other brands that have been a staple for a long time. I don't trust em at all.

[gerds77]

Quick edit to my last post.

The heater was the 150W version.

[fishlee]

my 2013 200w just exploded as well... cobalt aquatics just called me and is going to replace all 3 i bought even though only 1 broke.

[C3hutson]

This is making me very nervous about my 200 watt neotherm built 11/2013...

[dodgerblew]

Originally Posted by C3hutson

This is making me very nervous about my 200 watt neotherm built 11/2013...

You should be. Why wait for a disaster, better to prepare for one by getting that stick of dynamite out of there