Aquarium Master 300 watt heater

[clownie]

None of my Eheim heaters are the new Thermocontrol e models; they are all the old-fashioned Eheim Jagers, and I've had some of these running for more than 10 years. In the same vein, I'm also a big fan of the Classic series Eheim canister filters; simple no-frills units that work just great. I have 9 of these in my fish room. I guess I'm just an old-fashioned guy!

I hear you on the old jager heaters. I just had my last one burn out on me after 24 years of use! They just dont make heaters like this anymore.

 

[DMD123]

I hear you on the old jager heaters. I just had my last one burn out on me after 24 years of use! They just dont make heaters like this anymore.

Ive heard tons of hard core hobbyist comment that they would not having an issue on spending money for a high quality heater, but really at what price would that be. Lets say you could find a brand that because of its build quality could potentially last 20 years, how much do you pay for this? Would people buy this for $150... probably not. But design a 4 year heater that sells for $40ish and we will buy it... lol, every 4 years since that seems to be how long they last. We all wish heaters were better made. Even higher end heater, controller combos seem to have a fairly short limited lifespan.

 

[DMD123]

Been using these heaters for a while and overall very happy. Notice that one of the 300 watt in a 65B seems to have to work hard to get temps up to 80. I see it on and red quite often compared to the others, otherwise no issues. I still have to say that the suction cups on these things are pretty bad. Seems if you mount the unit upright/vertical there are less issues. As soon as you tend to go any bit horizontal with it, they tend to slide or pop off. Tried a Fluval suction cup and it sticks great but does not stay in the slot of the Aquarium Master heater. I do have some hardcore magnets that I might try that could work for two of my tanks that I have back access to but the other 3 tanks I still need to find a better solution.

 

[DMD123]

Ordered some aftermarket suction cups on Amazon to try and replace the stock ones.

These have an elongated tab that can twist and lock in place to the bracket. My hope is that I can lock it in place in the heaters slots.

 

[sir_keith]

Ordered some aftermarket suction cups on Amazon to try and replace the stock ones.
View attachment 9187
These have an elongated tab that can twist and lock in place to the bracket. My hope is that I can lock it in place in the heaters slots.

I have a bunch of these; they worked great, for a while...

 

[DMD123]

The hope is that they work better than the stock suction cups... those really suck, or rather not suck, lol. If the Fluval cups were just a bit bigger on the top where the lock in they would be perfect. They just dont stay in place with the keyhole slots on the back of the heaters.

 

[DMD123]

The cups came in and are going back. No issue with the fact they are made in China, but the issue lies with the strong petroleum rubber smell from the product. These can not be fish safe! They dont look as clean as the picture on Amazon, seems to have a bunch of casting pieces on them. Not sure if these are a counterfiet item or just the what is being sold but not worth it.

 

[DMD123]

Turned out I had a couple of those types of suction cups from a heater guard purchased quite a while ago. They fit the Aquarium Master heater perfectly. Will see how well they hold the heater up.

 

[DMD123]

Bit of an update, I have 5 of these heaters and they are going on about a year now. Out of the 5 there is one that started acting up with part of the digital read out going out. The heater itself still seems to function well but its a bit disappointing to see this. Of even more disappointment is that the company does not respond to email inquiries regarding its warranty.

 

[sir_keith]

Bit of an update, I have 5 of these heaters and they are going on about a year now. Out of the 5 there is one that started acting up with part of the digital read out going out. The heater itself still seems to function well but its a bit disappointing to see this. Of even more disappointment is that the company does not respond to email inquiries regarding its warranty.

Two strikes and you're out.

 

[DMD123]

Well I noticed another one of the heaters starting to have the digital read out going. The other heater from back in December that had issues still heats just fine but you cant read what the temp is. So now this other one is starting to show the same problem, but its just at the beginning stage. So I really cant recommend these as long term heaters. My expectations out of heaters are at least 2 to 3 years before having issues and these are apparently a one year. Recent problems with Finnex also has me wondering what I should replace these with now? New Eheim were a bit disappointing too… ugh, I would pay good money for good heaters.

 

[DMD123]

lol, I update the post last night and the with this morning’s water changes notice a third heater starting to lose its digital readout! So this is a huge warning that these are not even built to last. Pure junk!

 

[DMD123]

So this is what happens after a year or so... Pics of the 3 heaters read outs going out or starting to

 

[DMD123]

Been about a month now since I replace the one with the worst readout. I would say that the heater and internal thermostat seemed to still be functioning and a separate thermometer showed it holding the temp correctly but it started to also have issues with the red heating light blinking on occasion. I am trying this replacement currently:

Looking at new Fluval line also as replacements. Super disappointed in the Aquarium Master heaters and the lack of support when I emailed them. Stay away from these!

 

[DMD123]

Well as time goes on all (3 out of 4) but one are starting to get to be unreadable. The digital readouts start to go out. Seems heater works but if you cant read it, then it really doesnt matter with this type. I decided to order two of the Finnex that I use on my 300 gallon but the 300 watt models. I guess this one has been discontinued but it works so well on the big tank Im going to do two more of this style

The heating element must be installed horizontal but no read out in tank, I will have to hang the readout part on the wall.

This leaves one more I want to replace and then have a back up for the last one that seems to still be working.

 

[DMD123]

Bit of an update. My last Aquarium Master heater was replaced with a Finnex. This final heater was a 200 watt I was using on my 46g bowfront and was still working fine. The readout on this one was the only one not to have failed. My main reason for the change out was that the new heater was much smaller and seems to not draw as much attention to itself since there is not huge digital numbers to look at, lol.