New Design Jager Heater Problems

[underwaterforest]

Well here it goes again, just when I thought I found a heater the works they decide to "redesign" it, thanks EHIEM. This will be heater #4 in the last month that decided to get stuck in the ON position no matter what the external temperature was and what the indicator was set to. Sadly the last malfunction was a brand new Jager in my overly already stressed out sick tank.

Man o man I'm getting so tired of the heater swap game anybody still have a reliable heater recommendation up their sleeve? I'm going to try and get another heater locally to replace this one but the only brand other than jager that my local pet store carries is Cascade http://www.arcatapet.com/item.cfm?cat=11200. Anybody heard anything about this brand?

I'm starting to thinking even with all the exploding hazards to go back to the marineland stealth, at least they keep the water the right temp. LOL

:confused:

[flyman767]

I had the same thing happened to me on the new Jager redesign. I purchased a Fluval E series about 2 years ago and haven't looked back. There reliable, accurate, and fully submersible. They use a electronic microprocessor to sample the water and display the water temperature on a digital readout.

http://www.hagen.com/uk/aquatic/addinfo/fluvaleseries.cfm

[Chad Hughes]

Stick with titanium heaters and use a secondary controller. You can find everything you need here! (http://www.jehmco.com/html/heaters.html) The cost of the heater is a bit more and the use of the temperature controller will give you the peace of mind that a $20 heater isn't going to cook your fish.

Hope that helps!

[TURQ64]

Well, I've followed all of the latest heater threads, and since I need a few on some of my remote tanks, (not on central sump) I've ordered some really low budget sub. models from one of the sponsors.Now going on the line of 'if the good ones fail fast, then go with cheap'..I'll post when I see some pro's or con's..FWIW, I'm running waay too many heaters for my wife's sanity at present; somewhere in the twenty- something's...

[underwaterforest]

Thanks Ray for the suggestion I may have to try one out.

Alex

[William Palumbo]

I just replace ALL my older heaters in my breeding tanks with Via-Aquas. After using several of them in different sizes for awhile now, I trust them enough to place them in with my pairs. For $10 each, it's easy enough to do, especially if you need a dozen or so...Bill

[underwaterforest]

Thanks everybody the suggestions. I do like the idea of the titanium heaters Chad but I think a 500 watt heater may be a little overkill for my 29 gallon.

I think I will take Bill and TURQ64 suggestion and just go cheap with a heater like the via aqua, shoot I could get 3 VA for the price of one Jager. Now the cheap heaters are the most reliable, it figures LOL.

[DiscusLoverJeff]

I used the Fluval for approximately 2 days and returned it. I needed 78 degrees, it registered 78 degrees on the readout, the water was 84. Then after a couple adjustements, the water went down to 74/75, the readout said 80. I took it back and was told to try another, same thing happened with a new one, the temps were all over the place. After I purchased my Jagar, the lfs told me all their Fluvals had to be returned.

Its sad really that things like this happen especially if you have a reef or discus tank where the temps need to be more dependable. But even when I switched brands I still had heater issues.

Maybe we should all just raise our home temps to that of the aquariums and just do away with heaters, Lol.

[flyman767]

Jeff,

Where these the "E" series? I have 3 along the back of my 72G. The center is a 200 watt, the outer 2 are 100 watts each. I also have an electronic temperature probe to verify my total tank temp. All 3 "E" series and my back-up electronic probe have never swayed by more than +/- .5

[DiscusLoverJeff]

Ray, I believe they were. They were the 300 watt heaters and for the money, you would have thought a better product, but I feel I was paying more for the lcd readout instead. I was lucky enough to have a PH meter with temp readout and the same with my TDS meter. Both registered 84 when the heater was set to 78. So the +/- range was 6 degrees. I am glad I monitor my water temps 2 times a day. I got lucky.

[dbfzurowski]

I just got the new finnex HPS 200W in. I've researched everywhere and found nothing negative about these yet. Looks like a solid build, heavy and thick in feel. I like that the temperature sensor is external, works great in my sump. Now, I just hope it will last.

[gwrace]

Jeff,

Where these the "E" series? I have 3 along the back of my 72G. The center is a 200 watt, the outer 2 are 100 watts each. I also have an electronic temperature probe to verify my total tank temp. All 3 "E" series and my back-up electronic probe have never swayed by more than +/- .5

I hope this is the case. With all the Marineland heater recall issues I decided to replace all of mine with the Fluval E series. They seem to have the best warranty at 5 years, although Marineland offered a lifetime warranty on their heaters.

[ZX10R]

HI Alex,

I am using a Cascade 300 watt heater in my aged water barrel and it has worked great for me no problems as of yet. In my tanks I use the Via-Aqua titanium heaters you can pick them up pretty cheap and I have yet to have a single problem with those also. I am also using those Hydor inline heaters and they are working great. The only heaters I have ever had that gave me problems were the Jager and Marineland heaters. The Jager stuck on and the Marineland heaters never would heat up enough.

[Darrell Ward]

It's funny, but I've almost every heater brand out there fail but Jager, even titanium ones that shorted out and trashed high dollar Ranco controllers. I'm running seven Jagers at the moment, knock on wood, and all work great.

[TURQ64]

All of mine, new and old, work fine..but I've beat that drum here before...

[William Palumbo]

My first fish "fry" came years ago from one of the older, green Jager's. All brands of heaters are prone to failure...even Jagers...Bill

[kendrid]

My personal recommendation, no matter what heater you buy, is to purchase two smaller ones where in the case one gets stuck 'on' it can't cook your tank. I lost half of my fish a year ago to an overpowered stuck heater and I learned a valuable lesson. If you need 300w of heating, buy two 150s.

[alpine]

well, I have decided to give the Fluval E a good look . They are pricey but I have read some reviews and they sound very promising . Look at the finnex but have not found much info on them , think I will go with the Fluvals .
http://www.3reef.com/forums/3reef-radar/fluval-e-series-advanced-aquarium-heaters-56064.html

Roberto

[Jhhnn]

I've been using Jagers plugged into Finnex HC-0800 controllers from kensfish. I calibrate & set the Jagers to 88-90F, let the controllers do the work at a lower temp. The dial indication on the finnex isn't precise, but it's within a couple of degrees, making it easy to compensate, like with old time heaters that didn't have numbers on 'em. I do the same thing in my aging barrels, using a Ranco controller, because it has a higher current carrying capacity. the water circulates in the barrels, so they're all essentially one big reservoir.

Less expensive heaters would work too, I suspect, because their internal controls are just used as backup overheat control. They'll only open the circuit if the controller sticks on... theoretically, anyway.

[mench]

I have some old titanium 300w heaters that I got on a group buy way,way back when I was in the other forum (DAAH),before Al had this one... I think it was made by WAN or WON..I don't have any boxes or lit...but I still have them in 6 of my tanks and they are still going strong...they have to be at least 6 or 7 yrs old,maybe older.....never a problem..if anyone knows Jean from the old board,maybe she still has info on the heaters...she put together the group buy

[April]

how about sera? ive been curious about these. i was thinking of buying a bunch from aquacave. anyone use them? prices look good. still german made.

[Eddie]

how about sera? ive been curious about these. i was thinking of buying a bunch from aquacave. anyone use them? prices look good. still german made.

I picked up one to try out and it leaked internally, will not try another.


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[jimg]

I got a few I like them so far except they do not go above 86. temp is always very steady.