Clicking heater, is this normal?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Stefernini

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Jan 3, 2012
Messages
252
Location
Utah
I have been hearing clicks near my aquarium for a week and haven't been able to pinpoint the source. I thought it was the filter but ruled it out. I thought it was maybe coming from the wall behind it, like settling noises. Today I did a 50% water change and while I was moving the heater to keep it submersed, it clicked and I felt the **** thing vibrate! I don't recall ever having a heater make audible noises before and this one is brand new. I don't have fish yet, but now I'm worried that its faulty and shocking the water. Has anyone else had this happen? Is it normal for Aqueon heaters?

Its a 200 watt heater if that makes a difference.

Thanks
 
Oh and it seems to be working fine, been holding the tank steady at 85 the whole time its been in there.
 
Are there any cracks in it? That happened to my fiances tank when she forgot to turn it off before a water change the inside housing cracked and it still worked but there was a visible crack underneath the primary glass which we noticed due to an audible clicking sound.
 
Looks like I'm going to be able to start putting fish in this week. I repositioned the heater and moved the suction cups on it an the clicking has stopped. Should I trust it?

I don't want to go get fish just to have them all get shocked.

Has anyone else had this problem?
 
I had one do that a while back. I took it back to Petsmart and asked if it was normal to do that. They told me they didn't think so and to be safe they went ahead and swapped it out for me.
 
Water and electricity are a deadly combintation. Unfortunately, signs of live electricity in a tank are hard to see. Your fish will be fine, they don't get shocked. When there is live electricity you might see:
Bubbles in the water... Haha my favorite
Grey cloudy water
And a burnt odor.
Lucky for your fish, thy are not grounded so they can't get shocked. If you think you have a problem, unplug everything before you put your hands in the tank. If you don't, you will ground it out and get shocked.
 
Also one of my heaters clicks when it turns on and off. I don't know the make of it anymore but it's time is coming.
 
Thanks Hobgob, I was wondering about that. I think its good, I had my hands in there a lot this weekend and I was barefoot and didn't feel anything lol
 
Stefernini said:
Thanks Hobgob, I was wondering about that. I think its good, I had my hands in there a lot this weekend and I was barefoot and didn't feel anything lol

Haha ya I've been told never do work in socked or barefoot. I guess in gonna have to start wearing steal toes throughout the house lol
 
I just bought a new heater yesterday (fluval m150) and noticed it was clicking as well. Now I also have a m300 but I don't pay attention to it as often...
 
Unless the thermostat is kicking in you shouldn't hear audible clicks. I would remove the heater ASAP and get it replaced. Try taking it back without a receipt. Did you use a credit card to pay for it? You could try printing out your statement and take that with you too.
 
I moved the heater from a verticle to a horizontal position, checked it over for cracks, and moved the suction cup positions and the clicking stopped. Its really weird.

I braved it and put fish in anyway and so far, so good. I also keep messing around in there bare handed and bare feet on the floor without getting shocked so I think its fine. Lol
 
Unless the thermostat is kicking in you shouldn't hear audible clicks. I would remove the heater ASAP and get it replaced. Try taking it back without a receipt. Did you use a credit card to pay for it? You could try printing out your statement and take that with you too.
It only click when the heater turned on and off...
 
Resurrecting this thread because this was really frustrating for me and I couldn't find much in the way of solid answers online. Just people taking their heaters back to the store. I'm totally new to aquariums and fish so ... hi! I'll probably be back!

Anyway, after finally correlating the random popping/cracking/thunking/settling noises with the heater turning on, I think the key to this problem is just repositioning the suction cups so they aren't over the heating elements, like the OP did. I dug up the manual and it instructs you as much, to only put them over the label area, but I figured it's just a heater and instructions? ... honestly ...

And anyone who is confusing this with the internal relay clicking noise, no. This is WAY louder.
 
Back
Top Bottom