Ebo-Jager a BIG problem!

[peteypob]

Hi everyone,
Some of you may already know but for those who dont there has been a big change in the manufacturing on the newer ebo's. It turns out that ehiem manufactures them now and didnt bother to let the word out that they are not fully submersible. All of the LFS here and I experianced this first hand!
I bought my newest ebo a couple months ago and noticed a the top by the temp adjust IN the heater there was water! Dont know if this was a manufacture slip but all of the LFS have cleared their shelves of Ebo's. Anyone hear anything dealing with this?
Pete

[Evan]

I thought the water line was just there to meet certain standards?

In Canada all of the ebos that I have ever owned have had the line on them.

I have had a couple leak around the seal between the glass and top, which is bnelow the maximum water line.

[JimmyL]

All submersible heater has to be kept in water to keep the seals wet. It will leak if you let the seals dry up by storing it in dry places or let it sit above water line. Never buy a used heater in fish auction that had been let dry for several months or years. They will leak. Some of my ebo heaters have been submerging in my tanks for over 15 years and still have tight seal and no water leak.
Jimmy

[Eddie]

Hello Petey,
This has been an issue for several posts now. It's up to you if you want to fully submerse them.

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//showthread.php?t=41089

[PaintballFan07]

I bought 3 brand new 250w ebo's a week ago. 2 of them are in use and are fully submerged, I havent seen any water in them and they dont give me any problems. But u did scare me 2 death when i first saw this thread. I glanced at my heaters very quickly but i dont have a problem here. No water between the seel or inside the heaters at all.

[Neil1_2]

Please folks DONT SUBMERGE THESE THINGS!!!.. i just got a couple and they were at the floor of a tank.. and the water has a strong electric current passing !! i got a mild shock the day before yesterday!!

[Cosmo]

Like Basshead said, this has been a hot topic on several threads now. This is the first I've heard of an electric shock from submersing one though. All mine are fully submersed, so are many others without problems. There is speculation that the new warning is to allow them to import without obtaining some certification.. I don't know.

To clear this up, hopefully, I've written to Eheim Tech Support and asked them to explain whether or not the heaters remain fully submersable, and if so, why the warning saying not to.

As soon as I hear something back, I'll let everyone know... k

Jim

[Dave C]

I've had a water pump that caused a mild shock when I touched the water but I doubt that it was meant to be used dry. There is a risk to all electrical devices that are placed in water. My electrician shudders when he sees any of the heaters in the tank, whether they are fully submerged or not. Make sure you have GFI outlets. All of my Ebos are submerged, though they are not the newest models. But even the old models had the water level warning. If you want certification from UL or CSA you must warn people not to submerge them.

[stygian7]

on the other hand..... GFCI are a good idea (boy was I glad I wired that 220v hot tub to code), but an even better idea is not to mess around with crappy heaters. Ebo's quality has diminished and other heaters available are a better buy. After having several brand new ebo's (and tetra, topfin, won bros, rena cal, visi-therm, hagen...I think I've tried them all) fail I purchased a 1K watt titanium heater and controller from jehmco and have been happy since (2 years running). JMHO
-Kevin

[Cosmo]

I have 2/500 watt titaniums slaved to the Jehmco controller in my 180, and, 2 Ebo's slaved to another one in the 90 downstairs... I agree, the controllers do a very nice job :)

Jim