# Eheim 2126 heater problems



## LS6 Tommy (May 13, 2006)

*Bump*

Anybody??

Tommy


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## Jens (Apr 21, 2006)

I get the number jumping if the temp probe connector is lose. Try to clean the connection in the digit unit. just moving the connector a couple times will do too sometimes. I think you can buy a electrical connection cleaner as well.


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## LS6 Tommy (May 13, 2006)

Jens said:


> I get the number jumping if the temp probe connector is lose. Try to clean the connection in the digit unit. just moving the connector a couple times will do too sometimes. I think you can buy a electrical connection cleaner as well.


Thanks, I tried that one already. I think it's Kaput.:wink: 


Tommy


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## SuRje1976 (Feb 2, 2006)

Tommy - Please keep us posted as to how Eheim responds to your inquiry!


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## LS6 Tommy (May 13, 2006)

There's been no response yet so I sent them another note. Their website is crap. no phone #, no direct email address.

Tommy


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## EdTheEdge (Jan 25, 2007)

LS6 Tommy said:


> Their website is crap. no phone #, no direct email address.


Hey when you're Eheim you can do this stuff. I had a problem with my first 2232 about 2 years after I bought it and brought it back to Neptune's Reef here in SoCal and the guy just gave me a new one off the shelf! He said his distributor would take it back and give him a new one replace the he gave me!

Eheim may not have the best customer service but they have the best product on the market. Sad but true. Sad but true. 

Neptune's Reef on the other hand.....roud: roud: roud:

I hope you get your heater fixed ASAP.


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## LS6 Tommy (May 13, 2006)

_Eheim_ lists _Absolutely Fish _as a distributor, so they're looking into it for me. Pat said if I had bought it there he would have just ordered the part no charge, but since I didn't they're trying to expedite things for me.

Tommy


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## tazcrash69 (Sep 27, 2005)

LS6 Tommy said:


> _Eheim_ lists _Absolutely Fish _as a distributor, so they're looking into it for me. Pat said if I had bought it there he would have just ordered the part no charge, but since I didn't they're trying to expedite things for me.
> 
> Tommy


roud: for A.F. roud:


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## LS6 Tommy (May 13, 2006)

UPDATE

Jim from _Absoluetly Fish_ called me back and gave me _Eheim N.A.'s_ direct phone number. He said he had spoken to Ernesto & that I should call him. I called yesterday nad he was vry responsive. He told me that all I need do is fax him a copy of my receipt and he would send me a new thermocontroller. He also said that if I in fact need to take the filter out of service for warranty work, he had made arrangements w/Pat and Jim to get me a filter to use. 

OK, so I was annoyed by the website & the seeming lack of response, but so far all of my dealings with Ernesto have been great. I'll keep you posted.

Tommy


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## LS6 Tommy (May 13, 2006)

Fax was sent Monday morning. Let's see what happens next.

Tommy


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## kzr750r1 (Jun 8, 2004)

Nice to see a distributor getting in the mix but they should have a better support model.

Reminds me of getting Keihin North America to cough up some new buttersflys for some 42mm carbs we used for the jet skis. We made dual carb setups with single carbs but didn't install a retaining washer. Thus flattening out one side of the butterfly causing a fat mix at idle. I had no luck with the local cycle/ski shop so they gave me the Keihin NA operations number. I kept on them for months to send me what I needed till an envelope was in my mailbox with no invoice...Sometimes it pays to be persistent. He made absolutely sure that if I installed new units and sucked one into the motor I was not going to sue him.

Good luck! Stay strong.


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## LS6 Tommy (May 13, 2006)

As of 30 Mar, no response, nothing in the mail...

Tommy


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## LS6 Tommy (May 13, 2006)

I spoke to Ernesto 2 Apr 07. He said he was sorry for the delay, but the engineers @ Eheim told him not to send a replacement Thermocontroller, that it would just go bad again in a year or so. They're sending updated components for the Thermocontroller and I should get it in around 10 business days. I can't really complain as long as they're at least keeping me informed of the progress.

Tommy


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## Betowess (Dec 9, 2004)

One of my thermo units just did the same darn thing last night. Not sure if its under warranty. It was reading near 24 C or something, but I felt the tank and it was way warm. Put a thermometer in there and it was just around 80 F degrees. I also have a Hydor in there, but I didn't think it was the Hydor. I unplugged the heater on the Eheim and did a small manual water change with my auto water change setup and temp came right down and stayed down overnight with the Hydor on, and stayed at the right temp all day. I have three Hillstream loaches which are temp sensitive in there, so I have to stay on top of this. All were OK, but...

Ugh, this is bad news. I have two 2128s. I'm going to need that phone number Tommy! Can you PM me it please. TIA bob

Edit:The good news is I called Drs. F&S this morning and they are mailing out receipts of the two filters. Both were bought within a week of each other in mid August, 2006. So these heater components can fail pretty early. Customer service like this is why I like buying from Drs. F&S when the price is competitive.


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## LS6 Tommy (May 13, 2006)

Eheim North America:


C/O Ernesto
(514) 624-2229
Fax (514) 624-2227
email: [email protected]

Tommy


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## Betowess (Dec 9, 2004)

Thanks Tommy.

Talked to Earnest at Eheim and he suggested I have Drs. Foster & Smith fax over the sales receipts - he mentioned they usually do it within 24 hours. He also mentioned he is expecting the new thermostat units in 5-10 days from Eheim and would ship two over to me after they arrive. 

He mentioned he is probably going to send a RMA to return both the defective unit and the one which hasn't yet failed. 

If all goes as stated, I can't have any complaints with how this is working out, except for paying for another backup heater in case of another failure. I suppose an extra heater is smart to have around..


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## LS6 Tommy (May 13, 2006)

UPDATE-
Ernesto called me on Thursday to say that he received the redesigned thermocontrollers from Germany and that I should have mine by Monday.

Tommy


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## Raul-7 (Oct 17, 2003)

Does the heater use the same power supply cord as the filter or are they seperate? I was going to recommend using an external temperature controller on the heating element to ensure something like that doesn't happen again. I use a Ranco controller on one of my more valuable fish tanks and it works perfectly. Set and forget.


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## Betowess (Dec 9, 2004)

There is a little phone plug type connection out of the Filter which plugs into a little digital device which also connects to the temp probe in the tank. That is the unit (the little digital device) that is being replaced is my understanding. There is also another regular three prong (grounded) plug which gives power to the heating element in the filter when the digital device tells it to.

Earnesto also sent me an email asking me to fax my Drs. F&S receipts to get my two units. The Drs. were suppose to fax it, but sent it to me instead so I need to take care of that to get the new heater controler.


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## Raul-7 (Oct 17, 2003)

Betowess said:


> There is a little phone plug type connection out of the Filter which plugs into a little digital device which also connects to the temp probe in the tank. That is the unit (the little digital device) that is being replaced is my understanding. There is also another regular three prong (grounded) plug which gives power to the heating element in the filter when the digital device tells it to.
> 
> Earnesto also sent me an email asking me to fax my Drs. F&S receipts to get my two units. The Drs. were suppose to fax it, but sent it to me instead so I need to take care of that to get the new heater controler.


You mean that little thermostat that displays and controls the temperature? Good luck with the replacement.


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## whitepine (Apr 13, 2004)

I had a eheim 2126 go bad on me after a month.... a just called Dr Fosters and smith and they next day shipped me a replacement along with return postage for the old unit. I hope the "new" one doesn't crap out or make bouillabaisse of my fish and shrimp.

Cheers, Whitepine


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## LS6 Tommy (May 13, 2006)

Raul-7 said:


> You mean that little thermostat that displays and controls the temperature? Good luck with the replacement.


Yes, that's it. Ernesto wouldn't come right out and say there was a problem nor would he call it an updated design. He just kept saying "there's a 'new component' for the Thermocontroller that I am waiting for." We'll see when it comes in. I was also thinking of using an external controller like a Ranco,but hat would mean opening up the unit and bypassing the heater relay, something I'm not too keen on after hearing about some of the O-ring troubles people have had.

Tommy


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## Raul-7 (Oct 17, 2003)

LS6 Tommy said:


> Yes, that's it. Ernesto wouldn't come right out and say there was a problem nor would he call it an updated design. He just kept saying "there's a 'new component' for the Thermocontroller that I am waiting for." We'll see when it comes in. I was also thinking of using an external controller like a Ranco,but hat would mean opening up the unit and bypassing the heater relay, something I'm not too keen on after hearing about some of the O-ring troubles people have had.
> 
> Tommy


Couldn't you just set the thermostat at 85F and then plug the heater cord into the Ranco controller and set it at a temperature lower than 85F? That way it would bypass the Eheim thermostat as the therostat would sense the water is not on the desired temperature and keep the heating element on. But it looks like it could cause a couple of problems since the thermostat would continually overwork the heating element or the Ranco controller would just cut the power supply to the heating element each time it reaches the desired temperature - 78F.


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## LS6 Tommy (May 13, 2006)

Raul-7 said:


> Couldn't you just set the thermostat at 85F and then plug the heater cord into the Ranco controller and set it at a temperature lower than 85F? That way it would bypass the Eheim thermostat as the therostat would sense the water is not on the desired temperature and keep the heating element on. But it looks like it could cause a couple of problems since the thermostat would continually overwork the heating element or the Ranco controller would just cut the power supply to the heating element each time it reaches the desired temperature - 78F.



The problem is the thermocontroller doesn't function normally at all. It's not a matter of it not maintaining the proper setpoint. It rapidly rattles the heat relay on and off constantly. So even with a Ranco control, it would still rattle the relay when the Ranco was calling for heat.

Tommy


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## LS6 Tommy (May 13, 2006)

Well, as I went out the door to go to work this morning I noticed there's a box on the table in the breezeway from Eheim NA. I guess I didn't see it last night when I got home. I'll install the new Thermocontroller 2nite and post the results.

Tommy


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## Betowess (Dec 9, 2004)

I recieved word from Earnesto that my two thermocontrolers are in transit.


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## LS6 Tommy (May 13, 2006)

I unwrapped the new Themocontroller. It looks identical on the outside. I hooked it up, plugged everything in and, Whammo! It works. IIRC, the display on the old one had resolution of .5 * C. I could be remembering wrong. This one has a resolution of .1* C.

Cheers to Ernesto!

Tommy


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## Betowess (Dec 9, 2004)

Interesting. My current thermocontrolers have a .1*C resolution.


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## Raul-7 (Oct 17, 2003)

Betowess said:


> Interesting. My current thermocontrolers have a .1*C resolution.


Where is this information located?


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## LS6 Tommy (May 13, 2006)

Betowess said:


> Interesting. My current thermocontrolers have a .1*C resolution.


OK. I guess I was remembering wrong. Maybe that's just how it was reading when it went berserk.



Raul-7 said:


> Where is this information located?


On the Thermocontroller display. It reads out in a .1* C resolution such as "26.3"

Tommy


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## Snazzy (Sep 24, 2006)

I was thinking about getting this filter does anyone know if the problems have been solved with the thermostat and the o-ring?
Thanks,
~Snazzy


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## lescarpentier (Feb 2, 2008)

Snazzy said:


> I was thinking about getting this filter does anyone know if the problems have been solved with the thermostat and the o-ring?
> Thanks,
> ~Snazzy


You still hear about problems cropping up from time to time.When they fail it seems that they invariably stay on instead of off.I wouldn't trust it with my livestock for a minute.Coming home or waking up to cooked fish can be quite unpleasant.

I don't recommend them,but if you must get a ProII get a 2026,or 2028 and buy a Hydor inline heater.


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