Have you ever had a heater malfunction or explode?

[BanjoBandito]

#1 tank killer. People invest so much into these systems then throw in a 15 dollar finnex heater (guilty).

 

[Dburr1014]

Not a heater fail, but a Rio pump. Lights flashing and bubbles coming out of the pump. Pretty scary.

 

[((FORDTECH))]

I have to look into a grounding probe.

Also titanium heaters are the best with the use of some kind of other controller than what it comes with like in bird or Apex I will no longer use a glass heater

 

[AydenLincoln]

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

Well you are in Florida and have constant warm weather lol. Not all of us are lucky! And I’m really curious how that works? Are they somewhere that’s always warm like a garage?

 

[Miami Reef]

Well you are in Florida and have constant warm weather lol. Not all of us are lucky! And I’m really curious how that works? Are they somewhere that’s always warm like a garage?

My chiller is outside.

 

[Auquanut]

I've had several heaters fail in the off condition. I've been lucky. I've also had 2 glass heaters leak and show condensation/corrosion on the inside of the tube without failing. Again, I was lucky. I now use titanium heaters in the reef with an Inkbird controller. Also replace heaters annually +/-. I have to admit that I still use a glass heater on the FW tank without redundancy (plan to rectify that). I do check the heater for condensation regularly though.

 

[reef2sanity]

not yet.....this is a deep fear, i currently run 2 300w heaters using internal thermostat with apex set to turn off switch over 80 degrees (typically run around 77-78 degrees). Should I add inkbird as well or is this overkill?

 

[Uncle99]

Just last week after 18 months.
The Inkbird saved my tank.
Took corrective action by turning off the power, and sending a notification to my phone.
Love you WiFi temp controllers!

 

[Spare time]

Yeah they just sit in the tank and then plug into an outlet

 

[Tiki_Reef]

I live in Florida, what is a heater?

 

[Gtinnel]

I’ve had two glass heaters fail (one was a eheim and the other was a cheap Amazon one) and one titanium heater fail (InkBird) but they all just quit working. I now replace my heaters every 12-18 months.
I’ve never had one fail in any kind of catastrophic way.

 

[jmatt]

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.

I picked up a 700w Helios twin titanium heater system. Be forewarned, it's expensive. But the heaters have special PTC (positive temperature coefficient) ceramic heating elements that cannot overheat... once the chips reach a certain temperature they shutdown.

I got mine directly from the manufacturer, Innovative Marine. Comes with a 5-year warranty.

I got it for the same reasons you're concerned about. They can explain it better than I can.

See here.

 

[AydenLincoln]

I picked up a 700w Helios twin titanium heater system. Be forewarned, it's expensive. But the heaters have special PTC (positive temperature coefficient) ceramic heating elements that cannot overheat... once the chips reach a certain temperature they shutdown.

I got mine directly from the manufacturer, Innovative Marine. Comes with a 5-year warranty.

I got it for the same reasons you're concerned about. They can explain it better than I can.

See here.

Holy guacamole! That’s more than my Waterbox and that’s also 10x more W than most heaters.

 

[vetteguy53081]

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.

Explode . . . many many years ago while changing water, tube was hot and upon refilling . . . Crack and Sizzle, sizzle

I from that point have gone to titanium units to avoid glass in the tank and unplug IF I do a water change which is rare

 

[jmatt]

Holy guacamole! That’s more than my Waterbox and that’s all 10x more W than most heaters.

No doubt. But considering the cost of everything in the tank and more importantly, my time, I thought it was a worthwhile investment. I don't want to get 18 months into this and then kill everything because a $60 heater failed.

 

[AydenLincoln]

Explode . . . many many years ago while changing water, tube was hot and upon refilling . . . Crack and Sizzle, sizzle

I from that point have gone to titanium units to avoid glass in the tank and unplug IF I do a water change which is rare

I have a Fluval M Heater they state it’s a “Shock resistant Borosilicate glass and high density ceramic heat sick” so whatever that truly means. Fluval is popular and I believe well-made plus it’s affordable. I know many people take their heaters out of water hot or don’t let it cool off and that’s why it explodes on them you are supposed to let it cool off before taking it out of water. Or the other half were the unfortunate group of people who got a faulty heater. I also like that with my AIO there’s always water in the back chamber so it’s always submerged even when doing water changes..

 

[AydenLincoln]

No doubt. But considering the cost of everything in the tank and more importantly, my time, I thought it was a worthwhile investment. I don't want to get 18 months into this and then kill everything because a $60 heater failed.

Yes! What size is your tank? I don’t have a huge tank but if I did I would get a heater like that.

 

[jmatt]

Yes! What size is your tank? I don’t have a huge tank but if I did I would get a heater like that.

48 x 30 x 17H. About 100 gallons. But including the sump and the frag tank I may add at some point it could eventually be 200 gallons.

 

[fryman]

I've had heaters fail a handful of times. Some gfci trips due to heaters. Also had controller alarms (reefkeeper back in the day, inkbird more recently) save my butt a couple times when heaters failed with on state permanently. I even had a heater explode in my phyto setup but it was just phyto so not a big deal.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

FWIW, one of the reasons that a failed heater (or other electrical device) can be so bad is that if a copper wire flows AC current into/out of tank water, the processes at the end of the wire drives copper into the water far faster than just a bare copper wire in the water.

This is one of the main ways electrons leave the wire:

Cu (metal) --> Cu2+(aqueous) + 2 e-