i think my heater malfunctioned!!!

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mickey

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Oct 19, 2006
Messages
18
Location
Phoenix, AZ
i bought my tank and stand 3 weeks ago. it came with a filter and a heater. i haven't needed to use my heater yet, but today my water temp dropped to about 76 degrees so i plugged in my heater and set it for 79 degrees.

a few hours later, i checked and my temp was at 85??? isn't it supposed to automatically turn off once it reaches 79? does this sound like a faulty heater? it's an All Glass American brand by the way. good thing i don't have any livestock, for i'm in the process of cycling my tank. i hope it doesn't affect my LR in any way. will it?
 
Trash the all-glass heater and get a Visitherm brand. I had the same problem with the all-glass heaters. It is faulty.

Ebo also has good quality heaters.

HTH
 
I agree that something is wrong with that heater. DT told you of a good product
 
I have a faulty all glass heater. I believe it is a faulty dial setting. On my heater I set it to 74F to have it stay a steady 80F. Just do not let the water temp get too high or low quick. It should be a gradual increase or decrease.
 
thanks for the advice guys!!! i think i'll look into a Visitherm as DT stated...anyone know where i can can a good deal on one?
 
Depends if you need one now or not. LFS if you need it now or Liveaquaria.com if you can wait a week or two. Just dont wait too long and have wild temp swings. Stable is the key.
 
Your heater didn't necessarily malfunction, the dial is probably wrong on it, I have an All Glass that came with a package I purchased and got used to the dial being wrong, I set it like you use to have to with the old ones, which is to look at your temp, if you want ot go higher, turn it on until the light comes on and let it run until the light turns off, repeat until you ge to your desired temp. Once I got to the temp I wanted, I have not had any temp swings.

As for your high temp, I noticed you are in Phoenix, I would imagine it is still way above 85 there. Where is your tank, does it sit next to awindow, what is the temp in the room where it sits?

26g of water will change temps allot faster than 55gal, so I am wondering if room temp is your problem. Also, are you running a UV sterilizer or MH lights? I am also thinking the return on the HOB filter might allow the water to heat closer to ambient RT as well. Same theory as with the 26 gal tank being easier to heat up than a 55gal. You have water sitting in a smaller tank (HOB filter box) with a better chance of picking up heat than in the tank, and the thin film of water flowing, also has a chance to pick up heat. Usually not a problem for most folks, but in AZ might prove a problem if the room youhave the tank set in is above 80 or gets allot of sun.

Just spouting stuff off to try to save you from having to buy another heater just now.. Might want to check on some of those things.
 
good looking out Finatic...my tank sits about 5" away from a wall in the center of my living room, not anywhere near a window. Unfortunately, I don't have a sterilizer of MH lights yet. So far, I have been cycling my tank for about 2 weeks now and I haven't had the lights on. I turn it on once in a while to look at my rocks, but not more than maybe 10-20 mins at a time. Yeah, AZ is hot but I have my ac on all the time and my RT is about 75 degrees. I will definitely try the dial adjustments just as you and Bamboo have mentioned.
 
I thought you might have an AC' location. If you are more comfortable with a new heater, I understand, I will probably get one here soon as well. The thing I highly recommend is ONLINE purchases for equipment. Even with shipping you will come out much cheaper than in an LFS. Hate to say it, because I like the guy that runs my LFS, but I can't justify that type of price for stuff.

I like www.webaquatics.com he usually ships the same day he gets the order, or next day at latest and I have been happy with his prices and stuff. I got my PC lights from him at a good price and with no hassels when it showed up with broken bulbs.

Visitherm is a good heater from what I have read, and I have also read the Won makes a good heater that comes with a probe you put at a different spot in the tank than the heater itself.

Have fun.
 
I tried the same thing on my all-glass heater, turning the dial down. Even at the lowest temperature, it still heated the tank to over 84F. Didn't work for me, but hope it does for you. Regardless though, I would feel much much better with a heater I KNOW works, rather than one that is faulty that I need to adjust to get to work right.

Just my opinion on that though.
 
you're right DT! I tried to tinker with it but to no prevail. I turned it down all the way which I believe is like 71F and left to go lunch. Got back an hour later and temp reads 82F. I look at the heater and the light is still on indicating it is still heating the water. I guess it's time to check out Petsmart. I heard if you bring in a printed copy of their online ad, they will price match their own ad. Is this true?

I hope it is because they have their Visitherm Stealth heaters online for like $17.99.
 
I bought two Finnex 150W digital, titanium heaters and love them. They had LEDs that tell you when the heat is on and when it turns off, and a LED to tell you it is working. I have only had them for about 1-2months, so I don't know how long they work.
 
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