Failed Finnex Heater.

[Dimmy007]

Well this certainly could have been much worse. By worse I mean a burnt down restaurant. I smelled something fishy today and couldn't really find it right away. Then I saw my 300w Finnex heater. I literally put in a second heater 2 days ago. Mostly for backup. Well this proves it is definitely worth the money to have a second heater in the tank. I am just still in disbelief. I loved Finnex but now i just don't know. What other titanium heaters do you guys suggest. Or give finnex another shot.

Edit: Heater is only 8 moths old!

 

[Geebs19]

Wow, glad it wasnt worse. Im also on the look for a new heater.

 

[Dimmy007]

I think someone was just talking about titanium heaters. Ill see if i can find the thread

 

[Z3speed4me]

So the heater itself didn't necessarily die... the controller to it did.

 

[PerplexyHexy]

Well this certainly could have been much worse. By worse I mean a burnt down restaurant. I smelled something fishy today and couldn't really find it right away. Then I saw my 300w Finnex heater. I literally put in a second heater 2 days ago. Mostly for backup. Well this proves it is definitely worth the money to have a second heater in the tank. I am just still in disbelief. I loved Finnex but now i just don't know. What other titanium heaters do you guys suggest. Or give finnex another shot.

Edit: Heater is only 8 moths old!

Ohhhhh wow!

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

I am running several of those exact heaters. Are you sure it didn't get moisture in it somehow?

 

[Dimmy007]

I am running several of those exact heaters. Are you sure it didn't get moisture in it somehow?

It is possible that it could’ve got moisture in it. I did think that they were pretty watertight by the construction of the controller. Not waterproof persay but in this Application moisture proof. I had it right by the sump only because of how long the cable is.

 

[Dimmy007]

So the heater itself didn't necessarily die... the controller to it did.

True

 

[ca1ore]

The controller and wires look wet in the picture. Keep them dry for better performance LOL.

 

[Kevin Duprey]

I will never buy another Finnex again after a 6 month old one died and nearly wiped my tank out last month. It separated at the interface between the titanium and the plastic end where the cord comes in, shorting out the circuit that the tank is on (GFCI). Thank heaven for the titanium grounding rod or it could have been much worse. It was still bad, since I was on the last day of my Holiday trip to the in-laws 1500 miles away. Had to get my son's friend to go to the house and walk him through getting at least the sump return back up and running to provide circulation. No heat for nearly 10 hours meant the tank temperature dropped to nearly 70F. Not a fun night when I returned home. Luckily everything survived, but if it had happened on the first or second day of the trip, I don't think the ending would be the same...

I'm now in the process of building an emergency battery backup, separating heaters on a different circuit, and making plans to replace heaters annually. FYI, Finnex only has a 6 month warranty, whereas many of the other manufacturers have 2-3 year warranties. Maybe that says something about their own trust in their product...

 

[Dimmy007]

I will never buy another Finnex again after a 6 month old one died and nearly wiped my tank out last month. It separated at the interface between the titanium and the plastic end where the cord comes in, shorting out the circuit that the tank is on (GFCI). Thank heaven for the titanium grounding rod or it could have been much worse. It was still bad, since I was on the last day of my Holiday trip to the in-laws 1500 miles away. Had to get my son's friend to go to the house and walk him through getting at least the sump return back up and running to provide circulation. No heat for nearly 10 hours meant the tank temperature dropped to nearly 70F. Not a fun night when I returned home. Luckily everything survived, but if it had happened on the first or second day of the trip, I don't think the ending would be the same...

I'm now in the process of building an emergency battery backup, separating heaters on a different circuit, and making plans to replace heaters annually. FYI, Finnex only has a 6 month warranty, whereas many of the other manufacturers have 2-3 year warranties. Maybe that says something about their own trust in their product...

That's scary. Glad you didn't lose anything. What heaters are you using now?

 

[Z3speed4me]

Are we talking about a finnex heater, or a heater with a finnex controller... that is a very different thing. I have seen very very very few titanium heaters have an issue when connected to something "better" like an apex.

 

[Dimmy007]

Are we talking about a finnex heater, or a heater with a finnex controller... that is a very different thing. I have seen very very very few titanium heaters have an issue when connected to something "better" like an apex.

The finnex controller failed on mine. I now have my new finnex titanium heater connected directly to my apex.

 

[Dimmy007]

Do you think I could cut off the controller and wire a plug onto this and just make it a titanium heater with out the controller? I may have to cut the wire open and see what’s in there. Then I would have a second or a backup titanium heater.

 

[Dustin A.]

I keep a smoke detector in my stand just for this reason. I'm surprised it didn't catch on fire.

 

[Dimmy007]

I am as well. Especially since my stand is made out of barnwood. As is my entire restaurant. If it would have gone up it would have been a complete disaster. Luckily no one would have been in the restaurant at the time but definitely a scary thought.

 

[Dimmy007]

On a side note. Since I just hooked up my apex this week I was really wondering about the temperature being accurate. The apex was reading 78.8. Infrared thermometer reading 77.5 and food grade thermometer reading 77.3. So I figured the apex has to be off. After reading the best way to figure out the temp is with a NIST thermometer. What’s another $50 for this hobby. So I bought one. The NIST was reading 78.4. So the Apex was closer than the other 2. So good news in my opinion that the Apex is that accurate out of the box.

 

[Dimmy007]

On a side note. Since I just hooked up my apex this week I was really wondering about the temperature being accurate. The apex was reading 78.8. Infrared thermometer reading 77.5 and food grade thermometer reading 77.3. So I figured the apex has to be off. After reading the best way to figure out the temp is with a NIST thermometer. What’s another $50 for this hobby. So I bought one. The NIST was reading 78.4. So the Apex was closer than the other 2. So good news in my opinion that the Apex is that accurate out of the box.

So I decided to see if I could save the Finnex Heater. There were two wires coming into the controller from the plug side. A black hot and a white neutral which I assumed. Then from the controller there were 4 wires. One black hot, one white neutral and two red thermostat wires. I connected the black wire to black wire which is the hot. Then the white wire and white wire which is the neutral. I left the two red thermostat wires disconnected. Just tested the heater and it is heating up a 5 gallon bucket of water perfectly. So now I can use this as a backup or a third heater on my apex.

 

[NY_Sea]

I had the same 300 w heater fail on me also. Thankfully no fire or burned controller like yours. I’m hesitant to buy another finnex and have been looking for replacement. I Bought a titanium fluval heater as a quick replacement from local shop. Looking to upgrade but not sure to what. Open to suggestions.

I lost a lot of corals due to water temp change so going forward I may run 2 heater controlled thru my apex

I respect your efforts to save this Heater by re wiring but heaters are almost as much a lifeline as our return pumps and so I would just buy a new heater like an eheim Jaeger. Seem to be reliable