More heater failures . . .

[Carol_Roberts]

I ordered two Via Aqua heaters about 6 weeks ago and one has already quit working. My ebos are having more and more trouble maintaining the tanks and water barrrels at 82-84

I just ordered two Pro Heat one with and one without the LED display . . . .

Any recomendations for heaters in the 250 - 300 watt range that will consistantly heat the tank for more than a year?

[daninthesand]

Carol.

_Dave_C has a post somewhere where he desribes how he got the ebos' to raise their heat again. Something about breaking off the little tap on the dial that prevents it from turning higher.

I suspect the thermostat mechanism begins to wear out with time and it takes turning in the dial farther to get it to work. forcing the dial higher might get the ebo's back in shape. Especially for a water barrel there is less risk of cooking the fish. Might be worth a try.

I have ebos and tronics. most are around a year old. so far so good. The ebo's are 200's and the tronics are 50 to 250.

[mutfish]

FWIW, I had a 300 watt via aqua die after 90 days of service.
Foster & Smith said after 60 days it would have to go back to the manufacture which it did.
It took 2 months and a couple phone calls to get a replacement but it did finally show up 8)

MUT(still under warranty)FISH

I've got ebos that have kept the temperature consistent over a period of 1.5 years....i've also got ebos that aren't as consistent...guess it's a crapshoot

[April]

Carol. im using visitherm. and so far so good. heat well.
and a guy here told me his hydro bill went half less than ebos. he had them in every discus tank in his store. they cost more than ebos though. but then someone said theres broke in one spot.
but this guy used them for a long time. no problem. thinner glass.but less hydro.
also ive heard tetratec ones are good.

[Richman]

Carol,

I have 4 of the Pro Heat heaters. All without LED. All are 300's. Oldest one is about 6 months old and is in a 100 gallon tank. It is the only heater in the tank and I have heated it as high as 90. Probably would have gone higher. So far the temp settings seem to be accurate. Can't say much about longetivity cause they haven't been around that long. If they hold up over time, I think they are great heaters.

[Tony]

2nd what April said about visitherm...
my exp. limited to tronic and something that I forgot the brand. I have practically change all but 2 tanks to visitherm... Thin glass, doesn't looks like quality heater but lock on the temp consistently. Doesn't have the scale one temp, measure you got another temp. What you set is what you get. From time to time, there is a small offset...

Can't say much about electricity???? I cannot understand how 1 brand of heater use less power than another brand.... if both heater keep the tank at the same temp If the heater is so bad that it cause the tank temp to large variation. I can understand power bill different.

Hi,

i use Hydromatic by Proaquatics.

I bought mine few months ago and so far no problemo.

This is the only heater that matches the temperature reading from the termometer and that of the dial. :)

alex

[Rod Coleman]

Don't do what I did a few days ago. ??? ??? ???

Must have lost concentration during a big wc and left the heater exposed. I didn't notice until refilling when the heater cracked and popped. :o

No-one electrocuted though (especially me :P) and fortunately I had a spare.

Regards
Rod

hahahahahahahaha ;D (re:sunshine)

[korbi_doc]

:bounce: :bounce: Well, I finally did it!! Been so careful with the w/cs & the RM tubs. But, must also have lost concentration, in a hurry, changed from one tub to the other to pump into the 2nd tank, forgot to unplug the Via Aqua heater & left it hanging in the air. Boy, it sizzled when water hit it, but unplugged it, waited to replug it in, thought it would be ruined, but "voila" it still works ok, & they don't break in the tank. Have three of them & also some Visitherms with no problems. I'm much more careful now, lol, Dottie ;D ;D

[DarkDiscus]

I'm so annoyed with ALL heaters I'm thinking of cranking my house temp up to 85 and going from there...

John

:P

[April]

The reason i was told the hydro was less...was because thinner glass....gives off the heat faster. ebos have quite thick glass.
All i know is he had alot of tank in his store and when he switched over.his hyrdro bill lowered considerably.
it was a store and not a house.so easier to know as nothing else was used more.
He used them as the asian discus book said use them . lol.
I was curious about the acuras....myself. havent bought any.

[jeep]

I have the Pro Heat and I really like it. I've only had it for a little over a month so no report on durability.

Just a word of caution: You'll notice how easily the temp selector moves. It can easily be bumped out of place so place a piece of tape over it after you achieve your desired tank temp.

[RichieE]

Carol, If you dont mind useing a hang on heater try Supremes. About a year ago I mentioned them in a post saying they were the only heater I ever remember useing(my first tank in 1967) The cords freyed or the glass cracked before the heaters stopped working. A few people said they also had good luck with them. I don't see anyone else recomending them but I have about 10 from various eras :) and they all work.
I also have a couple of the Pro-Heat Titanium heaters. I've been useing them for less than a year so I can't say how durable they are but I like them so far. HTH Rich

[lkleung007]

Hi Carol,

I can feel your pain!! I too have had many heaters fail in the last 12 months. First the Ebo's did not heat the water high enough but they still worked in the 84-86F range. Then I got two Via Aqua 300W titanium heaters; both failed after 3-4 months. Then I got two large 500W Pro-Heat titanium heater (for heating water in the barrels), they failed after a week!!!!!! >:( >:( >:(

Now I have all Ebo's and Rena's (have only been using them for 2-3 weeks) in my tanks and water storage barrels.

Regards, Lester

[Carol_Roberts]

Thanks everyone for your recomendations. I'm going to see how the Pro Heat do and probably order a couple of the others mentioned to have as back up. . . . :-\

[mench]

I had a bunch of Ebos,both the old and new kind.Most are working ok,but a couple did fail after a yr or so.I went to the Via Aqua titanium guys and had 5 fail after only 3 months.I sent them back to the distributer and got the replacements after about 4 weeks.So I guess I am still looking for heaters that will last.

Mench

[slicksta]

Carol

Which Via Aqua.....Glass or Titanium.....

I have a titanium in my QT....and so far so good....
....also just tried a Rena Cal.....and the same....so far so good....

John

[paulmat]

At least with the V.A. titanium heaters,when the break they just stop working.Unlike the Ebo's that will malfunction and sometimes cook your fish, that is what just happened to my fry tank,cooked about 200 babies overnight >:(

Paul :guitarist:

[Jeff]

I agree Paul. That is the only reason I use the Via Aquas.

[brewmaster15]

I have Via aquas on order and plan on coupling them in my larger tanks with an ebo. I have that combination in a 125 gal, and its worked well for the last month. I hope that if the VA fails the ebo will keep the tank from getting too cold.. and if the ebo sticks on.... Its only half the heat necessary for the tank., and I would hope to catch the problem.

Will it keep me from having par boiled discus....don't know...but I'll give it a shot.

-al

[Lou]

Hi All,

This is my first post. Great site. Awesome info.

Anyway, I just wanted to say that I have had the same two Ebo-Jaggers on my 90 gallon tank for 3 years now and have had no problem. I keep the temp at 84 degrees. I have used 3 or 4 other brands in the past and none compared to the Ebo's. This is just my experience though.

Best,
Lou