Marineland Heater Alert- Stealth and Stealth Pro's Recalled

[carey]

Just got off the phone with Petco and they are NOT taking them back here. Told me they were directed to tell people to contact marineland. Guess I'll weed through this post theres bound to be a link somewhere.

 

[neilanh]

Hmm, I wonder why I'd get the recall notice then? I'm assuming Big Al's Online knew what heater I purchased.... I'll double check when I get home but I'm almost 100% positive there is no light on the heater (can't imagine I've missed it all this time).

Big Als sent me that email as well, and I've not purchased anything from them in years. I assume that they just sent it to their entire userbase.

 

[7Enigma]

In case the light is burned out, or you can't see it (it's not very bright), the heater control knob on the Stealth PROs are clear. The heater control knob on the regular Stealth's is solid red.

Thanks Kurt! That's exactly what I needed to see. My heater is covered in beard algae but I can definitely tell that the knob is solid red. Glad to hear I don't need to deal with a recall.

 

[dkpate]

Just got off the phone with Petco and they are NOT taking them back here. Told me they were directed to tell people to contact marineland. Guess I'll weed through this post theres bound to be a link somewhere.

Some Petco's are, probably not all. You can try PetSmart or just Marineland. Go to google and type in "marineland," the website should be the first link.

 

[Scraps]

We recently bought a Marineland Visi-pro and the darn thing never shut off and barely kept the tank even warm, went to 2 diffrent shops. 1st shop- Where do you live and is it unplugged? I'm suprised it hasn't exploded yet. Scared me enough I bought another brand new one and rushed home. No mention of any recall of any sort. 2nd- shop was telling him about my adventure in heater land, he did actually ask what kind and told me about the recall. I'm $60 into 2 brand new heaters this one seems to shut off and doesn't fluctuate. Think it's okay? I've never used submersiables always used the above ones, my confidence in them was shakey to begin with now I'm scared it's gonna burn the house down.

 

[JackSpadesSI]

What are you supposed to do - leave your tank unheated while you go argue with some ignorant clerk at PetSmart??

(Please understand that I don't mean ignorant as "stupid", but truly that they would likely have no knowledge of this recall)

 

[Scraps]

That's the funny part we went to Pet Smart because our normal pet store is an hour away, and they told us that this was normal (being on all the time)! because it was 100 watt in a 30 tall. I read up on it and did find out that it was about a 25 watts under what it should be, I refused to buy one from them because they told me it was normal. That's when we went to 2 other pet stores and this began.
I've had fish before for years and I told them I was not familiar with submersiables, I feel like I was takin' for a ride I did not buy the heater from where I got the origanal, because of this. It's possiable when we bought the tank it was an honest mistake, but the only one that told me about the recall was our normal store an hour away. It privately owned place that won't sell you fish unless you take a sample of water in.
Where I bought the new heater is also privately owned place, he told me he actually had one explode in one of his tanks but I don't think he knew about the recall, because I would think he would have told me not to buy it, having tanks himself and recommended something else.
I know what are people supposed to do leave the tank unheated, or pray it doesn't explode?
Recall or whatever their calling it, product may not be up to standards. The consumer has a right to know especially dealing with live animals and the possiability of damage to your home, if you don't have a good pet store or on here someone would never know.

 

[dkpate]

You can wrap your tank up in towels while you take the trip to the store. You can even call ahead. I asked the people at PetSmart on the phone and when I went to buy dog food, they both confirmed it for me.

 

[Tim Wheatley]

The heater cannot drop below your house temp. If your house is above 70 I really wouldn't worry! The other day I forgot to turn a heater on at all and when I remembered the temp was 82 even without a heater, and that's because my lids fit so well.

 

[doogle]

petsmart sent me recall notices. they where unaware when i showed them, but quickly gave me 2 fluval m series(cost a little more than the stealth pros) for free, no probs, real probs anyway..lol

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

OK folks... it's not just the Stealth Pro heaters anymore. Read here:

Marineland Update

So for those that don't like to click links and actually read, they're recalling not only the Stealth Pro, but the old Stealth's also... the ones with just the red knob and no LED. The old Stealth models under recall start with "ETP" and include all sizes from 25W and higher.

I checked the old-style Stealth in my water storage tub, and it's an "ETP" model, and it's probably at least 3 years old.

So I take back all I said about the old Stealths not being recalled. Get rid of 'em.

 

[Batt4Christ]

Bought a brand new Stealth Pro 100watt back in early February (from an eBay retailer). It has worked well- but now I am concerned (apparently for good reason). Anyone contacted Marineland about this recall since the official notice has gone out? I assume I will be without the heater waiting for a replacement from them?

 

[Batt4Christ]

UPDATE:

Called Marineland/United Pet Group this morning regarding my Stealth Pro 100Watt heater (hadn't had any trouble out of it).

After what the automated answer indicated would be a 6-10 minute hold time, I actually spoke to a fellow after just over 20 minutes. He took my name, address, and telephone # and said that FedEx would be to my house between 9AM and 6PM Wednesday to pick up the heater (I need to box it up). After they receive the heater, I will get a refund check.

No mention of a receipt/how much I paid for it. No mention of how long it would take to get the check...

Hmmm.....

So I went out and bought a new heater - as my "back-up" was dead.

Anyone else have a recent account of dealing with this mess?

 

[Marconis]

I just got an email from Foster & Smith about the recall of the Stealth heaters. Very odd, they are all I ever used and never noticed an issue. I was just going to buy a new one, too!

EDIT- Just realized it's not the Visitherm (?) that's being recalled.

 

[dkpate]

Well great! So what are we supposed to heat our tanks with while waiting for a new heater??? Does anyone know if we can take heaters back to the pet store still? I did get an e-mail from Foster & Smith, but I just scanned through it, I guess I should go read it...

 

[Batt4Christ]

Well great! So what are we supposed to heat our tanks with while waiting for a new heater??? Does anyone know if we can take heaters back to the pet store still? I did get an e-mail from Foster & Smith, but I just scanned through it, I guess I should go read it...

Only option- either keep the room temperature at what you want the tank to stay at (no thanks), or go buy you another heater then spend refund check elsewhere.

 

[Rokuzachi]

Well that's a bummer. Guess I'll have to pull my old style Stealth and pick up a Fluval or Jager like I was going to before I saw this one on "It's an old model"-sale.

 

[librarygirl]

Thanks so much for the update! I had a Marineland Stealth Pro I just purchased a few weeks ago. Saw this thread and right away replaced it with another brand. I now have the Stealth locked in a closet until I decide whether to try to get a refund (no longer have the receipt) or just throw it out, I'm kind of afraid to handle it at this point lol. Thanks for the info!

 

[Batt4Christ]

Thanks so much for the update! I had a Marineland Stealth Pro I just purchased a few weeks ago. Saw this thread and right away replaced it with another brand. I now have the Stealth locked in a closet until I decide whether to try to get a refund (no longer have the receipt) or just throw it out, I'm kind of afraid to handle it at this point lol. Thanks for the info!

Call the number on the recall info (go to marineland.com for details- link is at bottom of main page). No receipt needed. Either way- don't use the heater! 30 something fires, and 40 something explosions convinced me to yank mine out!

 

[Batt4Christ]

http://www.marinelandheaterrecall.com/