UPDATE: New Marineland VisiTherm Heaters Failing

[Star_Rider]

I did not read this whole tread, but I wanted to add that I also had a Marineland Stealth VisiTherm Heaters fail at almost exactly 12 months. I asked PetCo about it, they said I needed to take it up with manufacturer, which I never did. I replaced it with a Pro model, which is going fine for 4 months. It's my own fault it never contacted Marineland, but it's interesting there are so many reported issues.

My own symptoms were as follows:

(1) Heater stopped working, noticed the thermometer was reading 65 degrees one day in DEC, instead of normal 79 F. I stuck my hand in, and it was freezing.

(2) I turned the knob up and down and felt the heater come back on while heater was underwater by lightly clutching in my palm. Water was so cold I could definitely tell it kicked on, even though these heaters never get 'hot' to the touch in my experience.

(3) Assumed all was well, and checked it after an hour or two, and it was back to around 79F. I left it alone again, assuming all was well. I think I set it at 81 to get it to 79.

(4) Next day, checked again, this time it was like 85F! Unplugged and pulled heater out of tank. This thing was all over the map, and unable to either tell when it has come up to temp, or when it was time to turn on. I think I was pushing it too hard with Maine winters, and having to keep tank 20 degree F above room temp. Went to Petco and bought a Pro model, which in hindsight should probably have been a different brand.

(5) Never followed up because I didn’t realize there are many known issues with this heater. But here I am now adding a voice to the discussion in hopes they figure out what the hell is going on.


P.s. NO fish died as a result of going from 65-85 in the course of 24 hours. Or at least nothing died for another week+.

"The manager I spoke with was very nice to talk with and understanding of the distrust I now personally have for using the heaters in my tanks. She mentioned that although people may talk that something is wrong with the heaters, they actually get very, very few heaters back. So they are not seeing any evidence to support that there are a high number of heater problems. So if there are truly problems with your heaters, I urge you to go through the store you purchased them from and get them replaced so that Marineland can gather evidence of any problems. The place you purchase the heaters will then send them back to Marineland. At a minimum, send their customer service a letter to document the issues, even if it is only the fact that your heater is 4 degrees off on accuracy. They cannot resolve or fix a problem merely because a handful of people claim to be having a problem. " from Debs thread

this seems to be contrary to marinelands stance and may add to thier lack of information.
many stores would have you 'take it up to the Mfg'

and after working retail(mgr) for years can attest that some manufacturers prefer to deal directly with the customer.
they often feel they can better service their customers this way.
but like many I have 3-4 failed marineland heaters ..I have yet to send them back as this is an added cost to me that I could better use towards the purchase of a more reliable heater.

however, since they feel that this is not a common issue I may just box all the heater sup and send them to them.
saving on postage and letter of explanation.. I lost over $1000 worth of sof corals in my reef tank and the tank still has issued supporting invertebrates.. i suspect possibly the corrosion of the lead wires feeding the heater may have released a toxin possibly copper.

 

[kyryah]

Heaters have always scared the crap out of me, since I had one fail and boil my turtles when I was a kid and away for a weekend, and two others fail and boil my fish. I have honestly lost more fish from heater failure than from not using one. I keep my tanks at room temp, and my fish have so far ("so far" being about 14-15 years, lol) done fine. Of course with all my birds and reptiles, my house is kept warmer than most people's.

Kristina

 

[irishspy]

I keep my tanks at room temp, and my fish have so far ("so far" being about 14-15 years, lol) done fine. Of course with all my birds and reptiles, my house is kept warmer than most people's.

And you live in Michigan? Your heating bills must be... impressive. :eek3:

 

[pinkertd]

Even if you don't want to put the money out for shipping, at least hang on to the heaters, and write a letter to Marineland. See if they ask for you to return the heaters at their expense. The only way Marineland is going to know that there are problems is only if we tell them. And I am guilty of this as well, since after I purchased 7 new heaters and found that they were 4 degrees off, I just chose to adjust the thermostat on the heater to achieve the actual temperature I wanted.

 

[sushiray]

I sent mine back cost me $9, didn't dawn on me to ask them to pay for the rtn postage. & to this day I haven't received my replacement which btw I asked to chg to a visitherm dx.

of course they don't have much record as many just either discard the broken heater in disgust or not bother sending back due to the out of pocket add'l cost when it's only a $17-30 heater.

 

[Star_Rider]

I did contact them and shipping to them was my expense.

 

[goalieman59]

Debbi,
For you breeding tank I would recommend a reef keeper, you can get one with a probe on it to keep the temp a desired setting, if for any reason the water gets above what you have set. It will shut the power off to the heater and then turn it back on once it reaches the lowest temp set. Might cost a little to get started but for you beautiful L144's I would spend the money. As far as the heaters go I think the issues are only with the stealth model. The glass heaters made by them i have not one issue with. See my post here.

 

[pinkertd]

goalieman, i reread your thread. It is possible that I got a couple of bum heaters. What is really strange is that with two of the 300W on a 75G tank, both of them seeming to still be working fine since the red indicator light was still working, and yet still the tank dropped 10 degrees? I would think that even if one failed to get warm enough, the other wouldn't allow a 10 degree drop, it would have to run more to maintain the temperature setting. Heaters are a relatively inexpensive item when compared to the cost of the tank contents, so I would never go more than just a couple of years with these types of heaters. I usually keep my old ones for back-ups and for quickly setting up a QT or fry or sick tank. I think I purchased my heaters around November of 09....so just about the time you did. Have your replacements been accurate as far as the set temp. vs. the actual temp?

 

[rich_one]

I have skipped some of the posts in this thread... so my apologies if I missed something.

I am in the process of replacing my Stealths with Jagers. I am afraid I have lost faith in the Stealths, and it is a real shame, because at one point, I thought they were brilliant. in the past month, I have ordered 3 Jagers, and have more coming... only thing I noticed so far is that the ones in my 125 gallon tank may be off by 2 degrees or so... I have not bothered with the calibration tool on the heater yet though. I may mess around with it some this weekend. I am happy with the construction of it though... nice thick glass, and a long, heavy power cord.

anyway... here's to hoping Marineland corrects the issues with the Stealths... but since I am about to invest a nice sum of cash into discus, no way could it buy a heater I no longer trust. Jager seems to have an extremely good reputation, particularly among other discus hobbyists... so Jager it is. if anyone is looking, the best price I have seen on Jagers is at www.kensfish.com. His prices are the best I have seen.

-Rich

 

[pinkertd]

I hear ya on the trust issue Rich! My jager order went to Ken the other day.