Eheim Jager and Ambient Temperature

Hey Everyone!

Has anyone had issues with the Eheim Jager and their ambient room temperature?

So here's the details.
I got my heater on March 1st this year. On March 22nd the heater gave out. Good thing I noticed my electronic thermometer slowly decreasing in temp.
Contacted Eheim and they asked me, what's my ambient room temperature and what I run on my heater. I told them ambient room temp is between 70f-72f and I rum my heater at 86f.
They told me, the heater can't be higher by 10 degrees of the ambient room temp and that's why my heater failed. In their defense it was in their fine print manual. Enjoy the the coversation from Ehiem and their " "LESSON LEARNED" LOL

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That's strange, I never heard of the fact that heaters were only meant to be used to raise the water temp 10 degrees above room temp. If that's the case, then all discus keepers would have to have a cozy room temp of at least 73 degrees in order to raise temps to sufficient temp to raise discus. But if that's what a rep from the company itself said, then I believe that that's the optimal way to use a heater. Guess I learned something new today.

But from my own experience, I've used heaters to raise the temp 25 degrees above the room temp. This was in a unheated backyard enclosure, so the room temp was dictated by outdoor temps. I'm in the belief that one can raise water temps to a unlimited difference above room temps. Just up the wattage, or add more heaters as necessary. And to play it safe, use a smart temp controller so that you don't risk overheating when the heaters (inevitably) fail.

Never had that problem here with Eheim Jagers heaters. I use them in my aging barrel to bring the water up to 84 and the ambient in that room is probably around the 63-68 degree mark depending on my thermostats programmed schedule for house heat.

I think it's a load of bs that they put that on there. Otherwise their equipment wouldn't be suitable in a lot of situations or even other warmer water fish.

Tried a eheim jager and did not like it so I threw it out.

I had never seen this in their manuel, looked online today and guess what it said the following:
"These are standard ratings for closed aquariums with an ambient room temperature of 21°C/70°F and a de- sired water temperature of up to 26°C/79°F."
Which is weird, as I have used these all the time years ago and never had a problem with them in my discus tanks.

My guess is that the Eheim's are engineered and provides guidelines using the 10 degree differential. It's does not mean it will fail if that differential is greater.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chuondon

...They told me, the heater can't be higher by 10 degrees of the ambient room temp and that's why my heater failed....

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This is the proverbial load of crock. Sounds like a sales rep just trying to get you off the phone. If it's worth your trouble, call them back. You'll likely get a different person and ask them for an exchange. They'll usually send you a replacement heater free of charge.

Willie

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gunnerschh2

Tried a eheim jager and did not like it so I threw it out.

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This times too many !
I'll never use Eheims again even if it they were free. The calibration never worked once for me with 3,4 maybe 5 I'll have to look in the junk drawer where they all now reside ..
Aqueon Pros come with a chart that tells you how many watts you need to raise X gallons X degrees over the ambient room temp ..They have no limit and I have never had an issue with Aqueon ..They also have a 'lifetime warranty' so one call and a new heater[rebuilt] is on its way to you free ..
I only run like 50+ of them so take my words with a grain of salt ..

The notion the owner can better calibrate the heater better then the manufacturer explained all I wanted to know about how Eheim thinks !:confused:
Sorry I gave them my money ...

Tom,

I appreciate your input. I've used Eheim since I started (15 years or so ago with breaks in-between) and have never had problems. Of course, my sample size is quite small (probably about 10), so it's good to get feedback from folks with many tanks using other heaters with success. I always thought the ability to re-calibrate the heater was a good feature, but I definitely see your perspective now that you've said it and I've read it. :)

Luckily this time around I'm only using the Eheim heaters for my aging barrel and hospital tank. The main display uses an external heater with two titanium Schego heaters. :)

Tom I also like aqueon & have a couple of them. Glad you said calibration because I thought it was me that was the problem.

I’ve had great success using the Finnex HMO and HMX heaters.......knock on wood.

Guys, don't trust the mechanical bi-metallic thermostats inside such heaters. Doesn't matter if it is Tetra, Eheim, AquaEl or a cheap Resun or Sunsun, the principle is precise enough for a flatiron, but not for a fish tank. You need an external, independent thermostat, a digital version is prefered. A cheap STC-1000 from Ali is enough and you also need a second heater as a backup. STC-1000 has an external temperature sensor you can dive into a tank or glue it on glass or whatever. Then you can connect the both heaters on a heating output of STC-1000 and you become protected enough againest malfunctions of those crappy integrated thermostats.