Have you ever had a heater malfunction or explode?

[AydenLincoln]

OMG! I just had a nightmare that my heater exploded and killed everything phew just a dream! I told myself beforehand that I’d replace my heater about once a year. Do you replace yours yearly? And have you ever had a heater explode or nuke your tank? And my Apex gives me peace of mind too.

 

[bnord]

yes indeed early on had a controller runway in a QT tank and nearly lost my will to go on in the hobby

titanium helps with explosions - not sure you need to replace them annually, and given up on glass

quality controllers help with peace of mind

undersizing wattage and running two heaters helps

and I now have a temp alarm just in case

but it is indeed the stuff of nightmares

 

[Spare time]

I shockingly discovered my heater was giving out stray voltage

 

[ScubaFish802]

saltwater aquariums just did a video on the jager glass heaters and what it actually took to break the glass on one..
I have not been around long enough to see one fail, but for $30 or so I just buy a new one every year or so to feel good at night.

 

[rtparty]

Knock on wood...I have never had a heater failure in over 17 years in the hobby. Dozens of heaters used over that time. They usually get replaced when I change systems.

My current stock is 5 BRS heaters, 1 Finnex titanium, and 1 Fluval. All work perfectly. Most are sitting on the shelf and are only used to make new water. 2 of the BRS heaters are in the tank

 

[X-37B]

A lfs had a titainium heater blow up when the store was closed for 2 days. It wiped out a 300g frag system. I only run heaters in the winter and use eheim heaters.

 

[((FORDTECH))]

OMG! I just had a nightmare that my heater exploded and killed everything phew just a dream! I told myself beforehand that I’d replace my heater about once a year. Do you replace yours yearly? And have you ever had a heater explode or nuke your tank?

I have recently had a glass heater fail it was popping the GFI breaker I was trying to diagnose it I kept resetting the breaker and putting it back in the tank about the fourth time I reset the breaker turned around start to walk away heard a big boom the heater blew up and shattered the tank water everywhere good thing it was only a 30 gallon in the basement This happened to me about three weeks ago

 

[fish farmer]

I had a small preset heater overheat and cook a small fw tank.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I’ve had many heaters break over the years, often triggering a GFCI when water entered it.

 

[Cali Reef Life]

I clean my heater every 6 months and replace around the 2 year mark. I also don't get the cheapest ones.

 

[Waters]

I have a 5 gallon bucket filled with broken heaters.......not sure why I still have them lol.

 

[Cali Reef Life]

I have a 5 gallon bucket filled with broken heaters.......not sure why I still have them lol.

Admitting you have a problem is the first step. I just threw away a 5 year old hang on back filter when I first started a saltwater tank because I didn't have a sump. I kept it for 3 years after I stopped using it... Just throw one way.

 

[Bfragale]

I’ve had two heaters fail in the on position:

I bought a 100 gallon 6year old set up full
Of sps corals. I broke down the tank and moved it and set it back up. I put all corals in a tank, and all fish in a 55gal QT tank. In the morning- temp of corals was 104 degrees and 100% total loss. I used equipment i bought with the tank. I assumed since it was hooked up it worked properly but easily I was wrong.

my second tank was my softie/macro algae tank. Had it for many years- one morning came into fish room and it was hot water and total loss of everything living in the tank.

now I use a heater with internal thermostat connected to an InkBird heater controller connected to my apex. So three lines of defense!

it’s devistating to loose everything all at once.

 

[blaxsun]

I had a Cobalt Neotherm heater completely split the case and expose the electronics. Fortunately it wasn't plugged in and was just soaking in some warm water.

Switched to titanium heaters after that and never looked back...

 

[Spare time]

I highly recommend having an aquarium grounding probe and something like an inkbird.

 

[DHill6]

Yes, exploded Neo Therm. There was a pop, smoke, nasty smell which lasted hours, even with the open window and fan. Since I was in the room at the time I removed it and proceeded with a water change.

 

[AydenLincoln]

I highly recommend having an aquarium grounding probe and something like an inkbird.

I have to look into a grounding probe.

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

I had a Cobalt Neotherm heater completely split the case and expose the electronics. Fortunately it wasn't plugged in and was just soaking in some warm water.

Switched to titanium heaters after that and never looked back...

This.

Had two different cobalt heaters fail. One split open and the other failed in the on position, which a inkbird caught. The one that split was a mess , it let all kinds of goo into a AIO I was running.

Had a gigantor eheim fail on. Fish stew .

Had a few noname heaters fail off. Luckily it was just a cold night in every case and no losses.

I'm over expensive heaters now, I just buy the cheap preset heaters, undersize them slightly and use a controller or a inkbird to babysit.

 

[EricR]

This topic is scaring me.
I don't replace a heater until it fails.

I was thinking I was mostly safe just because I run:
-- 2x Eheim heaters so if one fails, the other one picks up the slack.
-- InkBird only for fail-safe overheat shut off if a heater happens to stick ON.
*I let the heaters regulate the temp and figure this takes the on/off stress away from the InkBird.

I've had multiple heaters fail but never explode and never any damage to tank (yet).

Maybe I need to rethink this...

 

[Miami Reef]

I don’t use any heaters. I deal with chillers though.