Here is why I won't buy Cascade Heater again

[Nibejeebies]

So last week I was in my LFS and decided to pick up one of these cascade heat 15 gallon 75 W aquarium heaters to use for water changes to heat the freshly mix water.

Today I decided to give it a shot I opened it up inspected it it looked nice for what I was going to use it for put it in my 5 gallon bucket of water plugged it up the little light flashed a few times and then came on as a steady why I didn't touch the settings I didn't change the temperature I just put it in the water.

I went to another room for about five minutes came back and found the water was steaming and had started bubbling as if it was ready to boil!

I immediately unplug the heater allow it to cool and pulled the heater out to figure out what just happened see pictures below.

The tube is filled with water this thing was not sealed appropriately and clearly was not quality checked before being put into a box and shipped out I think I'll stick with my Jager E Hime and my fluval heaters from now on.

Worst part is I called the manufacturer and was routed to an automated message that stated that customer service or warranty repair calls will only be answered on Wednesdays between 2 and 4 PM Eastern standard time! The lack of customer service is the reason that I am posting this I understand that there can be defects and faulty units that come out but when you're dealing with something that could potential he burned down someone's home or kill their livestock I would think that you would have a more customary customer service response operating times.

Do yourself a favor and avoid this heater.

 

[Anthony Wood]

Wow that stinks. I understand you obviously wanted something cheap because it was only going to be used to heat WC water but this is why I try to avoid glass heaters at all costs. Could of been a manufacturing default but I wouldn't count out the fact that it may have been damaged during shipping or just being moved around a bunch still in that package in general which wouldn't be the manufacturers fault.

 

[Nibejeebies]

I have a Jager Ehiem as well as Fuval Digital heaters which both are glass (the Fuval heater has a plastic guard around it) and both of them Ive been extremely please with.

And Like I said things happen, but to only take calls for a 2 hour window through out an entire week? That doesn't seem extremely shady to you?

 

[Anthony Wood]

I have a Jager Ehiem as well as Fuval Digital heaters which both are glass (the Fuval heater has a plastic guard around it) and both of them Ive been extremely please with.

And Like I said things happen, but to only take calls for a 2 hour window through out an entire week? That doesn't seem extremely shady to you?

No glass is my personal preference that's all! Guess it comes down to the old saying "you get what you pay for"

I completely agree with you on the customer service! That's some shady stuff. Customer service is always something that should be taken into consideration when buying something. It's seems to be that all the companies that have expensive products have great customer service and back their products companies with cheap products have bad customer support that's not a coincidence. Obviously there are always exceptions to my last sentence.

 

[Nibejeebies]

No glass is my personal preference that's all! Guess it comes down to the old saying "you get what you pay for"

I completely agree with you on the customer service! That's some shady stuff. Customer service is always something that should be taken into consideration when buying something. It's seems to be that all the companies that have expensive products have great customer service and back their products companies with cheap products have bad customer support that's not a coincidence. Obviously there are always exceptions to my last sentence.

Yea.. Totally agree...

I considered the cobolt neotherms but have heard/seen/and had friends that had them pretty much explode and kill everything they had. I started to get a couple of them for water changes but with their history... seems now they would have been a better choice...


Im just really glad this wasnt in my tank and was just inside a 5gallon bucket.... that now has to be thrown out due to some melting

 

[Anthony Wood]

No heater is perfect and every heater out there is going to have its problems or horror stories you just have to pick the one with the best track record. I personally have a finnex titanium heater.

I'm glad it wasn't your tank also! It would have boiled your tank this is why I have a controller on the tank with 2 different temp probes. Temp goes up to high and power to the heater gets shut off. I'm also glad you noticed and and didn't put your hand in the bucket because you could have possibly of gotten an electrical shock and trust me that's no fun! In all retrospect replacing a $3-$5 is much better then the entire tank lol.

 

[umac]

I guess you shouldnt go cheap on something that gets hot! for cust service and product sake ;P

Good thing it wasnt in your tank

 

[reeferfoxx]

I like you wanted a cheap heater for mixing water. I used the Aqua Via. It was accurate to the setting, surprisingly. Bad thing was, when i needed the water, i pulled the heater out. Not terrible, you might think? Not until you drop it on the floor and have glass shards everywhere. Glass is bad. Metal is good. Aqueon pro is an ok one that isn't glass. Kind of expensive for water mix, imo. But its durable.

 

[PaulKreider]

Had the same one for years on my 55gal and now I use it to warm saltwater before a water change, I've never had a problem with it. There's going to be duds with anything though.