I hate aquarium heaters!!!!!!!!!!

[James404]

Yet another stealth explosion, really doesn't surprise me. I'm just glad noone was hurt with this. I used to run them until I read all the horror stories here. I now only use one in my mixing bucket for about 15 mins a week to get it up to temp.

[zma21]

I don't have a heater on my nanocube, and hopefully I won't have to have a heater on this, or my next 25 rimless build.

Things like this freak me out.

[scubasteve06]

Word to anyone getting into this hobby or buying a new heater. DO NOT buy a Stealth heater no matter what member says that he/she has had one for years and it is fine. All the heater explosion threads I have ever seen are due to Stealth Heaters. I use the hydor heaters, they are cheap and pretty good quality. Anything but a Stealth, as someone else said they should be black listed.

[ccsuzy]

When I was looking for a heater recently the salesperson at my LFS steered me away from the Stealth heaters for this very reason. She told me it had to do with the sealant they were using on them now (it doesn't expand properly). I won't chance it and ended up with a titanium heater.

[sslak]

Originally Posted by Palting

Same here. And I have two of them!

You couldn't pay me to put a Stealth heater in my tank.

Jager is the way to go.

[jadavis01]

Have you called Tetra about this? Contact Barbara (sorry I cannot remember her last name at the moment) in Customer Service. She has been there about 17 years and usually handles these types of issues. Or try Rosemary Hartmann, the CS manager. I know both of them, personally, and I can honestly tell you they are hobbyists themselves and will go out of the way to try to help! I have used Stealth heaters for years without issue but don't have any newer ones.

[olemiss reb]

I've had two heaters break. A glass one that a mantis smashed, the other was a stealth. It split open from top to bottom. Luckily it was in a mixing tub and not my tank. As stated by others, stealth heaters are junk. I use fluval e series in my tanks, no problems so far.

[RVANANO]

Ditto on Jager. My stealth also exploded in my 34 a few years back. Luckily I was right there when it happened. I don't know why anyone still buys those things...

[shaggss]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune......

I did a lot of research before I bought mine. And as already stated, each brand has had some horror stories, but the stealths were the ones with the most.

The most recommended one was the Jager heaters. So I bought two slightly smaller than required and connected them through a Profilux. That way if one stays on, it wont cook the tank.

HTH?!

cheers

[JTL]

What is the lot number? I know from other threads that 01H31 is a problem and they replaced mine. Supposedly this was a problem with this batch, although there may be others. The speculation is that water is getting into the area of the heating element (bad seal) and building up steam pressure. If that is the case having a controller may not make any difference unless it only happens if it overheats.

[frankpayne32]

Originally Posted by MedRed

these stealth heater stories are really scaring me. I've had great luck with them... but these stories make me very nervous

Same here! I have never had a problem with stealths. In fact, my old stealths are running in my system now as my Finnex titantium exploded...

[Shmax]

Back when I was breeding fw fish, Ebo Jager heaters were bar none the best on the market. At one point, I had almost 50 tanks running, all of them with Jager heaters, and never once had a problem with any of them. Not only that, they were within 1 degree of where you set them, which unfortunately is rare. About 7-8 years ago or so, they were bought out by someone... don't remember who... and for a short stint, their heaters weren't even fully submersible anymore. They have gone back to the fully submersible version, but I'm not sure on the quality. It has to be safer than the new models of Stealth, those things are dangerous.

[aleonn]

I'm scared of heaters now, and hope my JBJ titanium 800W doesn't go crazy on me. I think I'll have to get two 400W Ebo Jager heaters down the line!

[James404]

Originally Posted by Shmax

Back when I was breeding fw fish, Ebo Jager heaters were bar none the best on the market. At one point, I had almost 50 tanks running, all of them with Jager heaters, and never once had a problem with any of them. Not only that, they were within 1 degree of where you set them, which unfortunately is rare. About 7-8 years ago or so, they were bought out by someone... don't remember who... and for a short stint, their heaters weren't even fully submersible anymore. They have gone back to the fully submersible version, but I'm not sure on the quality. It has to be safer than the new models of Stealth, those things are dangerous.

Jager heaters are now made by eheim.

[keith sprague]

right when i read your title i said to myself its gotta be a stealth. ive heard this story many times on here. sorry to hear bout it. get an ebo jaeger or something.

[zachfishman]

Originally Posted by Pallobi

marineland heaters = pure junk ... sorry for your misfortune

I've been running Visi-therms for years with no problems, glad I didn't get the Stealth though. What brand do you use?

Sorry for your misfortune Chrishew09

[snorvich]

If you want to sleep at night, get a ranco controller for your heaters! When heaters break, it seems to always be in the "on" position! That seems to be what happened here.

[cindre2000]

I have a friend who swears on the Fluval E series, and I have not heard any horror stories with those. They are glass, with digital controls, and a plastic cage to protect them.

As for the Marinelands, I pretty much have replaced all of the ones in use at my workplace with Visi-therms due to the plastic cracking issue. I think there are only 2 still working, out of 8+...

[john miller]

I just order Jagers for both tanks. I guess I'll use the stealths fox mixing.

[supra400hptt]

Newer stealth=split and shocked the hell out of me. Replaced it with a via aqua titanium.

Other stealth I had in my quarantine tank just stuck on raising the temp to 95 F. Of course, it did it the day after I had moved my coral to that tank to do some maintenance on the DT. Killed off some good coral I had.

These stealth heaters are really a safety hazzard. The company should be sued.

[fcmatt]

everyone who has had a problem with splitting. was the heater fully submerged?

[rengnath]

Sorry to hear about your setup ....

I had a Marineland Visitherm and the silver paint started chipping off .... so I went to the store and bought a new Stealth and threw it in my FOWLR last week.

I also picked up a BioCube the next day, and a Stealth for that tank. I feel like I just threw $50 down the toilet. Looks like Ill be placing an order asap for 2 new heaters.

Can you confirm if your heater had the lot # 01H31 printed in white on it?

[Pool Man]

MMmmm.. no wonder I got them so cheap. Just bought two more (used) from a member of a not so local club. I have 4 of the original Stealths.. (3)50w & (1) 100w. These were made in Italy. The (2) 250w Stealth Pro's were made in China and have the lot # 01H31. I've used the Stealths for 3yrs or more... not sure what to do at this point. May just take them back to my LFS and explain the issues with them. What to replace them with?

[JTL]

Originally Posted by Pool Man

MMmmm.. no wonder I got them so cheap. Just bought two more (used) from a member of a not so local club. I have 4 of the original Stealths.. (3)50w & (1) 100w. These were made in Italy. The (2) 250w Stealth Pro's were made in China and have the lot # 01H31. I've used the Stealths for 3yrs or more... not sure what to do at this point. May just take them back to my LFS and explain the issues with them. What to replace them with?

I have had contact with Marineland.

From: Hartmann, Rosemary [mailto:Rosemary.Hartmann@unitedpetgroup.com]
Sent: Monday, November 15, 2010 4:41 PM
To: John
Subject: RE: Contact Marineland

John,
We did have a problem with the first lots, 01G31 for the 200, 250 and 300 watt heaters. They were the first and we thought we got all of them back. Nothing that you can do could have prevented the problem.
Sincerely,
Rosemary Hartmann
Consumer Relations

She later clarified that it was the "H" lot for the 300 watt which is what I have. They know which lots were a problem and claimed have tried to get out of the supply chain but obviously they didn't get them all. Contact them and get a replacement. Can anyone confirm that any other lots or recent purchases are causing problems. Personally I think this should be a "sticky" notice so that people can check their Stealth Pro heaters and replace them before they have a problem.

[Pool Man]

Just got off the phone with Wes?? at their customer service #. He indicated "there Were a FEW problems, but nothing concerning any particular lot #'s." He asked if I was experinencing any poblems, so I told him I was concerned after reading about them on various forums. He suggested the forums were "getting a little crazy with it". He said if I wanted to send them in to Marineland, he would send out replacements. Totally acted as if it was all in your head! I can't believe the Toyota like approach! I'll take mine back to my LFS, maybe they'll have better luck dealing with them. As for me... no more Marineland products unless I get an honest person on a customer service phone call.