All Glass heaters (Suck) - ebo or stealth

[KLKelly]

Hi Guys,

Yesterday I had a second All-Glass heater malfunction - this one started streaming bubbles and was totally cracked in half.  I had to put my fish from QT into the 90G earlier than I wanted.  The heater seemed to be leaking something into the tank (looked like salted water looks like when you pour it into the tank).  I probably just over reacted.  The first heater killed some fish because it malfunctioned and heated the tank to 86F.

I replaced one with a jager.  I have only one all glass left - a 300W in the 90G.  I'm going to replace it with either a Jager or others are recommending a Stealth heater.

I have a friend up in Kingston that wants me to pick her up a Jager at bigal's.  Her All-Glass heater has condensation on the inside of it.

1).  What would cause the condesation?  Is it still safe to use?
2).  In looking up causes of cracked heaters and condensation - there seems to be a large number of complaints on both the Jager and the Stealth.  What would you guys go with?  All I know is that the all-glass ones are p.o.s!!!  Beginner mistake.

Thanks.

Karrie

[BigDaddy]

1) Condensation inside a submersible heater usually comes from a leak somewhere.  Never a good thing.  Better to replace a $25 to $40 heater than hundreds in fish.

2)  I don't know how you'd be able to tell if a Stealth had condensation, as they are made of plastics instead of glass and are solid black.  That said, I have only ever owned Jagers (now Eheim) and Visitherms (regular and stealth) and only a VERY old Jager ever showed condensation.. but still worked fine.  I replaced it none the less

[PaleoFishGirl]

For further discussion on All-Glass products, please see this thread.

[darkdep]

I use Jagers in all my tanks now.  I had a batch of 6 once where two locked on but were replaced before anything bad happened.  I know of at least one other person who had the same thing happen from the same batch (they were group ordered from Pets and Ponds a while ago).  I suspect a bad batch.  Every batch since then I have not had, nor heard, of an issue with. 

I submerge most of mine now, if that matters.

[bitterman]

I have 3 250 watt elbo jagers submerged in my sump. Originally when I bought them the web page stated submerable, but once I got them they had a Max Water Line on them, so I called the company. They reported to me to get CSA approval in Canada they needed the water line but they are indeed submersible.

[darkdep]

To confirm what Bitterman said; I resell Jagers from a wholesaler in the states.  On my invoices, it specifically states that the Max Water line is for CSA Approval only, that they are fully submersible.

[BigDaddy]

The only heater that is CSA Approved as fully submersible is Rena's unit.  If memory serves, all other heaters have a water line because they can't be bothered going through the rigors of CSA testing for their units.  It is much easier to put a water line on the unit, and mark it as CSA Approved (as a non-submersible).

[Saltcreep]

The only heater that is CSA Approved as fully submersible is Rena's unit.  If memory serves, all other heaters have a water line because they can't be bothered going through the rigors of CSA testing for their units.  It is much easier to put a water line on the unit, and mark it as CSA Approved (as a non-submersible).

I talked to one of the guys at BA Kanata about this a while ago. He told me that the reason the CSA won't certify oher brands is because of the type of wire they use. The ones that are certified have a rounded covering on the wire which makes a better seal where the wire goes into the motor unit. They feel that the more common type of wire - like lampcord - where you can split the two conductors apart is more likely to leak. BigDaddy, maybe you could check your Rena to see if this theory holds water. On the plus side, I've been assured and reassured time and again that if a heater is marked and sold as fully submersible, it is. I use Jager heaters almost exclusively now with no reservations.

[BigDaddy]

I took back my Rena a while ago so can't answer that one.

Fully submersible yes, certified as CSA approved fully submersible, no.  So... in theory, if you had an electrical fire that was deemed to have occurred from submersing your non-Rena heater, insurance could be nasty and deny a claim...  that being said the likelyhood of that actually happening is probably slim to none, especially if your heater is on a ground fault interupt circuit like it should be   

[kennyman]

I read this blurb on another site about Jager changing manufacturing and having to redo the safety certification for the US now. That will likely just add more confusion to the submerable heater debate.

e-mailed customer support at Eheim (now the owner of Jager heaters) and just got a reply.  So, here it is, straight from the horse's mouth:

"JAGER heaters are fully submersible according to European standards. However since the production of JAGER heaters was moved to Germany when EHEIM acquired the company, a new UL certificate must be issued for the "New" company.  This new certificate must be issued to comply with the North American standards, until then the heater must be labeled as not submersible in North America . Please note that all JAGER heaters comply with ETL standards, which is the European Equivalent of the UL certificate."

[darkdep]

Look at it this way.  If you want CSA certification, you have to spend money to apply for it.  They probably just don't want to for a market of our size.

[scorpion-stinger]

Hey everyone, any views on this heater? Aquarium Systems Visi-Therm 300 Watt Heater?

[KLKelly]

I found this site when I was looking at different heaters: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/reviews/category_display.php?CatID=701

Not sure how accurate it is but people did put in comments - good and bad.

Karrie

[Saltcreep]

Hey everyone, any views on this heater? Aquarium Systems Visi-Therm 300 Watt Heater?

I believe Aquarium Systems is the same company that manufactures the Visi-Jet skimmer. The skimmer is a major POS and based on that, I would seriously research any of their products. Me, for the few extra dollars, I stay with what I consider the best for my budget - Jaeger!

[kennyman]

I took back my Rena a while ago so can't answer that one.

I had been hoping to use those    Based on the performance of my Rena filter I was very impressed with this company and thought perhaps I had found a quality manufacture I could trust. Was there some specific problem you encountered or was it just an overall dislike of the unit?

[scorpion-stinger]

No, no dislikesas of yet. I just bought one 1 week or so ago and just wanted peoples input

[BigDaddy]

I had been hoping to use those    Based on the performance of my Rena filter I was very impressed with this company and thought perhaps I had found a quality manufacture I could trust. Was there some specific problem you encountered or was it just an overall dislike of the unit?

I took it back because it was off by about 4 degrees.  The only reason I had purchased it was because it was a 300W unit.  I ened up replacing it with a 250W & 150W Eheim instead.