BRS Titanium Heater Failed

[Duffer]

so here is my experience with BRS titanium heaters and controllers:

bought the 600w heater and controller from BRS about 3 1/2 yrs ago, worked perfect than out of the blue the tank temp went down fast. Called BRS and they told me to check the heater first, which i did and it was working and than the controller checked. Looked like it was the controller so i called BRS, which they told me unfortunately it was out of warranty, no biggie, so i bought a new controller. Get the controller everything fine for a day or two and same thing happens with tank temp, so i check the heater again and it's not working so i buy another heater.
6 months ago tank temp goes down drastically, here we go again, this time heater went ..so i call BRS and this one is under warranty, so they send me out a new heater..all good, but if i have another mishap, i'm going in a different direction..

2 heaters in less than 3 1/2 yrs is not a good thing..

 

[DaddyFish]

I've been scolded here before for using those "cheap Chinese heaters". But the ones I use are titanium, have built-in electronic (not mechanical) thermostats that I set for 80F and integrated water level detection too.

My Hydros system handles the sensing and primary heater control. All the internal features of the heaters themselves are "Plan-B" backups. Plan-C is several 200W Aqueon presets I picked up on sale at Petco recently for $17 each. Yes, that's right, $17 each.

IMO some things are better bought at value pricing and routinely discarded. Heaters are one of them.

Here's one of my temperature sensor graphs. You can tell where I went diving into the overflow chamber doing some maintenance, and then most recently when I didn't quite properly pre-heat the water for a wc.

 

[piranhaman00]

Always use more than one heater.

I use three cheap China heaters , they have all lasted 2 years now :

 

[Suspect]

I’ve had dozens of Eheim Jagers in my past and 0 failures, but the glass always bothered me so last year I thought I’d try something that is supposedly more durable. I bought a BRS 600w heater in February 2020 and it lasted until November 2021 when it failed to turn on. It took 7 days to receive the replacement. I probably won’t replace it with another one.

 

[Ultra Aquatics]

I’ve had dozens of Eheim Jagers in my past and 0 failures, but the glass always bothered me so last year I thought I’d try something that is supposedly more durable. I bought a BRS 600w heater in February 2020 and it lasted until November 2021 when it failed to turn on. It took 7 days to receive the replacement. I probably won’t replace it with another one.

Yep I can honestly say I’ve been running eheims for over 10 years without any failure. The downside is they are sooo bulky.

 

[T-J]

Yep I can honestly say I’ve been running eheims for over 10 years without any failure. The downside is they are sooo bulky.

That's funny because that's what I replaced the BRS Titanium with today. I picked up two 300w Eheims for less than the single 600w BRS Titanium. While they're a bit longer than the BRS one, they do have an internal thermostat, which gives me another layer of protection!

 

[Ultra Aquatics]

That's funny because that's what I replaced the BRS Titanium with today. I picked up two 300w Eheims for less than the single 600w BRS Titanium. While they're a bit longer than the BRS one, they do have an internal thermostat, which gives me another layer of protection!

Good choice!

 

[Saltyanimals]

I've been lucky using an old ehiem 200w on a 180g that's lasted 4-5 years. Granted I live in Houston so it ever gets that cold even in the winter to need an oversized workhorse. I know it will fail eventually and I should replace proactively, however my replacement may not be as reliable as the one I have now. "They don't make things like they use to.. =)" Mentally playing through this when scenario, it's almost better to have a under-powered heater to mitigate the stuck-ON common failure. This will give you enough time to act and will never boil the water too quickly. I've heard other people that run 2 under powered heaters for the same reason. 2 x 150 vs 1 x 300 like above.

Question I have is on apex reliability on temp monitoring and turning the heater outlet off. I don't recall hearing much where the apex temp prob dies and doesn't turn the outlet off. That's my only monitor and fail safe device.

 

[Tamberav]

For titanium, I went with the finnex one and it has worked well for a few years now.

I personally would not buy into the BRS branded stuff… it’s just something they buy and rebrand with their name.

 

[rtparty]

For titanium, I went with the finnex one and it has worked well for a few years now.

I personally would not buy into the BRS branded stuff… it’s just something they buy and rebrand with their name.

It's a Schego heater which they've been open and honest about. They're considered one of the best and to my knowledge were not available in the US until BRS brought them over