# Exploding Heater... Pictures included



## mkblitz (Oct 12, 2011)

Not sure if this has happened to anyone before but I thought I'd share. Still not quite sure I believe it.

I was in my room working away the other night and heard a large boom from the floor below. Thinking something big had fell down, I investigated the whole house and even outside of it. Then I noticed an acrid melted plastic smell and smoke in my main floor (where the aquarium is) and prayed that there wasn't some sort of expensive electrical repair required. We followed our nose and it led us to near the aquarium (lights off at this point). As I shone my flashlight into the tank, I noticed the glass TopFin 300W underwater heater was very different.... I'll let the pictures do the explaining. 

The force of the explosion was so large that it knocked the hanging tube off of a filter and killed a nearby Siamese Algae Eater (RIP buddy). Fortunately that was the only casualty of the day. The shrapnel from the heater ended up in very sharp shards in different parts of my 44G tank. I'm really wondering how safe these things are now. 

Needless to say, I'm glad it was not my house that was on fire - but on the other hand I just can't understand how something like this could happen and am annoyed that it took out a fish along with it. I guess it could have been worse, like electrocuting my whole tank. 

Anyone have something like this happen to them?


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

any idea of the cause? like water level low and the heater not being covered enough by water?

Hopefully there were no chemicals released into the water doing more damage to fish. There might be mercury as part of the thermostat or something, so don't eat the fish.

I have only had heaters shatter when I've dropped them on the floor.


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## characinfan (Dec 24, 2008)

That is crazy. I'm sorry that your siamese algae eater died, but it's quite lucky that nothing else seems to have been hurt.

How old was the heater?


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## Y2KGT (Jul 20, 2009)

There was a similar problem a couple of years ago with the Marineland Stealth heaters that even led to a full recall by the company. Some of those heater explosions even let to blown out aquariums so I would consider yourself lucky.

Take the heater back to PetSmart. They have excellent customer service and will at least replace it for you. And perhaps give you another fish to replace yours.
--
Paul


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

Are you sure this is a top fin? It looks more like a Hagen Elite to me. I hope I'm wrong as I'm using an Elite right now.


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## mkblitz (Oct 12, 2011)

pyrollin; I think something was released into the water, the tank smelled really really toxic. I changed the water 50% and will probably do it again today. So far nothing has died but can't really be sure. Ironic because I had just changed water that day. 

The water level was fine, the heater was fully submerged (as per instructions)

Characinfan: I would say a couple years, I can't remember exactly. It's only been used these past two years because the tank housed goldfish before. 

Y2KGT: I don't have a receipt as it's been a couple of years, not sure if their policy is THAT good?

Solarz: You might be right. I'll check tonight and update.


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

any chance you forgot to unplug the heater when you did that water change before it exploded? I sometimes forget to unplug heaters and I've been lucky so far. Maybe it was on and got damaged with low water level during the wc and later finally exploded.

I would keep up with large water changes for a few days just to be safe and I would avoid buying new fish for at least a month to make sure there is no long term problems.

Once you confirm the heater type, maybe contact the company and find out what possible toxins could have gotten in the tank when it exploded. If you know what could have gotten in the tank, it might help you be able to fix it.


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## mkblitz (Oct 12, 2011)

pyrrolin said:


> any chance you forgot to unplug the heater when you did that water change before it exploded? I sometimes forget to unplug heaters and I've been lucky so far. Maybe it was on and got damaged with low water level during the wc and later finally exploded.
> 
> I would keep up with large water changes for a few days just to be safe and I would avoid buying new fish for at least a month to make sure there is no long term problems.
> 
> Once you confirm the heater type, maybe contact the company and find out what possible toxins could have gotten in the tank when it exploded. If you know what could have gotten in the tank, it might help you be able to fix it.


Thanks for the follow up, and no the heater had been unplugged for a few days already before the water change. I planned to do the wc days before but didn't get around to it. It exploded a good 7 or 8 hours after the water change.

Yeah I'll do that - the remaining fish seem fine so far; but I need to get a new heater


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

I got some heaters from petsmart, I believe they are fluval, they are metal, I have a total of 3 of these and they have been good so far, they aren't the cheapest but I am happy with them for main tanks


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## Y2KGT (Jul 20, 2009)

pyrrolin said:


> I got some heaters from petsmart, I believe they are fluval, they are metal, I have a total of 3 of these and they have been good so far, they aren't the cheapest but I am happy with them for main tanks


I don't think Fluval makes a metal heater. You're probably taking about the Fluval M series heaters which is still glass but have a mirror finish and therefore look metallic.

http://ca-en.hagen.com/Aquatic/Heating/Heaters/A781
--
Paul


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## Ryan.Wilton (Dec 12, 2012)

OH yeah, Topfin heater by the looks of it. I've had this happen before, shame about the SAE, but atleast it didn't break your tank


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## mkblitz (Oct 12, 2011)

Anyone have any experience with these?

http://www.bigalspets.com/jager-trutemp-submersible-heater-100-w.html

I'm on a really, really tight budget while I find a new job so I hope this one is reliable?


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

oh, I think they are the fluval M series, hmmm, didn't realize they were glass still, damn

the linked heater looks like a good one, the price is great to


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## Y2KGT (Jul 20, 2009)

mkblitz said:


> Anyone have any experience with these?
> 
> http://www.bigalspets.com/jager-trutemp-submersible-heater-100-w.html
> 
> I'm on a really, really tight budget while I find a new job so I hope this one is reliable?


Those are known as the best and most reliable heaters on the market. Unfortunately you're on the USA website and therefore not what you'll pay in Canada. 
--
Paul


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## aniroc (Aug 23, 2012)

They are $22.12 at Angelfins.ca 
They are good. I have two 300w on my 180g


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## mkblitz (Oct 12, 2011)

Thanks Y2KGT, I'm going to see if I can order one from aniroc's link (also thanks!)


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## mkblitz (Oct 12, 2011)

anyway, looked again and it was indeed a topfin. I ended up picking up an Eheim Jager from big als. It was a bit pricy but as long as it doesn't blow up it'll be worth it.


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## Ryan.Wilton (Dec 12, 2012)

Oh too bad, I had a spare heater lying around and I was gunna offer it to you.
Mind you its only a 50watt.


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## mkblitz (Oct 12, 2011)

Ryan.Wilton said:


> Oh too bad, I had a spare heater lying around and I was gunna offer it to you.
> Mind you its only a 50watt.


Thats very kind of you Ryan, thank you for the thought.


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## bob123 (Dec 31, 2009)

I would not buy an Ehiem Jager heater if it was the only one available as I had three of them fail in the on position and cooked my fish in three different tanks. When I contacted the company I was given a run around and told I didn't know how to use a heater, of the 20 tanks I have running the only ones that failed were the Jagers. I use Fluval M and have not had problem.


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## Jackson (Jan 30, 2009)

bob123 said:


> I would not buy an Ehiem Jager heater if it was the only one available as I had three of them fail in the on position and cooked my fish in three different tanks. When I contacted the company I was given a run around and told I didn't know how to use a heater, of the 20 tanks I have running the only ones that failed were the Jagers. I use Fluval M and have not had problem.


X2

They are trash

Only heaters I had fail on me as well

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## mistersprinkles (Nov 4, 2013)

Jackson said:


> X2
> 
> They are trash
> 
> ...


That's a shame. Ebo Jager used to be the best heater available. Then Eheim bought them out.... But I didn't know they had become this crappy.


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## catfishgurl (Aug 5, 2012)

*Heater issues*

I've just tonight swapped out my 150w aqueon pro on my 28g, as even set at 71 F, the thermometer read 84!

I've had unexplained fish losses recently and wonder if this contributed to it?

Ironically I've replaced it with a way too big 250w of the same brand, as it was my only spare. I'm now looking for a "just big enough" heater (or 2 smaller ones as suggested on another post) just in case it overheats again and poaches my fish. I can't imagine anything more heartbreaking.

Interestingly, a note on Pets and Ponds website re Jager tru temp heaters "Please note that we find ALL of our other brands of heaters to have a lower failure rate than the Jager heaters do"

I'm going to go for one of the suggested reliable heaters. Thx


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## JNSN (Nov 4, 2013)

bob123 said:


> I would not buy an Ehiem Jager heater if it was the only one available as I had three of them fail in the on position and cooked my fish in three different tanks. When I contacted the company I was given a run around and told I didn't know how to use a heater, of the 20 tanks I have running the only ones that failed were the Jagers. I use Fluval M and have not had problem.


I had the EHIEM JAGER heater too and it had almost cooked my barbs. They survived but never as active or the same since then....


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

We see from bob123's post that even reputable (or once reputable) brands can have problems. We also have a previous post saying Jagers are "known" to be the most reliable.This is something you will see often. Statements repeated take on a life of their own after a while whether they are true or not. I also recall a post on a British forum a few years ago where a Jager heater cooked about $500 worth of fish in one tank. Jager did replace the heater and gave him a cannister filter, but it didn't come close to replacing the value of the fish lost.
Regardless, cooked fish emphasize the need to not use a heater too big for the tank. If you check Jagger's wattage recommendations, they are usually lower than other brands. I still have one or two heaters from the 60s that still work, and a few that are over 20 years old, also still working. I have had some of them apart to clean the contacts, but they still work.


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

they don't make anything like they used to


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## SmokeSR (Jan 28, 2009)

Jackson said:


> X2
> 
> They are trash
> 
> Only heaters I had fail on me as well


Ditto. I had mine set to the minimum temp but it was still trying to cook my fish.


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## Greg_o (Mar 4, 2010)

I have the opposite issue with an EHIEM JAGER, it will not heat the water above ~71 degrees.


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## mkblitz (Oct 12, 2011)

where were all you naysayers earlier???


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