Heater failure -- fish loss

[ShortyKiloGyrl]

Sorry about the loss of your fish Betty.
 I will keep this short but to be honest heaters are not very dependable at all anymore. Why this has been left to become such a problem is beyond reason. I have also had Aqueon Pro heaters fail in my tanks, one went hot and another just went cold. If you look at other forums this is a problem that keeps occurring and it is just plain wrong. I don't know what the answer is anymore, it's almost as if the heater manufacturers could care less about this issue. I mentioned this to an online retailer and they admitted that heaters are a weak link in the chain and it happens. Company's like Aqueon will replace your heater but what good does that do if it has all ready killed your fish ?

I have gone ahead and added heat controllers to all of my tanks so I don't have to constantly worry about my fish, they are expensive. I would recommend the Finnex HC - 0810m, they run about $35 each. I feel in some ways these company's are forcing us to take these precautions simply because they can't seen to build a reliable heater anymore. I know people will chime in and say this brand or that brand works better but there have been lots of problems with different brands in the last few years alone. I have been keeping fish since the 70's and the one heater that was the most dependable was the old green colored Jaegers, some of those would last 20 years or more in some instances.

I don't know what the real reason for this is, I mean aquarium heaters have thermostats built into them, why aren't they working ? So you will throw it out and buy a new one, that seems to be the real reason. People need to take this more serious and the manufacturers need to know that people are not happy being treated like cash cows. Maybe it's time for some public shaming via YouTube or in the extreme get people on board for a class action lawsuit to get this problem fixed once and for all.
 There was a recent thread regarding situations just like this one over on a certain Tropheus forum but alas it's yet just another thread

Being in the heating and air conditioning business this is the exact reason the heater gets stuck on. The thermostat quits working and gets stuck on creating the unfortunate malfunction.

 

[finray56]

I would think that is a problem the manufacturers need to address, but if everything is getting built on the cheap what's the solution. If we consumers pay for a product we should be able to rely on it to do the job without these constant problems. It seems to me that the company that builds the heaters need to be held accountable on some level. If your fish die as direct result of poor heater quality the manufacturers should be reimbursing you for that loss !

 

[ShortyKiloGyrl]

I would think that is a problem the manufacturers need to address, but if everything is getting built on the cheap what's the solution. If we consumers pay for a product we should be able to rely on it to do the job without these constant problems. It seems to me that the company that builds the heaters need to be held accountable on some level. If your fish die as direct result of poor heater quality the manufacturers should be reimbursing you for that loss !

Oh I fully agree!

 

[dwarfpike]

You know hell froze over when the ebo-jager's started failing quite frequently within the last few years. They were so rock solid in the past (as finray56 said), they would last 20+ years.

I just replaced my heater with a slightly smaller wattage, 75w to replace the 100w that started having small temp swings. I thought it might have just been the wild temp swings in my room that was causing it, but after you post Betty, I didn't want to take the chance and just replaced it. So thanks for posting this.

 

[Betty]

Is this an Ebo-Jager heater?  I had this thing for 20+ years and only stopped using it because my plecos were scraping all of the green off of it.

Dwarfpike, I'm glad something good might have come from this -- if you were able to avoid a possible disaster with your fish!

Finray, I didn't realize that others were having problems with the Aqueon Pros sticking on.  It's good to know.  I can understand a heater going bad now and then, but if it happens a lot, something needs to be changed. I'll have to pay more attention to my others until I can get the temp controllers. I'm going to have to shop around for those.

I sent an email to Aqueon and let them know what happened. Thank you all for your input.

 

[DMD123]

Looks like an old green ebo-jager
 

 

[finray56]

BEAUTIFUL, I remember the quality !

 

[Betty]

I bought mine in 1984; thought it was the coolest thing because it was submersible.  

I heard back from Aqueon about an hour after I emailed them which is a lot sooner than I expected.  They said they were sorry to hear about the heater, but without the receipt, I need to send the heater to them and then they will replace it.

 

[ShortyKiloGyrl]

How 'thoughtful' of them...

 

[finray56]

I guess with Aqueon it's always different. When I contacted them they had me cut the electric cord and send them a photo, then I could just trash the heater. I actually told them I did not want any more of the pro models, they sent me their standard model instead and so far so good. Of course now it is also hooked up via my heat controller. That was my third pro failure so I was done with that model.