Warning! AquaH2O heaters

[Kryofrozen]

Hi Guys,

I wouldn't normally post something like this as wear and tear and so on does occur in the equipment area, however I have had 3 X AquaH2O 300w heaters and 1 X 200w AquaH2O heater burst on me in 3 months!!! All the above were bought over a short period of time and the oldest heater was bought about 8mths ago.

My main display heater blew last night; we initially thought the lack of electricity in the house was another Eskom special, until I smelt the tell tale burning smell coming from my office where the display is situated. Thankfully there have been no visible adverse effects on my livestock or the tanks equipment.

Guys, if you have AquaH2O heaters I suggest you watch them carefully and/or replace them with another make. After have 4 burst on me, I most certainly am not going to buy them again...

Cher

 

[Alan]

Wow, thats quite hectic, thanks for the heads up.
I wonder if anybody else has suffered similar problems?

 

[AndreT]

Not really an indication of bad quality, but one time I forgot to unplug my heater during a water change and both run dry. One was some chinese brand the other was an AquaH2O. The cheap chinese one didn't break and was running dry for longer than the AquaH2O which burst.

 

[Kryofrozen]

I had a heater burst on me many years ago, which was due to my own stupidity by leaving it on and letting it run dry, thus I learnt my lesson and became paranoid!

All the AquaH2O heaters were and have always been, since installation, fully submerged in the water and have never run dry. Also the fact that they were all running for, in most cases, less than 8 mths is a factor to take note of. It is more common for a new heater to malfunction and stay in the on position than it is for them to burst for no reason!

 

[Rod]

Hmmmmm ................ I have about 50 AquaH2O heaters running at the moment, put them in the beginning of winter. No problem with them at all.

 

[Rory]

Does the electricity trip etc when they burst and are presumably flooded with water?

Just curious, I've never had a heater burst. I have a bunch of heaters though with thermostats that mean absolutely nothing...

 

[Mekaeel]

i beleive these Jaga heaters are pretty good.anyone tried them out?

 

[Peter Bee]

i got lots of those in my shop,some been running for two years, and sell plenty of them on problem
thanks
peter bee

 

[Rod]

I have sold hundreds of them never had one back. The usual problem is not letting them cool off enough and throwing cold water at them. Or ( I have done this more than once) forgetting to unplug them before removing them.
Oh by the way they are made in China.

 

[Rory]

mekaeel I have a jager heater, the only one that works properly if you ask me... You can calibrate the thermostat which is a nice touch...

 

[jacquesb]

Hi all - I also use one of them AquaH2O heaters (the 300watt one) in the sump of my tank.... I had to change the temperature a few times with the weather fluctuations we had during the last few weeks / months. Everytime I end up removing at least about 4cm of the heater out of the water, to change the heater temperature.... The little knob is hard to turn otherwise....

I have been using this heater since last year some time, and was lucky enough that the heater never failed on me, yet....

With the heater in my sump, and the heat-loss I get in anyways from the sump to the tank, I set my heater higher than usual - I use the in-tank thermometer (at the far end from my sump returns) to determine the tank's temperature... not the setting on the heater itself.....

 

[HenkHugo]

The 1st indication of bad quality is the price - they are retailing them to the public for R50 or something absurd like that.

 

[leslie hempel]

a heater is as all marine equipment not an item to be skimpped on because of price....

as our marine systems need the proper chemistry to function i view the working equipment as vital organs in the human body... you can have the best of everything else but add a cheap R49.99 heater and your whole systems future is worth only that in my eyes....

my 2c

 

[Kryofrozen]

Does the electricity trip etc when they burst and are presumably flooded with water?

Just curious, I've never had a heater burst. I have a bunch of heaters though with thermostats that mean absolutely nothing...

Yup, first a slight muffled bang and flash of electricity then the lights trip the moment the tube is flooded... Not a nice thing to see or to experience!