Why are all heaters crap?

[Jon Fishman]

Continuously exposed to water, and heat....... it’s like they are designed to fail

 

[tastyfish]

I feel like I've owned every heater available on the market and I have not found one that seems to be worth anything. Is there a reason that these are all crappy pieces of junk? I'm able to buy decent pumps and awesome lights, is there a reason that there isn't a decent heater available? I'd gladly pay $200 if it meant that I didn't have to replace it every few months and that I could rely on it for a few year of service.

The latest heater I purchased is a Fluval E. Supposed to be one of the better heaters. I installed it, watched it for a few hours and it seemed to be maintaining temperature. The next day I start getting alarms that my tank is 85 degrees. I reset the heater via my profilux and it does fine for a few days and then the temperature starts crashing again for no reason. I checked the heater and it doesn't show low flow or any other reason for the fact that it just isn't turning on. I ended up re-installing my cobalt neo-therm as a back-up. I took that one out of service since after a few months it started leaking electricity into the tank when the top got wet. It's the second neo-therm I purchased. The first one wouldn't tun off straight out of the box and went back immediately. Before that I've had Eheim Jaegers. Everyone I've purchased in the past few years can't keep a constant temperature. Tank is 89 one day. 86 the next. Those used to be rock solid heaters except for the fact that they are so frigging easy to break.

In all honesty, the heaters that seem to work the best are the aqueon preset heaters that I use for waterchanges. I'm tempted to put two of those in my tank. I was thinking about the BRS heaters, but apparently those are out of stock and since all manufacturing in china has ground to a halt, I don't expect them to get any in for the foreseeable future.

Other than the fact that it feels so good to rant, is there a reason that someone hasn't made a decent heater? Anyone else have this problem? Is there a great heater that I just haven't found?

I don't think that's the case. But I wouldn't use glass heaters again. I've been using Schego Titanium heaters for a number of years now after having failures and big temp swings with glass heaters. My temp, is uber-stable (within 0.1C each way) and the heaters have been working perfectly.

Not sure how easy they are to get in the US, but Google is your friend.

 

[SDK]

I will second the suggestion keeping the tops out of the water if you can.

Back in the day I actually held off on submersible heaters for reef tanks, and clung to the ones that attached to the rim as long as possible. I never had issues fully submerging them in FW, but marine tanks seem to chew them up.

I haven’t had an under five year old heater with the top out of the water fail on me ever. Currently Running a Jager in my AIO for 14 months or so so without issue.

For the $30 price tag on these I will probably just replace it every two years and retire the old one to one of my killifish or QT tanks...

 

[stevieduk]

i buy the cheap chinese heaters, hardly cos anything and always work fine for a year, Ireplace them every 12 months, No problems and very low cost as i can buy 5 300watt heaters for $16

 

[Joekovar]

Heat is the bane of electronics existence.

Anything that's going to last is going to need the heating element kept completely separate from the rest of the device. Ideally it will be a controller box that remains well outside of the tank, a detachable temperature probe, and a detachable remote heating element.

The detachable remote heating element being the most important part, because the heat needs to be kept away from everything other than water.

 

[t5Nitro]

I have a 200W and 150W eheim jager on inkbird controller for my 75 display and 20 sump and the set temp to 77F. I usually see the inkbird around 75.5 to 76.5F so they are always on. Ambient temp is 64 to 68F. Do I need more watts or do you all think i should switch over to the ranco controller? So many price variations when I google ranco controller. Which one is everybody using?

 

[Tim Olson]

I would recommend using a Ranco as the controller, with whatever heater you decide on, since they're pretty much bulletproof. Also, make sure to get a temperature probe meant for saltwater, otherwise they're likely to fail.

 

[William Robinson]

I feel like I've owned every heater available on the market and I have not found one that seems to be worth anything. Is there a reason that these are all crappy pieces of junk? I'm able to buy decent pumps and awesome lights, is there a reason that there isn't a decent heater available? I'd gladly pay $200 if it meant that I didn't have to replace it every few months and that I could rely on it for a few year of service.

The latest heater I purchased is a Fluval E. Supposed to be one of the better heaters. I installed it, watched it for a few hours and it seemed to be maintaining temperature. The next day I start getting alarms that my tank is 85 degrees. I reset the heater via my profilux and it does fine for a few days and then the temperature starts crashing again for no reason. I checked the heater and it doesn't show low flow or any other reason for the fact that it just isn't turning on. I ended up re-installing my cobalt neo-therm as a back-up. I took that one out of service since after a few months it started leaking electricity into the tank when the top got wet. It's the second neo-therm I purchased. The first one wouldn't tun off straight out of the box and went back immediately. Before that I've had Eheim Jaegers. Everyone I've purchased in the past few years can't keep a constant temperature. Tank is 89 one day. 86 the next. Those used to be rock solid heaters except for the fact that they are so frigging easy to break.

In all honesty, the heaters that seem to work the best are the aqueon preset heaters that I use for waterchanges. I'm tempted to put two of those in my tank. I was thinking about the BRS heaters, but apparently those are out of stock and since all manufacturing in china has ground to a halt, I don't expect them to get any in for the foreseeable future.

Other than the fact that it feels so good to rant, is there a reason that someone hasn't made a decent heater? Anyone else have this problem? Is there a great heater that I just haven't found?

Its funny you mention the Aqueon preset heaters. Those hands down have given me the fewest problems. I use them exclusively in one of my tanks

 

[lilgrounchuck]

I feel like I've owned every heater available on the market and I have not found one that seems to be worth anything. Is there a reason that these are all crappy pieces of junk? I'm able to buy decent pumps and awesome lights, is there a reason that there isn't a decent heater available? I'd gladly pay $200 if it meant that I didn't have to replace it every few months and that I could rely on it for a few year of service.

The latest heater I purchased is a Fluval E. Supposed to be one of the better heaters. I installed it, watched it for a few hours and it seemed to be maintaining temperature. The next day I start getting alarms that my tank is 85 degrees. I reset the heater via my profilux and it does fine for a few days and then the temperature starts crashing again for no reason. I checked the heater and it doesn't show low flow or any other reason for the fact that it just isn't turning on. I ended up re-installing my cobalt neo-therm as a back-up. I took that one out of service since after a few months it started leaking electricity into the tank when the top got wet. It's the second neo-therm I purchased. The first one wouldn't tun off straight out of the box and went back immediately. Before that I've had Eheim Jaegers. Everyone I've purchased in the past few years can't keep a constant temperature. Tank is 89 one day. 86 the next. Those used to be rock solid heaters except for the fact that they are so frigging easy to break.

In all honesty, the heaters that seem to work the best are the aqueon preset heaters that I use for waterchanges. I'm tempted to put two of those in my tank. I was thinking about the BRS heaters, but apparently those are out of stock and since all manufacturing in china has ground to a halt, I don't expect them to get any in for the foreseeable future.

Other than the fact that it feels so good to rant, is there a reason that someone hasn't made a decent heater? Anyone else have this problem? Is there a great heater that I just haven't found?

I’ve got aqueon heaters that have worked fine for years. In fact, one of the ones I’m using now I bought 5 years ago for a turtle tank in my sons room. Thing works like a charm. Heats to 78, then shuts off. Even the adjustable metal aqueon I currently have in the reef tank has been going for over a year. I used it in a freshwater tank prior. People rag on the aqueon stuff for being cheap and therefore not any good, but just because you pay a bunch of money for something doesn’t mean it’s a good product. The marketing department just earned their paycheck by getting the consumer to spend a mint on a turd.

 

[William Robinson]

I have a 200W and 150W eheim jager on inkbird controller for my 75 display and 20 sump and the set temp to 77F. I usually see the inkbird around 75.5 to 76.5F so they are always on. Ambient temp is 64 to 68F. Do I need more watts or do you all think i should switch over to the ranco controller? So many price variations when I google ranco controller. Which one is everybody using?

2.5 and 5 watts per gallon of actual water volume in the aquarium. 2.5 is assuming your room temprature versus your aquarium temprature are very close all the time. I ALWAYS stay closer to the 5 watts per gallon. So in my opinion, yes I would have larger heaters than you have currently. Since you see them running constantly there must be a large differential between the room and aquarium temps so Id would personally run two, 250 watt heaters.

 

[amoore311]

Stop buying crappy heaters folks.

I've used Eheim Jaegers for the better part of 14 years, none of them have failed while in use on a system of mine. After 2-3 years of service I cycle them out to my emergency/waterchange/quarantine/spare tank/etc shelf.

Once they are on that shelf unused for a year I either throw em out or keep em depending on how many I have on hand at a time.

The only problem with Jaeger heaters is the higher wattage ones are HUGE. 300 Watt Jaeger is almost 24" long I'm pretty sure.

Should also mention my heaters have always had a secondary controller, whether that be a Ranco Dual Stage Back in the Day, or a Neptune Controller. 1 degree temp variance.

 

[fragit]

Finnex Titanium x2 and 2xranco controllers here. Not a single issue in 2 years. I used to use the cheap inkbird controller but after buying my 4th because they fail in about 6months I went with Ranco.

 

[amoore311]

I've been using Schego Titanium heaters for a number of years now after having failures and big temp swings with glass heaters. My temp, is uber-stable (within 0.1C each way) and the heaters have been working perfectly.

Not sure how easy they are to get in the US, but Google is your friend.

The BRS Titanium Heaters are made by Schego.

 

[LadyMac]

I’ve never had with my heaters. I have eheim jagers, a Sunsun, and a top fin. I’ve had fluvals, aquatops, Hydors. Never had any problems with temp fluctuations.

 

[Weevo]

I use Ehiem Jagrs on Ranco too. Dual thermostats to prevent overheating. Ehiems seem to last 3-5 years if I keep the tops out of the water... or longer. Ranco appear to last forever at my house.

I don't trust a titanium on just a single thermostat. Dual thermostats for me.

What Ranco unit are you using?

 

[BryanD]

Agree. But I've had two Aqueon 200 watt heaters preset at 78 die in the last year, both used under a year, one just a few months, so they aren't much better.

 

[t5Nitro]

What Ranco unit are you using?

Also interested in knowing which ranco people are using. I've got an inkbird now.

 

[t5Nitro]

2.5 and 5 watts per gallon of actual water volume in the aquarium. 2.5 is assuming your room temprature versus your aquarium temprature are very close all the time. I ALWAYS stay closer to the 5 watts per gallon. So in my opinion, yes I would have larger heaters than you have currently. Since you see them running constantly there must be a large differential between the room and aquarium temps so Id would personally run two, 250 watt heaters.

Appreciate the advice. I've got the 150 and 200W eheim in there now and a 300w eheim I use to mix new saltwater. That wont wont fit my sump haha. I'm looking at the finnex 300W heater and it's 10" compared to the eheim which is a lot bigger. It sounds like people are using variable brands without many difficulty. Seems like finnex is mentioned a lot with favorable responses. I'll try to add one of these.

 

[TheKyle]

I agree heaters can’t be trusted. A $30-40 ink bird controller is worth the investment. Then it doesnt really matter what the heater thermostat is doing. I use finnex heaters with the ink birds. But you need to way oversize with those heaters since they turn off prematurely due to thermostat being too close to the heating element. Only qualm about the inkbird is if you hit the upper temp setting it will keep the heaters off until it drops a full degree so you can have 1 degree temp swings which isn’t ideal stability.

 

[Potatohead]

I agree heaters can’t be trusted. A $30-40 ink bird controller is worth the investment. Then it doesnt really matter what the heater thermostat is doing. I use finnex heaters with the ink birds. But you need to way oversize with those heaters since they turn off prematurely due to thermostat being too close to the heating element. Only qualm about the inkbird is if you hit the upper temp setting it will keep the heaters off until it drops a full degree so you can have 1 degree temp swings which isn’t ideal stability.

Switch it to Celsius, then you can have .3 C swing which is more like .5 F