Visi-Therm Delux Heater Cooking My Tank!

[smithw14]

Help with Visi-Therm

HELP! I am getting to my breaking point dealing with Visi-Therm heaters for my 20g long community tank. The very serious issue is dealing with the heaters over-heating the tank. I have been troubleshooting and dealing with this problem for upwards of 4 months.

In my 20g long community tank, I purchased a 50w Visi-Therm deluxe heater (http://www.marineland.com/products/consumer/con_vtherm.asp). The water temperature in the tank without a heater remains in the 60-70* F range, and I am trying to raise and keep the temp between 76-78*F. I originally located the heater in an upright position in the middle of the tank, submerged with only the red dial breaking the surface of the water. I waited 15 minutes as the directions stated before plugging in the heater. I monitored the water temperature with 2 coral life digital thermometers, one located on the left side of the tank, one located on the right side of the tank. I plugged in the heater after that 15 minute wait, with the temperature set at 77*F. On it went – alright – it was working!

From the get-go it seems I started having problems. The dial seemed to be off quite a bit. 77*F on the dial put the water temperature at 81*F. So I adjusted to try to calibrate or at least compensate. No problem, I don’t really care if the dial isn’t correct, as long as I can find and get a good steady temperature. So I adjusted down closer to 68*F, and that seemed to keep the temperature around 76*F, for the time being. I would wake up in the morning and check the temperature, it would always be jumped up to the low 80’s*F. I was shocked, and adjusted even further. Why is it doing this? I completely started over several times, turning off, waiting 15 minutes, even changing the location of the heater, closer to the bottom, left, right, up, down, horizontal, vertical, slanted, etc. Nothing worked. The temperature jumped up and down – no explanation. How does my heater not realize with a setting of 64*F that the water temperature is freaking 80*F and it needs to shut off? It seems like it gets “stuck”. On at times. I feel like I am killing my fish. So about a month ago I bought a 10g sick tank, and another 50w Visi-therm deluxe. I decided to try both of the 50w heaters in the 20g long tank. Maybe I was over-working the one 50w I had in there. So I put them on opposite sides and set them up like you are supposed to. Nope – did not do any better.

All I can find after months of searching websites and message boards online is how MUCH people praise and adore visi-therm heaters. They are so accurate and perform superbly. What am I missing? What am I doing wrong?

Thanks in advance,

William

 

[tropicalfish]

You probably got a faulty one. For a 20 gallon, I recommend a 100W. I would replace the heaters,... perhaps the one you got was a bad one.

 

[Sicklid]

You still have not mentioned trying the new heater and removing the original one from the tank... You can't expect to get a result by adding another heater while keeping the suspect one in there as well... Try just the new one and see what happens all by itself. I mean, if the problem was that the heater never shuts off, what would adding an additional heater do in regards to that problem besides making things hotter?

 

[An t-iasg]

I had a Visitherm Deluxe heater that ran hot and seemed to "stick" on. The red light was on almost constantly. I tried adjusting the knob temperature down also - like you, I didn't really care what the number on the dial said as long as I could get the heater to keep a stable 80 degrees. After about 4 mornings of taking a reading and finding the temperature at 88 or so (using a digital thermometer) I returned the heater. The store plugged it in and put it in one of their tanks. They could see that the light was staying on for a very long time and they exchanged it for me.

I have two Visitherm Deluxe heaters. The 25 watt ones work perfectly in my 2 1/2 gallon QT tanks. For my regular tanks, I have Visitherm Stealth heaters now and I like them better. They are plastic and you don't have to worry about remembering to unplug them for a water change.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I agree with An t-iasg regarding the Visi-therm Stealth. They are more accurate IME and you don't have to worry about shutting them off. They are fully submersible so you don't have to worry about the water line. It sounds to me like your heater is faulty. Replace it.

 

[squawkbert]

Chuck it, get a Visitherm Stealth

 

[Purrbox]

I had a VisiTherm Deluxe heater that worked fine for several months and then became stuck on. Once this happens you can never trust that heater again and it should be replaced. Since then I've been using VisiTherm Stealth heaters in all my tanks and have never had a problem.

 

[gu2high]

I have a new VisiTherm Stealth 250W heater in a 58 gal tank. At the beginning, I set temperature on the heater to 70F and the tank temperature is 77F (after I saw the high tank temperature I lowed the heater). Maybe the PC lights on the glass top heats the water and my room temperature is 72F, but I don't expect that much. Anyway, after several weeks and a ich heat treatment, now I set the heater to 75F and my tank temperature is still 77F.

I guess it needs to adjust the heater to both high and low temperature for a short period and then it sets to right temperature. Don't ask me why, I have no clue.

 

[smithw14]

Thanks for your replies and advice - sorry I am just now responding. Yes, I did try just the newer heater and it did the same thing. It seems to stick on one of the dialed temperature readings and just doesn't shut off. It seems that I can either keep my tank at 74*F, or then turning the dial up just one notch will pass some sort of threshold where it just goes on and stays on, reaching the high 70's to low 80's (and I am sure if I did not watch it like a hawk it would keep rising. (To clarify, these numbers I give you are not what the dial on the heater reads, just the actual temperature it holds the water at.

Thanks for your help - it looks like unfortunately I am going to have to get a new heater. I hate to spend the money, but looks like there is no other way. I'm going to try to dig up the receipts.

-William

 

[An t-iasg]

Drs Foster Smith is having a sale on Visitherm Stealths now. Return the faulty Deluxe and get the Stealth!

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=12060&N=2004+113767

 

[squeekness]

I have two Visitherm Deluxe heaters. The 25 watt ones work perfectly in my 2 1/2 gallon QT tanks. For my regular tanks, I have Visitherm Stealth heaters now and I like them better. They are plastic and you don't have to worry about remembering to unplug them for a water change.

This is a bit off topic but -- I bought one of these because my sharks kept smashing and breaking the regular glass tube ones. I was unaware that it was unneccessary to unplug these during a water change. Are you certain of this? I mean, you still have to plug it in and all that...wouldn't there still be a risk of electrocution? ( I would also recomment this heater myself, I have had no trouble with it whatsoever)

 

[An t-iasg]

This sentence is an excerpt from the Drs Foster Smith page I linked in my post above about the Stealth heater:

Shuts off automatically when out of water; restarts automatically when in water.

Since it's plastic, it won't shatter like glass can if it is exposed to relatively cooler room air while it's warm. I have done a 50% water change (so about half of the heater is exposed) and it has been fine - no damage to the heater or me while it is exposed. After filling the tank, it has started back up fine (there is no indicator light) because my temperature is always stable.

I have started a water change and felt the heater with my hand; sometimes it is warm but by the time the water level drops in the tank, I can feel that it turned off.

The risk of electrocution is very, very minimal, if any. Here is another sentence from the DrFS site: UL-Listed and one of the safest heaters available. To be absolutely safe, if you do sense that it's not keeping a stable temperature no matter how you turn the dial, or it is constantly running hot, then for the health of the fish and your own safety while doing tank maintenance, you should replace the heater, no matter what kind or brand it is.

 

[imcgary]

I Have used both The stealth and Deluxe and love them both. never had a problem with either. the oldest one is almost 3years old and still working perfectly!