Stealth heater JUNK!!

I had one go bad a few years ago. Didn't know it was leaking voltage until one day I had one hand in my tank and one in the sump at the same time. There is a ground rod in the sump, so the voltage went up one arm and down the other to the ground rod. Zowiee, checked it with a meter found 56 volts leaking. No more metal or glass heaters for me

he did a 40 gal WC after it happened .. i'm just unsure if that's enough, depending on what may have contaminated the system. the only problem i've experienced is them frying on me, never have had to deal with one completely coming apart like that.

softies, LPS, SPS, clams .. all closed up and ticked off as of this morning yet. how absolutely sickening to think of losing the entire tank over a heater malfunction .. grrr!

I feel ya with this problem!!!! mine blew a hole in the side of it last week and almost caught on fire, thank god we were home!!! p.o.s.!!!! it was less than six months old. I hate all heaters!!!!!!!!!!!!! :stupidme:

All this talk scares me....maybe time to order and Jager.

A jager on an rkl inspires confidence, hold a stealth in one hand and jager in the other and you will really notice the diff.

the ebos are on order .. i'm changing every last heater out.

That's funny all the EBO's I've owned were junk and I've had at least 10 of them. I do run a stealth right now and haven't had a problem. I guess it's like cars, you can find someone that has a problem with any car.:big_grin:

I too have had plenty of ebo jagers fail on me as well.
I haven't found a perfect heater yet. It seems my personal best luck are Marineland.

It does help to run two smaller heaters instead of one large heater, so if one fails in the ON position it wont cook the tank.

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Originally Posted by brandeewyne

i've had a terrible run of luck with the stealths also, in my own tanks as well as my fathers.

just last night i stopped by his house and he told me of the latest failure .. he heard some popping noises and finally pinpointed it to the tank, when he pulled the heater out of the sump the entire top portion came right off. every coral in his 135 is closed up. hopefully no permanent damage but only time will tell on that one.

does anyone know about the internal workings of these heaters? beyond the electrical issue should he be concerned with any type of chemical leaching into the water with all that being exposed?

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As far as I know if he is running a skimmer he should be fine. There is an oil (mineral) in the heaters but its such a small amount that the skimmer should take care of it. Copper windings in there too, but that really shouldnt cause an issue. A very very small amount possibly could get released I wouldnt worry skimmer on full and run some carbon should be good. More damage from the electricty then either of those.

i know this is totally off-topic .. but is that a Helfrich's firefish in your av?