# Heaters: Visitherm/Stealth/StealthPro, now Jager



## sunjwd (May 31, 2007)

Just posting to share my experience.

I have a 10g freshwater. The house is heated
in winter and cooled in summer. Temps range from
67F to 74F.

Everyone recommended Visitherm Stealth so I bought a 
50W online (I think 2008). 
Online means not much service but hey these
are supposed to be good.
The Stealth stopped working after just over a year (no heat).
I gave it another chance and bought one at Big Al's. 2009.
This one quit in Sept 2010 with always-on-never-shut-off.
I called it in to Marineland and they were good enough to send me a warranty replacement after I gave them the
lot code of the heater.
The replacement was a Stealth Pro (with the indicator light).
The Stealth Pro is a new heater, replacing the Stealth.
This one died this week. It would not heat, with the indicator
always reading green (when heat is on, it shines red).
Called Marineland warranty service and again they
were nice. Told me Stealth Pro production is halted pending
a quality review, but that they would send me a Visitherm
for replacement.

In the mean time I could not wait, this being winter.
Went to Big Al's for an immediate replacement.
For heaters with good reputation, they had Stealth Pro,
Aqueon, Hydor, Eheim-Jager. All within $1-2 of $27 for
the 50W models. 
Stealth Pro has a lifetime warranty but if they fail this
quickly, it is a hassle. It is made in China

I think a couple of heaters are made in Italy, with warranty
ranging from 1 year to lifetime.

In the end I got the Eheim-Jager even though it only has a 3 yr warranty. It is made in Germany.
What I did do is buy the Big Al's in-store warranty. This means that if the heater fails I can bring it in to the store
and get a swap and not have to wait for shipping.
(For Jager I'd have to send the failed heater to Germany
and wait for them to send a replacement. The transit
time alone makes this a non-starter, never mind the
shipping fees.)
The Big Al's warranty is $4 for 3 years (matching the Jager
warranty). I'm hoping first that I won't have any problems,
and second if I do they happen within the first 3 years.


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