DO NOT GET AN EHEIM JAGER HEATER

[flypenfly]

Everything ever is a piece of garbage including reef aquariums. I heard of one that crashed so reef aquariums must all be junk.

[StevieT]

Support:

 

http://www.eheimna.com/contents/contactus

 

1-888-343-4662

 

Instructions:

 

http://www.shop.mediabaskets.com/media/Eheim%20Heater.pdf

[tibbsy07]

Is it possible the instrument you are using to figure out the temperature swings is the problem and not the heater? Setting something for 65 degrees and having it only 2 degrees above freezing makes me think your thermometer is bad.

[doppelganger]

Alot of ppl also blame heaters when mixing water when in actuality it's a pump that causing excess heat. One of my maxijets can heat up my water change water in a 5 gal bucket without even needing a heater.

[dtitus1]

They have USA biased support. I can post this for you tomorrow when I get to the office. If you contact their Germany office it will be forwarded to the North America support. The folded piece of paper included in the heater supplies calibration instructions.

 

Instructions are also available from their website

 

Or contact marine depot as they have direct contact info as a vendor.

 

Did contact marine depot but yeah there was no paperwork in my box when I got it at all which is complete BS. I messaged them too because I'm wondering if eheim is forgetting to put the papers in and thats why people are having problems which to me would be the most logical explanation.

I know how to calibrate my heater. It's set as far as it can go and 73 degrees still gives you 80 degree water. Swing the calibration the other way and 73 gets you 85 degree water. A cheap plastic calibration wheel doesn't do any good if you can't calibrate it far enough to make up for their lousy quality control. Is that how you would treat one of your customers if they ordered something from inTank? Simply berate them on the Internet like you do everyone else on the boards? Thanks for reminding me why I never order anything from your website.

+1 quality control is definitely suspect on these if they can't even include the ####ing instructions.

 

I know saying this hobby is expensive an can't be done cheap is cliche.....t Look, the amount of time and heart we put into these tanks simply warents quality control on OUR end as well. You are paying 30.00 for something that can make or break your tank. Do you buy cheap as brakes and vital parts for you car? It just isn't safe. If I can interject my opinion, any serious ree fkeeper should put a controller at the TOP of his/her mandatory equipment list. A cheap ReefKeeper Lite can be had for a 150.00 all day on this forum and online. The control and fail safe of the temperature control alone is worth 150.00, as most of use have 10X that much in livestock that could boil in Saltwater soup. Cheaping out is sketchy in this hobby, period. There are no if,ands, or buts about it. Bottom line, trusting any piece of equipment is risky, especially a 30.00 toaster coil to heat your tank,lol! I ran a controller and still checked everything every time I walked by my tank. I was attempting to recreate the most stable environment in the world in a 75 gallon box. Basically, imagine a guy rolling up in a new Ferrari, and telling you how he just paid 60.00 for breakpads to save a few bucks.....commoooooon

 

Easy Steve, don't let the troll get yah worked up..... he ain't worth your time!

Not everyone has that money to drop and considering I would literally have no use for any of the other features of a reefkeeper lite theres no way I'm getting one and honestly I'm sure there is a reliable heater out there. I am gonna get a cheaper used controller just for the heater in the future but still people bug me when they say you need high dollar equipment because most of the time it just isn't true I've proved that multiple times. Getting into this hobby people told me I would never be able to have a succesfull tank with hydor koralias, par38s, and no sump, I needed mp10s maxspec razors, and a sump plus reactors and all this other garbage but until this POS heater came along I haven't had very many problems. Only thing I think I had was stray voltage from my skimmer which was actually the only pricey thing I ever bought for the tank.

 

 

Is it possible the instrument you are using to figure out the temperature swings is the problem and not the heater? Setting something for 65 degrees and having it only 2 degrees above freezing makes me think your thermometer is bad.

 

 

No it's definitely not the thermometer my tank was 93 degress for sure I actually figured it out first when I went to put my hand in the tank and it was basically bathwater.

Also like I said before the water for the bucket test was from my fridge and at that setting the heater didn't even heat it a single degree.

 

 

 

Lol to all the people that still doubt me though, if you really want this things for sale 25 bucks shipped if eheim won't give me my money back.

 

 

Support:

 

http://www.eheimna.com/contents/contactus

 

1-888-343-4662

 

Instructions:

 

http://www.shop.mediabaskets.com/media/Eheim%20Heater.pdf

 

 

Thank you for the information I actually do appreciate it and I did contact them to let them know what happened with my missing instructions almost killing my tank.

[tibbsy07]

Gotcha. yeah, sounds like you got a dud. Sorry man.

[heifinator]

I find it to be a pretty simple decision. If you don't want to take a "risk".

 

1) Get a controller and a couple of middle of the line heaters, short of a complete failure, you will be fine.

 

2) Get a neotherm

[dtitus1]

I think I'm just gonna go with a neo-therm honestly cause i don't need a controller for anything else but I'm still researching it to see how they do long-term but good suggestions both.

[ninjamyst]

amazon has neotherm for decent price with freee shipping...and amazon return is painless

[dtitus1]

Yeah even though they screw up a ton at least they're good about returns just don't have the scratch this week which is a problem because my tank temp is fluctuating badly and I have no way to keep it steady right now

[metrokat]

I'll take it for free if they let you keep it and refund you.

 

 

Lol to all the people that still doubt me though, if you really want this things for sale 25 bucks shipped if eheim won't give me my money back.

[Steensj2004]

I'm not saying you need high dollar equipment. What I am saying is, that heaters are the failure point I hear of the most. 150.00 is worth saving your tank and the piece of mind. Fact is, having the controller allows you more options in the future. Most people can save 150.00 by not eating out for a few weeks or cutting down on other spending. Heater specific controllers ate good, but that's all they do......

[ninjamyst]

I'm not saying you need high dollar equipment. What I am saying is, that heaters are the failure point I hear of the most. 150.00 is worth saving your tank and the piece of mind. Fact is, having the controller allows you more options in the future. Most people can save 150.00 by not eating out for a few weeks or cutting down on other spending. Heater specific controllers ate good, but that's all they do......

 

I still don't understand why so many people suggest getting controllers as a solution to this problem. The real solution is to keep people informed of crappy heaters to push companies to make better ones. We, as consumers, should demand better product instead of buying another product to fix a defect that shouldn't happen in the first place. Controllers are great, but to suggest that one should buy a $150 controller so their heater will heat their water correctly is ridiculous. Heating water to the temperature set is the fundamental function of a heater...It has ONE job and when it can't do it right, people make excuses for it.

[Steensj2004]

You completely remove the issue of a crappy heater with a controller. The crappiest heater you can buy on my controller is better than your best without. Controllers fail a fraction of the time even good thermostats in high end heaters do.....

[dtitus1]

Still I really think manufacturers would do well both reputation wise and financially to meet in the middle and create more expensive heaters, maybe even ones with external controllers and probes, that won't fail. Like for me for instance, that would be perfect cause like I said other than heater control I would literally have no use for any of the other features of a high-dollar controller. Like, literally no use at all for anything else like I mean I guess I could run my lights but I already have timers so I don't really need that, I don't care about PH or salinity probes, don't need a wavemaker, dont run an auto top-off, I literally cannot think of a feature that is relevant to me.

 

I saw that JBJ attempted something along these lines but I doubt the build quality is good considering the price. I would drop at least 80 bucks on a controller/heater combo if they made one.

[dtitus1]

I'll take it for free if they let you keep it and refund you.

 

 

Lol to all the people that still doubt me though, if you really want this things for sale 25 bucks shipped if eheim won't give me my money back.

10 bucks flat to cover shipping at it's yours.

[Rollermonkey]

I agree 100%, however...

 

When I was researching heaters 18 months ago, Eheim Jagers were the one brand that kept coming back as one of, if not the best one out there. Now, if there's been a drop off in quality, that's a huge issue. I tried 4 or 5 heaters before getting this one, and all sucked. This one worked well, but worked even better once I hooked it into a controller.

 

There's definitely something wrong with QA and design of these things, as there is a simply unacceptable failure rate for all aquarium heaters, from explosions to stray voltage to simply not functioning as expected.

 

I still don't understand why so many people suggest getting controllers as a solution to this problem. The real solution is to keep people informed of crappy heaters to push companies to make better ones. We, as consumers, should demand better product instead of buying another product to fix a defect that shouldn't happen in the first place. Controllers are great, but to suggest that one should buy a $150 controller so their heater will heat their water correctly is ridiculous. Heating water to the temperature set is the fundamental function of a heater...It has ONE job and when it can't do it right, people make excuses for it.

[FrontMan]

I'm not saying you need high dollar equipment. What I am saying is, that heaters are the failure point I hear of the most. 150.00 is worth saving your tank and the piece of mind. Fact is, having the controller allows you more options in the future. Most people can save 150.00 by not eating out for a few weeks or cutting down on other spending. Heater specific controllers ate good, but that's all they do......

 

The problem is that most people seriously oversize their heaters, partly because of the manufacturer's or LFS's recommendations, partly because they don't know better, and partly because most people just think "bigger is better." How many people here on N-R have 100 watt heaters on their 20 gallon tanks that are sitting in their living rooms? I'd wager that a 25 watt heater would be more than adequate. A heater should be sized such that it is able to maintain the tank temperature AND such that when it fails that it doesn't raise the temperature too much. If your heater fails it simply shouldn't cook your tank, because it should be sized not to do that!

[dtitus1]

Wow so both Marine Depot and Eheim said they basically DGAF they sold me a defective heater. At least one of my Hammers is gone and the others look bad too so I'm still pretty steamed and gotta say again that you should probably not get this heater.

[dtitus1]

Alright so it looks like Eheim is sending me a replacement through Marine Depot. Still a bit skeptical about it but I picked up a JBJ heater controller for 20 bucks at my LFS and I was wondering if you think this particular controller would help me at all.

[Rollermonkey]

That's a big step up from DGAF...

 

Try the new heater with and without the JBJ heater controller. Make sure both are behaving properly.

[dtitus1]

That's a big step up from DGAF...

 

Try the new heater with and without the JBJ heater controller. Make sure both are behaving properly.

Lol well they initially both said they weren't going to do anything and I wasn't going to press it any further but they randomly both changed their minds and other people from the companies got in contact with me. I'm gonna try the new one on a finnex controller since the jbj isn't that great apparently. Also eheim said they had a batch with missing instructions so that would probably have something to do with it Marinedepot said that they'll check it out too.

 

Problem solved.

[Eclipse]

Eheim Jager is perfect for my tank... Not to be mean but please don't just bash a heater because it's not working for you, I mean that really applies to anything, if it works for most people except for a few then you probably got a bad one.