Heater exploded

Jblunkall · May 4, 2017

A guy in my office heard POP and started smelling burnt electric smell. We couldn't find what it was so we waited a couple minutes. All of a sudden smoke started coming from the sump area. It was the heater. It looks like it just split open. Thankfully no signs of decline in the tank so far. Have been monitoring it now for a few hours.

Shaddow_wolf169 · May 4, 2017

Another cobalt through a bunch of carbon in it.

jd371 · May 4, 2017

Wow! Good thing you were there and took it out quickly. Yeah, I'd run some GAC, just in case.

Water Dog · May 4, 2017

The infamous 200w Cobalt Neotherm strikes again! How old is that heater? I thought they addressed these issues on their larger heaters a few years back.

shornik · May 4, 2017

Funny - well not so funny. The exact same thing happened to me while I was doing a water change on Sunday. I heard a 'pop' noise - the case cracking/exploding and then smelled the burning electricity and saw the smoke. I have an AIO so the smoke was coming from the back of my tank. It took me a few minutes and then realized it was the heater. Like you, luckily there have been no ill effects but that's pretty much because I was right there when it happened. I'll never use those heaters again!

MrJoel · May 4, 2017

Yep. If you go to their page the 200W is not even available since they recalled the model for this issue. No redesign, they just pulled the model. -
-------correction-----
They do have the 200W NeoTherm available now. Still It is probably one to avoid.
They also added a note for Apex users to only plug it into ports 4 or 8.

Jblunkall · May 4, 2017

Water Dog said:
The infamous 200w Cobalt Neotherm strikes again! How old is that heater? I thought they addressed these issues on their larger heaters a few years back.

It's at least a couple years old. Maybe I will start replacing them yearly.

Jblunkall · May 4, 2017

shornik said:
Funny - well not so funny. The exact same thing happened to me while I was doing a water change on Sunday. I heard a 'pop' noise - the case cracking/exploding and then smelled the burning electricity and saw the smoke. I have an AIO so the smoke was coming from the back of my tank. It took me a few minutes and then realized it was the heater. Like you, luckily there have been no ill effects but that's pretty much because I was right there when it happened. I'll never use those heaters again!

Yeah this tank is at my office. Glad it happened when we were here. Not sure what would have happened if it would have stayed in there a long period of time.

anbosu · May 4, 2017

If you have polyfilter or can get some I would run it in the aquarium to get rid of any metals that may have leached.

3mm3 · May 4, 2017

Good thing you guys were there when it happen! I've been without heaters for 10 years now to avoid this.

rcmike · May 5, 2017

Yikes. That could have been bad if nobody was there. If it were me, I would have immediately killed the return pump so any contamination was contained there and changed all the water in the sump with a good rinse and wipe down in the middle. I had a return pump case crack and release a bunch of oil into the tank once. I had a horrible algae bloom after that.

Jeff.:P:. · May 5, 2017

How do you heat your tank?

3mm3 said:
Good thing you guys were there when it happen! I've been without heaters for 10 years now to avoid this.

Best Fish-Jake · May 5, 2017

I personally like the finnex titanium heaters w/ controller.. Eploding is definetly not a concern for me [emoji6]

AlexG · May 5, 2017

I am glad your tank is okay and I hope that no ill effects are seen in the tank over the next couple of weeks. Seeing another failed heater post is making me feel even better about the radiant heating system I am experimenting with on my system which uses the hot water tank in my house instead of traditional electric heating elements.

3mm3 · May 5, 2017

Jeff.:p:. said:
How do you heat your tank?

I keep the house temp constant year round.

Branespikin · May 5, 2017

Oh man that sux. I got the 150w ( I think) if its the 200w im chucking it out.
Hope everything turns out ok

JonesthePathfinder · Jan 24, 2020

I just had the same thing happen today. I got a call from my wife saying that she and the kids had left the house which was full of smoke and that the Fire Department was on the way to the house.

The reason: My Cobalt Neo-Therm 300w heater, fully submerged, had cracked/shattered inside my sump and been pumping smoke and chemicals through the water and into the air while electrifying the tank. I bought it new from Bulk Reef Suppy in August, installed it in late September, and it just failed disaterously after lasting only 3 1/2 months in the tank!

$150 for a timebomb was not worth it. I'll be going with eheim this time.

10hrs later all my fish are still alive in my 90G w/30G sump. Filled my sump's filtersock half full of activated charcoal, and am making enough RODI saltwater for a 55G water change.

My elegance coral is a loss, and half my softies don't look happy. Fingers crossed.

JOKER · Jan 25, 2020

JonesthePathfinder said:
I just had the same thing happen today. I got a call from my wife saying that she and the kids had left the house which was full of smoke and that the Fire Department was on the way to the house.

The reason: My Cobalt Neo-Therm 300w heater, fully submerged, had cracked/shattered inside my sump and been pumping smoke and chemicals through the water and into the air while electrifying the tank. I bought it new from Bulk Reef Suppy in August, installed it in late September, and it just failed disaterously after lasting only 3 1/2 months in the tank!

$150 for a timebomb was not worth it. I'll be going with eheim this time.

10hrs later all my fish are still alive in my 90G w/30G sump. Filled my sump's filtersock half full of activated charcoal, and am making enough RODI saltwater for a 55G water change.

My elegance coral is a loss, and half my softies don't look happy. Fingers crossed.

That SUX. I hope you don't lose anything else. I have never really trusted anything 120 volt fully submerged. I am so glad I stayed with jager. They are large, and awkward, but a very good heater. I always keep a couple on hand for backup, but have had good service from them.

Wee Mad Arthur · Jan 25, 2020

Until recently I’d been using the same type of electronic heater (100w) but a different brand (Dennerle) and I kept hearing a sound like breaking glass each time it turned off. Alarmed I contacted Dennerle and they sent me a replacement which a few weeks later started making the same scary noise. I wonder what would have happened had I kept using it. I’m using a titanium heater now.

JonesthePathfinder · Jan 27, 2020

JOKER said:
That SUX. I hope you don't lose anything else. I have never really trusted anything 120 volt fully submerged. I am so glad I stayed with jager. They are large, and awkward, but a very good heater. I always keep a couple on hand for backup, but have had good service from them.

Thanks. After a 60G waterchange on my 120G system, three days later all my fish and corals are looking healthy. It was just the Elegance that didn't make it.