Left heater on. Still good to use?

chub04

chub04

AC Members
Aug 23, 2016
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So I have an aquatop 75 watt heater in my 20 gal tank. I did a water change and forgot to unplug the heater. I smelt something burning and realized my heater was still running. It was out of the water for probably 3-4 minutes. It's a glass heater and around the glass looked like a burnt substance, but easily came off with water, though it kind of melted the plastic clip that was holding it to the tank. Anyways I unplugged it, cooled it off, inspected it, no cracks or leaks, put it back in and let it sit for 30-40 minutes in the water before turning it back on. It's been a few days and it seems like it's working. It shuts itself off when at the desired temp. Do you think it's still safe to use? Or should I get a new one?
 
Heaters are.. a pain in butt. They are vital to keep our fish alive and healthy so they need to be in good working order. They also have the highest failure rate of all our equipment though. A bad heater can do as little as stop turning on allowing temps to drop and a much as explode or short out and electrify the tank. To be safe, for the fish and your sake, you should replace it. I am cheap and hate wasting things but heaters is the one thing I don't mess with.
 
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Agree with the above. With ANY electrical appliance, getting it to the point where it smells hot indicates a problem. You have a limited ability to determine what has been compromised--internal wiring could be damaged, for example. Cheaper to replace a heater.
 
Agreed. I'm cheap as well so I hate having to get another heater, especially since I just barely bought this heater. But I just got a new halfmoon rosetail betta that cost me a pretty penny so I'd hate to lose him over being cheap. Just ordered myself a new heater and will be here tomorrow! Thanks for your quick responses!
 
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We've all been there. It's probably the #1 killer of heaters, with #2 being water getting in from the dial-end due to being being kept fully under water.

I keep heaters and filters on the same power strip and kill power to the strip before I do tank maintenance.
 
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FreshyFresh said:
I keep heaters and filters on the same power strip and kill power to the strip before I do tank maintenance.
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I do this as well. As a bonus it's also so much easier to flip the switch instead of having to unplug/plug anything.
 
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You can get strips that have switches for each outlet.

and personally we keep heaters horizontally towards the bottom of the tank, so they remain submerged even with a 75% WC,
 
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dougall said:
You can get strips that have switches for each outlet.

and personally we keep heaters horizontally towards the bottom of the tank, so they remain submerged even with a 75% WC,
Click to expand...

Can the aquatop GH75 be fully submerged?
 
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