Pickle010 Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 I documented this in my breeding thread a little over a month ago when a Stealth heater blew up in my larvae tank. Yes... loud POP and the insides of the heater flew out of the casing. I don't know how it didn't shatter the tank. Here is a pic: I wrote it off to bad luck. I mean these are the toughest heaters you can buy right? Well... Tonight it happened again! This time it happened to stealth heater that was in my 20g high with my snowflake. This time when it popped the insides shot straight out of the tank and landed behind the stand. I thought a bulb exploded or something and I started searching for what happened. I opened my stand door and saw a small flash of light and the power went out - GFI tripped. I immediately recognized the heater parts dangling at the end of the cord and unplugged it, then went to the tanks to see which heater it was. Sure enough it was another 100w Stealth heater. Just did a water change - replaced the carbon and wrote a letter to Marineland. I think the pair is going to be OK since the heater didn't stay in the tank. The pair is acting normal. The Xenia and Zoas in the tank with them are open - I may have got real lucky on this one. This could of been worse if that heater stayed in the water or if the GFI did not trip. Anyhow, I'm really curious what Marineland is going to say about this one. Link to comment
fiction101 Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 My 6 month old stealth heater went out on me today, it wont even heat up anymore. My tank was at 73 today. Either they blow up, get stuck on, or shut down. Link to comment
under the sea Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 i like the Jager heaters. very high quality and have a calibration feature that alot of heaters don't. more accurate than others too. .5 +/_ Link to comment
HecticDialectics Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 i like the Jager heaters. very high quality and have a calibration feature that alot of heaters don't. more accurate than others too. .5 +/_ ditto, i was always a fan of jagers myself. Link to comment
dtfleming Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 Just another reason why I buy new heaters every year. Link to comment
nanoreefsurf Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 funny this thread came up. I went to petco to pick up a 150 watt heater a few weeks ago, and by chance i stumbled upon threads like this about how these things blow up. I returned it and picked up a eheim jager heater for some added peace of mind. cool story bro? Link to comment
StevieT Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 How old were the heaters and were they the original Stealth? Link to comment
evanski Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 funny this thread came up. I went to petco to pick up a 150 watt heater a few weeks ago, and by chance i stumbled upon threads like this about how these things blow up. I returned it and picked up a eheim jager heater for some added peace of mind. cool story bro? In the lounge, yes. I the general discussion, I would say that I think there are tentative signs of life on Mars! Link to comment
evanski Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 uhhh go away Lighten up, Chris. That was pretty much the ONE time I was not busting yer nuts, so I can understand the confusion. I was actually just being a little funny and paying you a slight compliment...you did some research, was fortunate to see the warning, and made an informed decision. REALLY. Link to comment
Deleted User 6 Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 Just another reason why I buy new heaters every year. Link to comment
fewskillz Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 I have never had this problem with the old style stealths. I've had at least 10 of them from 50 watts all the way up to 250 watts. They've only ever stopped working after a few years on me, but never exploded like this. My very first new stealth, a 300 stealth pro, stopped working just 8 months after I bought it. It failed into the on position and was constantly heating. Luckily it was in my 220 gallon system and was not overheating the water. Link to comment
Deleted User 6 Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 hmm...someone needs to come up with the perfect solution for avoiding crashes during heater failure and post it. Link to comment
nanoreefsurf Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 Id like to know if this problem exists in the freshwater world as well. Salt destroys a lot of things it comes in contact with so i wouldnt be surprised if this was more prevalent in marine tanks. Link to comment
Pickle010 Posted October 6, 2010 Author Share Posted October 6, 2010 How old were the heaters and were they the original Stealth? The first one was approximately a year and second was less then 6 months. Yes they are both OG's - no caps that change colors or anything like that. Link to comment
reef keeper Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 They need a thermometet that you plug what temp you want and if it goes under it starts beeping. Link to comment
arwndsh Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 Is there a way to tell the difference between the really old stealths and the newer problematic stealths? I just stuck a small one we had in the basement in my 33L. Now I'm worried. Link to comment
fiction101 Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 They need to be replaced every 6 months. Mine always seem to stop working around that point. Luckily a heater that stops heating is not nearly has bad as a heater that gets stuck on. Link to comment
1fishmonger Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 Wow - I definitely had too much faith in these things before reading your post. Thanks Link to comment
StevieT Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 The first one was approximately a year and second was less then 6 months. Yes they are both OG's - no caps that change colors or anything like that. You're probably luck then. When the new ones explode they leak into the tank and kill everything. The older ones were 'bulletproof' but anything especially a heater can fail. The heater guys will say it is environmental because they both did the same. Maybe something to look at like did they go through an quick temperature change/shock. Link to comment
under the sea Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 i have the jager that has a max water line on it so only the glass is under water. i think the newer ones are completely submersible but to be safe try to mount it so its not completely under water. Link to comment
kamikaze_fish Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 I had a stealth 150w that I used to heat my freshwater tank and yes, they can have problems then too. Mine was sporadic. One day my tank would be cold and I would mess with the heater, notice it was warm and check the next day and it would be fine. It apparently had a short somewhere in the wire. I'm guessing that's the type of thing that's making them blow up, the sudden surge of electricity in a slightly cooler than necessary tank. I replaced mine with a jager and couldn't be happier. Link to comment
Deleted User 6 Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 maybe i need to get a jager... Link to comment
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