Neotherm exploded, should I worry?

OREGONIC · Mar 9, 2019

Just had a neotherm heater explode. Was sitting on couch and heard a loud boom from in the sump. Got up and made it to the tank in less then 5 seconds opened the sump door and saw bubbling and lots of smoke. Quickly shut off the heater and had it out of the sumo in less then 30 swconds from when it popped. I filled a mesh filter sock with carbon and put in a high flow area. Its been about 30min now and everything looks happy. BTA’s still fully inflated, they usually shrink if I have my hand in the tank for less then a few seconds. Duncan corals still fully open, they usually close up with any type of swing. I was lucky I was sitting right next to the tank and was able to act at olympic athlete speed. Should I worry? Should I make up some water do a large water change tomorrow? Tank has been super stable and I have rarely been doing water changes as the seen to slightly throw things off for a day or two after water changes. Here are a few pics one showing the crack in the heater and one after I removed the broken plastic to see what happened.

Stevesreef225 · Mar 9, 2019

Dam really makes me worry about my neo therm. They work so well, but I hear about this a lot. Lucky you there right there !

OREGONIC · Mar 9, 2019

Stevesreef225 said:
Dam really makes me worry about my neo therm. They work so well, but I hear about this a lot. Lucky you there right there !

Scared the ... out of me! Sounded like the sump blew up! I had 2 200w neotherms in the tank, both fully submerged. I will be heater shopping for 2 new heaters tomorrow. Hope the other one lasts the night. Cobalt had lost my business.

408Dartfish · Mar 9, 2019

Bummer deal, glad you were there to catch it right away. How old were your neo-therms? I thought I read they fixed the explosion issue. Dustin

OREGONIC · Mar 9, 2019

408Dartfish said:
Bummer deal, glad you were there to catch it right away. How old were your neo-therms? I thought I read they fixed the explosion issue. Dustin

Had it for 1-2 years.

Crustaceon · Mar 9, 2019

I also had a neotherm leak voltage. I discovered it by being zapped when monkeying in the sump around it. Needless to say, I pulled that heater very quickly. It sounds like your stuff is fine. Just don’t put that heater back in the sump. [emoji12]

Tuan’s Reef · Mar 9, 2019

This worries me. Running 2 50w neotherm myself. Would it be better to run the eheim stanrdard heater with my apex ?

Dom · Mar 9, 2019

I've had heaters pop, but usually when adding water after a water change, so I find this odd.

Carbon is always a good idea in case any metals leached out from exposure to the salt water. But it was out of the sump quickly, so that isn't likely.

I think you're okay.

vetteguy53081 · Mar 9, 2019

I think COBALT needs to be informed. This is third one in three weeks I have heard of doing this and I myself run one in my sump. There is obviously an issue. Sump running dry or low is a cause but this has Not been the case which proves my love of titanium units

Larry L · Mar 9, 2019

I wonder if this heater was from the old run of 200W heaters they had trouble with. I have run a bunch of 100W and 150W Neotherms and have never had trouble.

CindyKz · Mar 9, 2019

I've never had an explosion but I've had 2 fail recently. I bought Ehiems this time around.

I would be prepared for a water change tomorrow, just in case.

Scurvy · Mar 9, 2019

My 150w neotherm failed on at 96 degrees. Less than a year old. Only found out when I went without a controller for one night while making an apex upgrade. Cooked it all. I know anything can/will fail but Ill never use another Cobalt heater. Way too many failures.

Shredder99 · Mar 9, 2019

Ditto, I had a Cobalt neotherm that crapped out on me just after a year or so. I didn't lose anything but I noticed the fish were all on the bottom of the tank. Checked the temp and it was at 67 degrees (it was February in Colorado). I quickly dropped the two heaters that I use to heat up water for my weekly water changes and brought the temps up after an hour of so. I called Cobalt and explained the situation. They said if I sent a receipt they would send me a new one. I shared my concerns that this was a relatively new product and I was disappointed that I had paid a premium price for a product that failed in a little over a year. The guy seemed more interested in getting my information to send me a new one. I passed on the warranty and went with a new Ehiem and it's been going strong (and accurate) for over two years now. Sorry, I will never buy Cobalt again.

OREGONIC · Mar 9, 2019

Everything in tank looks fine today. All coral open fully except for my elegance which is only about 3/4 open. I never use the elegance as a coral to help determine tank conditions because it has a mind of its own and randomly just looks made for no reason. Duncans are my coral that really tell me if something is off and they are as happy as ever today. Went to several LFS today trying to find a titanium heater but couldn’t find one. Ended up picking up 2 150w aquatop heaters. Every LFS I went to today carried the aquatops and said they are very reliable. Just dialing them in right now. Going to use my apex to regulate them. On at 77.9 off at 78.0 but setting their internal thermostat to shut off between 78.5 and 79.0 just incase the apex were to fail me. I will proactively order a titanium heater before the 1 year mark of these and swap it out. Cobalt will never get my business again, I have read so many horror stories over the last day. Its scary it didnt even trip the gfci outlet it was plugged in to.

Tuan’s Reef · Mar 9, 2019

vetteguy53081 said:
I think COBALT needs to be informed. This is third one in three weeks I have heard of doing this and I myself run one in my sump. There is obviously an issue. Sump running dry or low is a cause but this has Not been the case which proves my love of titanium units

What exactly is the titanium unit? Thought neo therm was top of the shelf stuff.

OREGONIC · Mar 9, 2019

Tuan’s Reef said:
What exactly is the titanium unit? Thought neo therm was top of the shelf stuff.

Finnex makes titanium heaters, probably some other brands as well.

Katrina71 · Mar 9, 2019

Oh wow. That's not cool at all!

ccombs · Mar 9, 2019

The inside of the neotherm is supposedly filled with epoxy (covering all electrical components and waterproofing) from what I understand. I would not worry too much since you got it out fairly quick.