# BEWARE!! Marineland Stealth Pro Heater



## tnsser

Sitting on my couch today and BOOM! The side of my 75g tank blows out all over the place. The heater exploded like a bomb. If you are using one I would stop. It has been fine for 6 months and all the sudden it does this. No deaths be cause the only fish in the tank was a 8" Red Devil. It is a tough fish I had to throw him in a bucket of water. I have contacted Marineland. Just wanted to give everyone a heads-up. Sorry for the crap pictures but it was the only camera I had at the time.


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## CL

Whoa! This isn't the only thread recently about bad stealth heaters.
I'd make them buy you a new tank. Hope you got the mess under control.
At least the Vols won, eh?


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## Green Leaf Aquariums

Dont they have a recall on those?


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## tnsser

Green Leaf Aquariums said:


> Dont they have a recall on those?


I looked online but couldn't find one.


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## macclellan

CL said:


> At least the Vols won, eh?


Yeah it was sweet I was at the game. 

sucks about that heater.


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## adroit

Yeah the safety shut off for all stealth heater I've tried doesn't work too well, which is about 7 of them. Every time I do a water change, when the water falls below the position of the heater, the heater is still on regardless. Sometimes it gets so hot I can smell the plastic.


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## squirrelcrusher

Wow that is crazy! I replaced the stealth in my 55 when I redid it, but I still have marineland heaters in 2 other tanks. I think I might look into swapping them out in the near future.


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## tkblazer

hmm thats not any good, i just bought one... hope they cover your tank


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## hydrophyte

They musta had the same guy designed the Prius gas pedal put that one together.


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## CL

hydrophyte said:


> They musta had the same guy designed the Prius gas pedal put that one together.


buh dum
psh
:hihi:

Can we get some pictures of the exploded heater?


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## Minsc

Weird, who knew such a thing could even happen!

I have had two stealth heaters fail on me last month, one on (cooked a couple fish),
one off (no deaths, just some lethargic, sad looking fish). Neither heater was new, they were both a couple years old, so not completely unexpected I guess.
I think I'll be giving my future heater purchases to another company.


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## i love planted tanks

yeah ,that is ridiculous.they should re inverses you some how,a new tank or some$$$.....75gal tank,WOW!


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## TLE041

Scary. I have the exact heater in my tank right now.


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## cawnov

Stealths are junk. I had one go out after one week and then returned it for another that is off by 4 degrees


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## FSM

adroit said:


> Yeah the safety shut off for all stealth heater I've tried doesn't work too well, which is about 7 of them. Every time I do a water change, when the water falls below the position of the heater, the heater is still on regardless. Sometimes it gets so hot I can smell the plastic.


So instead of taking the time to unplug it, you continue to run the risk of a heater exploding while your arms/face are potentially in the tank?


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## Scipio

Holy crap red alert and WTF!!!!

I have 3 of those freaking heaters in my shrimp tanks. I mostly keep them in my shrimp tank for stability. I keep my temps at 72F in my 10g 20g and 26g. This is scary cause I have Blue tigers. crs/cbs, dark greens and CPOs.

I usually unplug the heaters when doing a water chance but lately I have not.


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## SCU33ZE

I bought a 200 Watter for my 40G. The heater dial feels cheap as can be. Mine was of by 4 degrees also and the green light annoyed me at night. Very unnecessary, overdone IMO. It lit up my whole room and I like DARK. I returned it and went with a hydor inline. Its leagues better than this [email protected]#$.
Also do not buy Marinelands VISI THERM DELUXE. I bought 3 for my 12 gallon. All of them stuck on. Hopefully Marineland fixes this mess. Also one should not rely on the AUTO off feature of any heater. The heater will still heat up until it notices its too hot and then shuts down potentially warping plastic or something. I always shut off any heater regardless when doing water changes.
J.A


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## Left C

tnsser said:


> Sitting on my couch today and BOOM! The side of my 75g tank blows out all over the place. The heater exploded like a bomb. ... No deaths be cause the only fish in the tank was a 8" Red Devil. It is a tough fish I had to throw him in a bucket of water. ...


What did the fish do when it happened? Did it poop all over the place or maybe try to jump out? :icon_eek:


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## Chrisk-K

This is not good. Although I've always used Rena Smart Heaters, I somehow bought my first Stealth heater (75w) for a QT last week. It's off by 4 degrees. I have to set it to 80 to get 76. My Rena's are dead accurate.

Edited to add: Yes, the green LED is annoying and the heater dial feels very flimsy.


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## StillLearning

You have pics of the heater cause it looks fine in the pics. The top pic it looks like the heater in the back with no damage and the last pic dont look like it has damage either. 

The second pic it looks like the rock hit the glass cause its almost the height of the spider in the glass. If you look at the rock right next to it is where the glass was hit you see all the spidering going to that point..


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## tnsser

Yeah I will post pics of the heater today.I have to get some batteries for my good camera. The heater is shredded. This was not caused by a rock trust me. It was an explosion that sent 4" pieces of 1/2" glass across the room. My kids were not home and the glass didn't hit my TV so that is good. My floors are ruined.


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## trailsnale

Any thoughts on how this happened? Seems odd that so much pressure was generated to overcome the water pressure and break 1/2" glass... any engineers(?) out there care to enlighten me?


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## snafu

i've recently had issues with a stealth pro as well. it's been a couple weeks, and i'm still waiting for them to ship my replacement. my patience with them is starting to grow rather thin. http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/e...h-heater-issues.html?highlight=stealth+heater

since this happened to me, i've been checking out the net for similar issues. the thermostat issue when out of water is extremely common. i think the thermistor or whatever they are using for temp measurement is not reading the temp quick enough for shutoff. maybe it's because of placement within the unit or a thermal capacitance issue. so it can read the temp correctly when the changes have long time constants, but big heaters heat up rather quickly when out of water. contrary to what it says on the package, do NOT let the heater run when out of the water.

i think the other issue may be voids in the epoxy fill. this would be more of a manufacturing issue. trapped air expands when heated and can build up enough pressure to cause local breaches or in the worst case situation - complete failure. the constant expansion and contraction of the pocket when the heater cycles ON and OFF probably doesn't help with structural integrity either. my heater only developed a small bulge and crack. the molten epoxy started to come out and smoked like crazy (we are talking lots and lots of smoke). my initial thought was that 'my actual aquarium has caught on fire but how can that be'? since smoke was pouring out from the inside of it. for what it's worth, new stealth heaters are now made in china.

_*Disclaimer:* these are just my hypotheses, since i know nothing about the design and manufacturing of the unit. i can only guess. so don't take anything i say as fact._


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## charlie11

Wow ... they buying a new tank for ya .. that BLOW's


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## charlie11

since smoke was pouring out from the inside of it. for what it's worth, new stealth heaters are now *made in china*. sucks i hate china products


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## hbosman

I have two Stealth heaters that aren't the Pro models. Besides my Hydor Inline, they are the most accurate heaters I've ever owned. The only thing annoying about them is, they didn't have an led or light to indicate when they were on. I would do a 50 % water change without unplugging them first and that was never a problem. I suppose something was lost in quality when they "upgraded" it to the Stealth "Pro". Maybe it has something to do with adding additional features into the same space. You know, putting 10 pounds of &*#@ into a 5 pound box. As far as it being made in China, look at where your Sony TV, Dell or HP computer is made. It wasn't made in the USA or anywhere in Europe. If it wasn't made in Malaysia, Indonesia or Taiwan, it was made in China.


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## snafu

my goal wasn't to knock chinese products, although i have definite opinions about them. older visitherm products were made in italy (even the old stealths were made in italy). if you move a long running production to another country, there will be differences. even if you use the exact same parts, there can be differences in the way things are manufactured and inspected that affect quality and reliability. now, compound that with a new design. it's been said that you should never buy a first year model of a new car design because there may be issues that still need to be worked out. apparently, this is the case.


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## Sigmar

let us know what they say and going to do about it


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## kyle3

That's a devastating PIA! I hope they are able to replace your tank and at least put something towards the damage to your floor. They should be thankful they aren't being sued for injuring you or your children. It's truly lucky you were there to save your fish too. I'm glad there was no loss of life. 

Hope getting everything back to working order goes sas smoothly as possible!

cheers & good luck!-K


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## BeavisMom62

Holy cow! I have 7 tanks and have 3 Visatherm Stealths and 3 Visatherm Deluxe! How devastating for you! 75 gal of water! We recently had a 10 gal tank blow out, but it was because it was a used tank that I got at Goodwill. Even though we had tested it before hand and even used it before, somehow there was a crack we didn't see and it blew out. Thankfully we have stone floors and no damage, but I can't even imagine the damage 75 gal of water would do. Never had any trouble with my heaters (yet) except I do have to have some of them set a little higher so that the temperature in the tanks is where I want it to be, but maybe because its winter and cold in the house?


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## husonfirst

Yikes, 75 gallons of water ended up on the floor? The explosion happened spontaneously? I hope Marineland takes care of things.

I have a Visitherm Stealth that has been working flawlessly. I also have the newer Stealth Pros as well. Reading about the problems some people are having with the Stealth Pros makes me nervous about using them.


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## TheRac25

StillLearning said:


> You have pics of the heater cause it looks fine in the pics. The top pic it looks like the heater in the back with no damage and the last pic dont look like it has damage either.
> 
> The second pic it looks like the rock hit the glass cause its almost the height of the spider in the glass. If you look at the rock right next to it is where the glass was hit you see all the spidering going to that point..


yeah my guess is the fish did it, seen oscars break tanks like that


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## CL

trailsnale said:


> Any thoughts on how this happened? Seems odd that so much pressure was generated to overcome the water pressure and break 1/2" glass... any engineers(?) out there care to enlighten me?


my guess would be that water got into the heater, and instantly turned to steam, thus causing the explosion.


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## tnsser

This was no rock. It sounded like a shotgun went off in my den. Here is whats left of the heater. Took a picture of the tank and one of the glass shards found about 30ft away. Last one shows how the heater was sitting in the tank. If you are using one of these you need to stop. I understand products can fail but when they do the maker better stand behind the product. I will let everyone know how Marineland fixes this problem.


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## StillLearning

From looking at them pics and looking at the damage to the heater I would think more glass would have blown out. Do you have GFCI outlets?


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## CL

Guys, it's definitely possible for a heater to do that. No need to play CSI and try to defend Marineland. Products fail, especially those mixing extreme heat, electricity and water.


trailsnale said:


> Any thoughts on how this happened? Seems odd that so much pressure was generated to overcome the water pressure and break 1/2" glass... any engineers(?) out there care to enlighten me?


also, water doesn't compress, so any pressure put out by the heater would transfer to the glass.

If the pressure contained in a thin 2L bottle can do this to 1/8 thick steel, and really thick glass, it wouldn't take to much to understand how a few hundred watts of electricity can break 1/2 inch glass


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## StillLearning

CL said:


> Guys, it's definitely possible for a heater to do that. No need to play CSI and try to defend Marineland. Products fail, especially those mixing extreme heat, electricity and water.


No one is defending them at all. I dont use there products so it dont really matter but looking at the pics and looking at the tank something dont seem right. I would figure the top to blow off before the side of it.


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## hydrophyte

I have never liked using submersible heaters, but I have many of them.

Somebody ought to develop an alternative. Would it be possible to heat through the glass using a heater that attaches from the outside of the tank?


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## FSM

This reminds me of Apollo 13 (I just read the book)

The auto-shut off for the oxygen tank heater failed, so it exploded.


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## tnsser

StillLearning said:


> No one is defending them at all. I dont use there products so it dont really matter but looking at the pics and looking at the tank something dont seem right. I would figure the top to blow off before the side of it.


Are you kidding? You think I am making this up? Why would the top blow off when the plastic could just split and explode. Anyway. I repeat this heater exploded and sent glass fragments across the room. Believe it if you want but it is the truth. I have more pieces to the heater in a box. You can see here where it split. The picture of the mushroom shaped metal piece is what I found laying on the sand inside the tank. I would like to see a blueprint of the inside one of these heaters,


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## StillLearning

tnsser said:


> Are you kidding? You think I am making this up? Why would the top blow off when the plastic could just split and explode. Anyway. I repeat this heater exploded and sent glass fragments across the room. Believe it if you want but it is the truth. I have more pieces to the heater in a box. You can see here where it split. The picture of the mushroom shaped metal piece is what I found laying on the sand inside the tank. I would like to see a blueprint of the inside one of these heaters,


Something just dont sound right is all im saying and from looking at the pics it looks like something hit the glass. I would think the plastic top would pop first because the body of the heater looks like its molded plastic which is pretty strong... Post a front shot of where the heater exploded. Would be nice to see what the inside of it looks like.


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## CL

StillLearning said:


> Something just dont sound right is all im saying and from looking at the pics it looks like something hit the glass. I would think the plastic top would pop first because the body of the heater looks like its molded plastic which is pretty strong... Post a front shot of where the heater exploded. Would be nice to see what the inside of it looks like.


I am a bit confused as to why you would think that this is a hoax?
It's definitely possible. Something doesn't necessarily _have_ to hit the glass for it to break. The pressure wave from the heater exploding would transfer pretty well through the water to the glass. Kinda like a depth charge.


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## StillLearning

CL said:


> I am a bit confused as to why you would think that this is a hoax?
> It's definitely possible. Something doesn't necessarily _have_ to hit the glass for it to break. The pressure wave from the heater exploding would transfer pretty well through the water to the glass. Kinda like a depth charge.


Cause it looks like the rocks hit the glass which is why I asked. If it exploded that bad you would think the fish would be dead as well if it was like a depth charge. Or else you would think from the electric it would of killed the fish.


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## CL

StillLearning said:


> Cause it looks like the rocks hit the glass which is why I asked. If it exploded that bad you would think the fish would be dead as well if it was like a depth charge. Or else you would think from the electric it would of killed the fish.


You would expect the fish to be dead, and the point of the rock is right at the glass, but the heater definitely exploded (from looking at the pictures), which could have caused a rock slide. The heater simply causing a rock slide would mean that it could have been a smaller explosion than would be needed to break the glass, thus the fish wouldn't have had to endure such a large pressure wave.


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## StillLearning

CL said:


> You would expect the fish to be dead, and the point of the rock is right at the glass, but the heater definitely exploded (from looking at the pictures), which could have caused a rock slide. The heater simply causing a rock slide would mean that it could have been a smaller explosion than would be needed to break the glass, thus the fish wouldn't have had to endure such a large pressure wave.


Which is what made me question the whole thing when the fish lived. I just dont see how it made it through the shock from electric or the depth charge which is what it would of been like if it sent glass fragments across the room. They will question it even more then me if hes trying to get a new tank though.


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## FishyFishyFishy

I have the same heaters in my tanks. I think it's safe to say that they will be replaed this week. Wanted to try those fluval heaters ayway this way i have a reason to buy a new heater.


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## tnsser

The rock did not hit the tank. The breaker flipped at some point after explosion. 

I bet this will not be the last time this happens.


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## tnsser

StillLearning said:


> Something just dont sound right is all im saying and from looking at the pics it looks like something hit the glass. I would think the plastic top would pop first because the body of the heater looks like its molded plastic which is pretty strong... Post a front shot of where the heater exploded. Would be nice to see what the inside of it looks like.


Not if the plastic started to split.


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## Minsc

:icon_eek:
That is one seriously blowed up heater!
Just be glad you weren't doing any tank maintenance at the time.

Hopefully Marineland reimburses you for everything, that is really scary.


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## StillLearning

tnsser said:


> The rock did not hit the tank. The breaker flipped at some point after explosion.
> 
> I bet this will not be the last time this happens.


And the fish lived? You would think the shock or the explosion would have killed it. To send glass fragments (4" pieces of 1/2" glass) across the room it had to be pretty powerful.



tnsser said:


> Not if the plastic started to split.


So what would have caused this which is what has me puzzled. Im sure if your looking to have the tank and the floor fixed they will indeed do test on it and inspect it before they just pay out any money. I just cant put two and two together for some reason.


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## tnsser

StillLearning said:


> And the fish lived?


Yep. The explosion. Dropped in the floor twice when I was getting him a bucket full of untreated tap water to put him in.




StillLearning said:


> So what would have caused this which is what has me puzzled. Im sure if your looking to have the tank and the floor fixed they will indeed do test on it and inspect it before they just pay out any money. I just cant put two and two together for some reason.


That is why I kept every piece I could find from the heater. I want them to inspect it to find out why this happened. Imagine if this had happened in my 150g. I do not want this to happen to anyone else. That is really the only reason I posted. Not to prove my case. Take it for what it's worth.


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## James77

StillLearning said:


> From looking at them pics and looking at the damage to the heater I would think more glass would have blown out. Do you have GFCI outlets?


Why would more glass have blown out? It is not like a stick of dynamite needs to explode next to glass for it to fail. The glass is already under pressure from the tank water. Having a heater "pop" would be enough of a kick for the glass to fail- probably similar to tapping it with a hammer. 

I really doubt a GFI outlet would have prevented that.



StillLearning said:


> And the fish lived? You would think the shock or the explosion would have killed it. To send glass fragments (4" pieces of 1/2" glass) across the room it had to be pretty powerful.


The heater failing/popping open did not send the glass shard across the room, the heater simply broke the glass. When 1/2" or so glass breaks with a good amount of force behind it(water), it is going to break outwards, not fall directly onto the ground.


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## joestreich

that is one of the craziest thing i have seen. i can see stilllearning's point about the pictures not "looking" quite right, however, those are just pictures and sometimes we dont see the whole thing or the right angle in pictures. i am glad to hear that no one was hurt. too bad about your losses, cause i doubt you will get much from the manufacturer.

CL, thanks for posting the exploding bottle.

keep us posted as to what happens.


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## bsmith

Still learning... Have you ever been Bass fishing??? I dont go tht much but after seeng fish with hooks in their eyes, faces and other parts of the body I find it completely believable that this fish lived a red devil is a large chiclid...like a bass pretty much. This dudes heater EXPLODED IN HIS TANK. So could you please leave it be, or start your own thread about how you think its a hoax.


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## hydrophyte

Hey I don't mean to derail this thread but what do you all think of heating with one of these infrared heaters by just pointing it at the tank?

http://www.westcoastpetsupply.com/2/Zoo-Med-Ceramic-Infrared-Heat-Emitter/

Would that work?


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## kyle3

Stilllearning:

It's great the fish survived but not amazing. think about all the shorted out heaters sending current thru tanks; the fish aren't grounded so they don't get electrocuted.  And the action being similar to a depth charge does not mean that it has equivalent power to harm the fish. If the fish had been right next to it he might well have been shocked- like when people fish with dynamite; the fish aren't killed by the charge just stunned. So if the fish was on the opposite side of the tank and it was a less intense sort of depth charge it's perfectly possible for it to live.

Also i work at an LFS. We use lots of stealth heaters in our MANY tanks and i've seen at least 8 in the last 10 months that have cracked or developed heat melting sort of holes in the same part of the heater that the OP's heater gave way. I've never seen one where the top popped off. You're simply incorrect in thinking that a more likely scenario.

tnsser: once again, i hope Marineland does the right thing and you don't have any trouble getting them to help you out.

cheers-K


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## bsmith

Probly not, just dont think it would be powerful enough. Have you ever felt an aquarium heater when its in use? They really get super hot. 



hydrophyte said:


> Hey I don't mean to derail this thread but what do you all think of heating with one of these infrared heaters by just pointing it at the tank?
> 
> http://www.westcoastpetsupply.com/2/Zoo-Med-Ceramic-Infrared-Heat-Emitter/
> 
> Would that work?


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## jreich

this sounds like a case for myth busters! well i'm glad you and all your fishies made it safely. i really hope marineland does not give you a hard time.


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## tnsser

Thanks everyone. I just want to be get my money back for the heater. *language removed* I just hope these heaters are fixed.


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## tnsser

jreich said:


> this sounds like a case for myth busters! well i'm glad you and all your fishies made it safely. i really hope marineland does not give you a hard time.


Good idea! Lets start emailing them to see if they will do it.


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## jreich

tnsser said:


> Good idea! Lets start emailing them to see if they will do it.


 whats the address for the mythbusters fan site? i'd be more then happy to email them.


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## tnsser

jreich said:


> whats the address for the mythbusters fan site? i'd be more then happy to email them.


Go here----> 

http://community.discovery.com/eve/forums/a/frm/f/9701967776

Thread started.


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## kyle3

we should all email marineland too so they know there's more than one customer they stand to loose over this.

cheers-K


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## Powchekny

Now I'm scared. I have 2 150 watt stealths in my 40 gallon tank.

tom


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## kcrossley

I'm setting up a new tank and because of this thread I just removed the Marineland Stealth heater from my shopping cart and replaced it with a Theo. Marineland better jump on this quick.


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## eht123

Scary indeed. The photos are quite conclusive, IMO.

A bit OT, but I get the impression that heater quality has gone down quite a bit industry-wide in the last few years. The old Visitherm heaters I had were some of the best ever. But more recently, all three of my Rena smart heaters have failed, all less than six months old. One just quit completely. The other two have such poor temperature control as to be unusable. And my room temp is within a few degrees of my desired tank temps, so these heaters had a pretty low duty cycle...


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## DavidZ

Wow
crazy


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## Sierra255

Powchekny said:


> Now I'm scared. I have 2 150 watt stealths in my 40 gallon tank.
> 
> tom


One thing I feel that needs to be clarified is that the incident in this thread was caused by a Marineland Stealth Pro heater. I have yet to hear of anything anywhere near this serious happen with the Stealth (not the Pro, the black plastic one with the red dial). I wonder if there is something with the design or construction of the Pro that lead to such a catastrophic failure. I have heard of the plastic splitting and cracking on the Stealth, but nothing like this. 

I think it would be a good idea for people to post up if they've had any issues with Marineland Stealth and Stealth Pro heaters (be sure to make it clear which one you're talking about). When I bought my Stealth, I heard nothing but good things about them and it has worked fine from day one (not like that Aquatic Gardens piece of junk heater that almost cooked my fish the first night). My hypothesis is that the Pro is the one with the potential issue, not the regular Stealth.

I also want to make the point that not unplugging a heater prior to a water change is probably not a good idea, even if it says it has an auto shut off. These things are not meant to be used out of the water. I would also like to use the feature as a safety valve in the event of an emergency, not as a routine practice. I think that's the manufacturer's intention as well.

To the OP, please keep us updated as to how Marineland responds. A good company should stand behind its product and make things right by covering the damages caused by the failure of it. It will be interesting to see how they respond, and I would definitely push for at least a new aquarium to replace the one the heater broke.


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## tnsser

Post here to get this idea on Mythbusters

http://community.discovery.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/9701967776/m/30319865401


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## adroit

I think this only effects the Stealth pro heaters, because I've had the old one before and they would turn off "quicker" when doing water changes vs. these. For the Stealth pro, I would notice the hot plastic smell, and steam hitting the heater as the water descend.


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## barnesat

*Stealth Pro*

New to the forum and honestly only found it because this exact same heater explosion happened to me. I have had the stealth pro for 2 weeks, and left town for a couple days. I returned to find my reef tank all cloudy and the corals all closed up. Looked closer, and my shrimp, snails, and even copepods were all dead. My anemones and several fish also dead. All said and done the heater exploded in my sump, didn't break any glass, but after running tests on the water the inside of the heater must contain copper as well. The copper killed all my corals. I now have 2 clown fish, 2 chromis, a few snails, and my firefish. None are acting right. I lost $1,000 in corals and fish. Not happy. I emailed marineland and haven't heard anything. I am calling tonight. It is really devastating and to be honest the people questioning this thread or that his tank broke because of this are kind of insulting. I feel sorry for anyone this happens to. WE all put a lot of time, money, and heart into our tanks. Be compassionate people. My heater looked almost identical to his photos and it split right down the side. I am still trying to decide if I want to quit the hobby. Marinelands response will go a long way to determining that.

Thanks and take care all.


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## Aquarist_Fist

Sierra255 said:


> I think it would be a good idea for people to post up if they've had any issues with Marineland Stealth and Stealth Pro heaters (be sure to make it clear which one you're talking about). When I bought my Stealth, I heard nothing but good things about them and it has worked fine from day one (not like that Aquatic Gardens piece of junk heater that almost cooked my fish the first night). My hypothesis is that the Pro is the one with the potential issue, not the regular Stealth.


I bought a Stealth Pro about 6 months ago and gave it back the next morning because it didn't work properly (heated and stopped randomly). I got a Stealth (non-pro) as a replacement, which has worked flawlessly since.


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## tnsser

barnesat said:


> New to the forum and honestly only found it because this exact same heater explosion happened to me. I have had the stealth pro for 2 weeks, and left town for a couple days. I returned to find my reef tank all cloudy and the corals all closed up. Looked closer, and my shrimp, snails, and even copepods were all dead. My anemones and several fish also dead. All said and done the heater exploded in my sump, didn't break any glass, but after running tests on the water the inside of the heater must contain copper as well. The copper killed all my corals. I now have 2 clown fish, 2 chromis, a few snails, and my firefish. None are acting right. I lost $1,000 in corals and fish. Not happy. I emailed marineland and haven't heard anything. I am calling tonight. It is really devastating and to be honest the people questioning this thread or that his tank broke because of this are kind of insulting. I feel sorry for anyone this happens to. WE all put a lot of time, money, and heart into our tanks. Be compassionate people. My heater looked almost identical to his photos and it split right down the side. I am still trying to decide if I want to quit the hobby. Marinelands response will go a long way to determining that.
> 
> Thanks and take care all.


Sorry to hear. 

It has caused $3000 worth of damage to my floors. I turned it in to my Homeowners ins. and they are going to cover the damage after I pay my $500 deductible. They are going to contact Marineland for me and see about recovering the damages. I have not heard from Marineland either. I will also call them tomorrow. Please take pictures of the heater and all the damage. You can also contact me via PM and maybe with can trade info. I think it would go a long way with helping get this resolved.


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## kcrossley

tnsser,

Not to stick my nose in your business, but I contacted Marineland yesterday via email and directed them to this thread hoping it might help you resolve your issue quicker, help protect other owners who may have faulty equipment, and even help Marineland avoid additional embarrassment or even worse, lawsuits. 

I've heard Marineland is a good company. I'm hopeful they'll do the right thing and help you and barnesat out, and, if this problem is widespread enough, issue a recall for the safety of other aquarist. 

Good luck,
Kelly


----------



## tnsser

kcrossley said:


> tnsser,
> 
> Not to stick my nose in your business, but I contacted Marineland yesterday via email and directed them to this thread hoping it might help you resolve your issue quicker, help protect other owners who may have faulty equipment, and even help Marineland avoid additional embarrassment or even worse, lawsuits.
> 
> I've heard Marineland is a good company. I'm hopeful they'll do the right thing and help you and barnesat out, and, if this problem is widespread enough, issue a recall for the safety of other aquarist.
> 
> Good luck,
> Kelly


Thank you. I want people to be concerned.

I love Marineland products. Thats why I bought the heater. I think the design of the heater is flawed, not the company.I am just waiting on their reply. I am not posting this to bash the company but to warn people about this problem.


----------



## shane3fan

GREAT. I have two Pro Stealth heaters sitting in my storage room waiting to go in my 50 gallon build. Now Im concerned that I have made a bad purchase. I will follow this thread for updates. Let us know if you hear from Marineland.


----------



## barnesat

*Stealth Explosion*

I called Marineland last night and they said their heaters have a lifetime warranty. They didn't care where I bought it or anything, but they did ask how long I had it. They want me to take inventory of what I had in the tank, get the LFS to assign value to everything, and then mail them the estimate on the livestock, the heater, and the pictures I took and he said they will take care of me. The guy I spoke with was really nice and helpful. He said they are a fair company and they will make things right. So I imagine they are going to cut me a check for the corals and fish I lost and send me a new heater. Thats really all I could ever ask for. He said they don't cover sand or rock because it can be rinsed and will be ok. I also asked him about the inside of the heater because I put a filter that pulled copper out of my water and he said they absolutely have copper in them. So if anybody does have one break like we did then please be mindful of this. Corals and copper don't mix. He said they would take about 4 weeks and try and figure out what caused the heater to malfunction. So it sounds like they are being proactive about it and trying to figure out what is going wrong with these. I never did get a response from the email I sent last Friday, but like I said they seemed very nice and very helpful. So don't hesitate to call them. I am glad your homeowners insurance is going to cover everything. Be careful everybody and thanks for the support.


----------



## bradac56

The Stealth lines of heaters have lifetime warranties it's just a matter of calling them for the replacement if something goes wrong, I've done it before.

Yes it was a bad experience but people need to calm down, it was one heater malfunction not five hundred let alone something like the Toyota, Ford, and GM recall's.

- Brad


----------



## tnsser

Just got off the phone with them and they are going to cover all my damages. including replacement of floor. They will keep my business and are going to stand fully behind their product. Great to see.


----------



## bradac56

Good to hear, I've always like Marineland's stealth heaters (I have lots of them and the old jag's).
I've had to call to replace two of there heaters over the years, nothing like this they just stuck in the off position so no harm done but they replaced them without questions or delays.

- Brad


----------



## Sierra255

It's great to hear that they are stepping up to the plate to cover the damages caused by the heaters. It's so rare to see these days.


----------



## soundtweakers

first of all, it's awesome that Marineland resolved the issues professionaly, it's so rare to see a company like this nowadays.

My own experience with Marineland has been positive as well. They had promptly replaced two of my 2+ yrs old visi-therm stealth heaters(all of my heaters are the older style stealth). The third one failed to turn on this year and they replaced it with the pro model(one with the red/green LED). 

We should keep this thread going until Marineland release a statement regarding this issue. There are many of us stealth heater user who's never had major issues with it who find themselves very concerned now.


----------



## DKShrimporium

hydrophyte said:


> Would it be possible to heat through the glass using a heater that attaches from the outside of the tank?


It's called flexwatt.


----------



## thrak76

tnsser said:


> Just got off the phone with them and they are going to cover all my damages. including replacement of floor. They will keep my business and are going to stand fully behind their product. Great to see.


That is awesome news!

I've had nothing but good experiences with Marineland, myself. I had some cracked fittings and what-nots on a filter or two, and they replaced them, basically no questions asked. 
I will definitely take your story under advisement though. I'm transitioning now towards inline heaters anyhow. 

Again, great to hear that Marineland is covering your damages.


----------



## kcrossley

bradac56 said:


> Yes it was a bad experience but people need to calm down, it was one heater malfunction not five hundred let alone something like the Toyota, Ford, and GM recall's.
> 
> - Brad


Agreed, but it was an explosion, which makes it more serious, especially when the force is strong enough to shatter glass.


----------



## kyle3

Very pleased to hear that Marineland has handled the problem so beautifully. it is truly rare to find a company whose conduct is so responsible. I too will remain a Marineland customer, with the knowledge that my business is appreciated and i will be taken care of as a customer.

Cheers-K


----------



## James77

tnsser said:


> Just got off the phone with them and they are going to cover all my damages. including replacement of floor. They will keep my business and are going to stand fully behind their product. Great to see.


Wow. That is very decent and respectable for them to do that. They sure did not waste any time deciding on it, it happened only a couple days ago. :icon_smil


----------



## kcrossley

James77 said:


> Wow. That is very decent and respectable for them to do that. They sure did not waste any time deciding on it, it happened only a couple days ago. :icon_smil


My company does some public relations work from time to time and I can tell you quick responses are essential for handling this kind of issue. Just look at what Toyota is going through, all because they ignored the problem. 

Now, I feel guilty for replacing the Marineland heater I was going to purchase with a Theo.


----------



## PDX-PLT

Read aquarium forums long enough, and you'll see threads to the effect of "don't buy these heaters, they're junk" for just about every model of submersible, <$30 heaters. Why? Because you get what you pay for; they _are_ junk. All these models are designed to sell as the lowest price possible, and are based on the same 50+ year old technology: just a flakey bimetal thermostat/switch, and a coil of Nichrome wire. The only new development that's occurred in them over the past few decades is improved seals so they can be submerged (when I was a kid, the top of the tube had to be above the water level). Of course the downside to using them submerged is now the increased chance of water ingress, with possible explosions like this one.

I'm always amazed that folks have tanks with fish worth hundreds of dollars, with filter systems that they've also spent hundreds on, and they trust them to a $25 heater that will inevitably fail within a couple of years.

If you want reliability, you're gonna have to pay for it. Get a heating system that uses an electronic sensor for a thermostat. Get a system that uses a proper power relay for switching the element power off and on, rather than a flimsy piece of bimetal. In other words, use something like a Ranco controller with separate heating elements, or a Hydor inline. If you want to go submersible, the new Fluvals are a good choice.


----------



## tnsser

PDX-PLT said:


> I'm always amazed that folks have tanks with fish worth hundreds of dollars, with filter systems that they've also spent hundreds on, and they trust them to a $25 heater that will inevitably fail within a couple of years.
> 
> If you want reliability, you're gonna have to pay for it. Get a heating system that uses an electronic sensor for a thermostat. Get a system that uses a proper power relay for switching the element power off and on, rather than a flimsy piece of bimetal. In other words, use something like a Ranco controller with separate heating elements, or a Hydor inline. If you want to go submersible, the new Fluvals are a good choice.



Spoken like a true snob. The only car worth owning is a Benz.


----------



## James77

tnsser said:


> Spoken like a true snob. The only car worth owning is a Benz.


 
I wouldn't say he's speaking like a snob, he is completely correct. It is not the fault of the hobbyists, as they are sold these heaters on their name, reliability, and claims. Pretty much every aquarium heater sold is extremely unreliable, and a gamble with the time and money put into our tanks. I've had many heaters stick on and nearly nuke my tank, others that just do not turn on, and had one that shocked me pretty well.

Currently, I only use the thermostat in the heater as a failsafe to a aquarium controller. You can get a ReefKeeper Lite for $100, and it gives you other timed outlets. I use one on my planted tank; I use a more advanced controller on my reef tank that alerts me via text should the temperature- or an other parameter- go out of line. I have far too much invested in both my aquariums to let a little piece of metal inside a heater. A Ranco controller works just as well, and can be had pretty cheaply online. 

Here is a website by a reef forum member that has a lot of good info.

http://beananimal.com/articles/aquarium-heaters-what-you-need-to-know!.aspx


----------



## James77

kcrossley said:


> My company does some public relations work from time to time and I can tell you quick responses are essential for handling this kind of issue. Just look at what Toyota is going through, all because they ignored the problem.


Yes, the timeframe which a company handles an issue in makes all the difference in the world. When they take several weeks or even months, it really takes away from the positive part of them standing behind their product and supporting you. I'm impressed that Marineland did this so this quickly, and that they are taking care of everything- not just the heater or tank- but all the damage that resulted.

I don't really use alot of their products, mostly the maxi-jet powerheads for my reef tank- but I will definitely give them my business in the future if the choice is between them and another large, mainstream company.


----------



## snafu

i doubt a controller would have helped this case with an exploding unit.


----------



## James77

snafu said:


> i doubt a controller would have helped this case with an exploding unit.


I can't really think of much that could have stopped that, can you? Exploding heaters is not really a very common problem- this is the first I have ever heard of where a pane of aquarium glass was taken out as a result. 

My point was that these heaters are unrelaible by nature, and any steps that can be taken as safeguards should be taken. The heater that exploded was a completely defective unit, and the manufacturer stepped up and covered all damages.


----------



## Bill W

I know of at least one house fire caused an aquarium heater. Heaters are the weakest link in most systems just read the forums.


----------



## PDX-PLT

tnsser said:


> Spoken like a true snob. The only car worth owning is a Benz.


No, spoken like an electrical engineer, who has the expertise to understand how badly these things are engineered.

Who also drives a 15-yr. old Ford pickup, BTW, that gets me around just fine.

But hey, if you want to continue to trust your fish to junk, be my guest.



James77 said:


> I can't really think of much that could have stopped that, can you? Exploding heaters is not really a very common problem- this is the first I have ever heard of where a pane of aquarium glass was taken out as a result.


First time I've heard of it, too. The theory proposed here that it's trapped steam sounds plausible. If that was the case, the old-time, non-sealed, non-submersible heaters may not have this problem.


----------



## Wasserpest

PDX-PLT said:


> Read aquarium forums long enough, and you'll see threads to the effect of "don't buy these heaters, they're junk" for just about every model of submersible, <$30 heaters. Why? Because you get what you pay for; they _are_ junk. All these models are designed to sell as the lowest price possible, and are based on the same 50+ year old technology: just a flakey bimetal thermostat/switch, and a coil of Nichrome wire. The only new development that's occurred in them over the past few decades is improved seals so they can be submerged (when I was a kid, the top of the tube had to be above the water level). Of course the downside to using them submerged is now the increased chance of water ingress, with possible explosions like this one.


I think the reason why you haven't seen breakthrough new developments isn't cost efficiency or trying to keep producing junk. I think it is because the technology is really, really simple. No matter what price range or model you look at, it comes down to a wire with a certain resistance that gets hot when you plug it in.

The bi-metal switches might be flaky, but they seem to work fine for thousands and thousands of heaters for many years. I have heaters back from the time when you couldn't submerge them, and their bi-metals still switch back and forth.



PDX-PLT said:


> I'm always amazed that folks have tanks with fish worth hundreds of dollars, with filter systems that they've also spent hundreds on, and they trust them to a $25 heater that will inevitably fail within a couple of years.
> 
> If you want reliability, you're gonna have to pay for it. Get a heating system that uses an electronic sensor for a thermostat. Get a system that uses a proper power relay for switching the element power off and on, rather than a flimsy piece of bimetal. In other words, use something like a Ranco controller with separate heating elements, or a Hydor inline. If you want to go submersible, the new Fluvals are a good choice.


The only "electronic" heater I had (some Titanium tube) was also the only one that failed after a year or so. In that case, replacing the bimetal didn't work out too well.

If you read the forums long enough, you will find plenty of posts describing problems with the inline Hydors. I am sure as time passes, some of the new Fluvals will show issues as well.

One exploding heater doesn't mean the whole technology is junk. Spend more for a fancier heater, maybe another $80 for a Ranco controller, still freak accidents like this one can happen.


----------



## GTR

The consumer has demanded cheaper products.


----------



## Jane of Upton

I'm impressed that Marineland has stepped up to the plate and taken responsibility.

I have 3 of the regular, older Stealth heaters, and one of the Visi-Therm, and they've been very accurate and reliable for me. One of the Stealth heaters is off by 2 degrees between the dial setting and the actual temp reading (tried two different thermometers, just to confirm how much I'd need to "adjust"), but it is consistent. The others are all accurate between dial and actual within less than 1 degree. 

I'd agree that it sounds like a problem with the Stealth Pro heaters. 

This must have been a terrible shock, mess and headache. I'm glad Marineland will take care of all the damage, and best of luck getting things back to "right" in your den. 

-Jane


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## shieber

Is there a pic of the heater itself exploded?


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## tnsser

tnsser said:


> This was no rock. It sounded like a shotgun went off in my den. Here is whats left of the heater. Took a picture of the tank and one of the glass shards found about 30ft away. Last one shows how the heater was sitting in the tank. If you are using one of these you need to stop. I understand products can fail but when they do the maker better stand behind the product. I will let everyone know how Marineland fixes this problem.


page 3


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## shieber

I meant a pic that shows the "explosion side" not the back side. 

One would suspect that the only material that might build up enough pressure to burst the heater tube, travel through thewater and burst the aquarium glass would be steam. But I don't see how enough steam could have built up before the GFCI tripped. As soon as any water could get in, one would expect a slight electrical leakage and that even a very slight electrical leakage should be enough to trip the GFCI.


----------



## tnsser

shieber said:


> I meant a pic that shows the "explosion side" not the back side.
> 
> One would suspect that the only material that might build up enough pressure to burst the heater tube, travel through thewater and burst the aquarium glass would be steam. But I don't see how enough steam could have built up before the GFCI tripped. As soon as any water could get in, one would expect a slight electrical leakage and that even a very slight electrical leakage should be enough to trip the GFCI.


Already sent it to Marineland. Let's let them figure it out and stop all the guessing over the internet.


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## StillLearning

shieber said:


> I meant a pic that shows the "explosion side" not the back side.
> 
> One would suspect that the only material that might build up enough pressure to burst the heater tube, travel through thewater and burst the aquarium glass would be steam. But I don't see how enough steam could have built up before the GFCI tripped. As soon as any water could get in, one would expect a slight electrical leakage and that even a very slight electrical leakage should be enough to trip the GFCI.


I wanted to see the front pic of the explosion side as well. That was my thoughts as well with the electric.


----------



## sewingalot

tnsser said:


> Already sent it to Marineland. Let's let them figure it out and stop all the guessing over the internet.


Agreed. We can speculate all we want, but the truth is tnsser's tank and floor was damaged as a result of this particular heater exploding. Let's all be grateful no one (or fish) was injured and leave it at that.


----------



## PDX-PLT

Wasserpest said:


> The bi-metal switches might be flaky, but they seem to work fine for thousands and thousands of heaters for many years. I have heaters back from the time when you couldn't submerge them, and their bi-metals still switch back and forth.


I think most would agree that, of all the components in an aquarium system, the heaters have proved to be the least reliable. The bimetals are the main culprit. Due to very tight size constraints, the bimetal strip is very small in comparison to bimetals in other locations, such as older HVAC thermostats. As a result it has to bend alot more to turn on/off, when compared to HVAC units, and fatigues quickly. For the higher wattage units especially, the contacts arc and may eventually weld shut.



> If you read the forums long enough, you will find plenty of posts describing problems with the inline Hydors. I am sure as time passes, some of the new Fluvals will show issues as well.


I could find plenty of complaints about the Hydor Theos, but couldn't find any about failures of the inlines - some complaints that the adjustment knob being too easy to dislodge, but that was about it. It's a hobby-grade unit so I'm sure it's not as reliable as HVAC-quality controls, but it seems to have less problems than the bimetals.

Agree that the OP was a very unusual occurance, and it'll be interesting to see how this plays out, if he gets any further information from Marineland.


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## Jdub777

OK here's my sob story to add.

I had a Stealth pro in my newly set up 20g allon long. My wife and I kept smelling a weird electrcial/wire burning smell. I thought it was my lights, filter pumps etc.. Finallyy I noticed little "bublles" coming from my heater! I unplugged it and noticed there was a crack length wise down the heater. The bubles were steam bubbles. The plastic for some reason split down the middle and allowed the water to enter in and steam etc. I'm wonderring if I hadn't caught this would mine have blow up as well?

I have an older visitherm that has worked flawless for more than a year. The one which just cracked is the newer version with the led light etc..

BTW- I came across this thread, because i was looking up the warranty info.

These heater are dog doodoo.


----------



## CL

It sounds to me like the chemicals that made the plastic for these heaters were mixed wrong/ didn't have enough of chemical x, which causes them to crack after a while due to weak bonds in the plastic, etc.


----------



## A Hill

Much respect for Marine land, also a good PR move since these threads get tons of hits. Also, I think we can all agree that in general the weakest area equiptment wise for the hobby probably is heaters or at least has been traditionally. You read all the time about them failing, people buying two for redudency etc. Most people don't talk that way about any other piece of their system... No one buys 2 co2 setups in case one fails (granted you would have bigger problems) nor buying two filters to cover a potential failure.

Glad to hear no one was hurt and damage is being covered. I've got two stealth visitherms that have worked well over the years, forgot about their lifetime warrantees thanks for reminding me.

Oh, and I think its safe to assume that most heaters will have copper inside them.

-Andrew


----------



## blondeyny

Good thing I saw this..just saw the Pro models at Petco and liked them due to their shorter size. Was thinking about getting one for my new tank. I have stealth visi therms in 2 of my tanks and haven't had an issue with those. Maybe it's the smaller more compact size that creates a problem?


----------



## aprocak

Ladies and Gentlemen PLEASE stay away from the Marineland Stealth heaters.. I bought 3 of them in 2 days and they keep on breaking.. After 20 minutes in the tank the thermostat keeps on glowing green as if were heated up.. Petco told me I'm not following directions. that I'm shorting them out because I need to let them sit in the tank unplugged for them to get used to the water.. 3 of them in 2 days? user error...? I don't think so... Any suggestions on what kind of heater I should buy? I'm a beginner saltwater hobbiest... thank you


----------



## trackhazard

A Hill said:


> nor buying two filters to cover a potential failure.



This is done all the time. I don't think I've ever had a tank larger than 20 gallons that didn't have two filters attached to them.

aprocak: I am not sure if I am understanding you correctly but the Marineland pro's are supposed to light up green when they are at or above your set temperature. If you see it green you're good to go.

-Charlie


----------



## Morainy

Just catching up on this thread now, and I'm really delighted to read that Marineland is reimbursing for your floors and damage. That is really good news and I'm glad to hear it.



tnsser said:


> Just got off the phone with them and they are going to cover all my damages. including replacement of floor. They will keep my business and are going to stand fully behind their product. Great to see.


----------



## tnsser

Morainy said:


> Just catching up on this thread now, and I'm really delighted to read that Marineland is reimbursing for your floors and damage. That is really good news and I'm glad to hear it.


Not so fast


----------



## OverStocked

tnsser said:


> Not so fast


Not so fast what? What is the low down?


----------



## waterfaller1

Weird..I have used Stealth heaters for years without fail. Can't say as much for the Theos, or Finnex controllers on a titanium core.{used on my reef} The controllers failed every year for several years. Finally gave up on the controller. My friend who owns a reef shop swear by aqua controller jr's.


----------



## waterfaller1

adroit said:


> Yeah the safety shut off for all stealth heater I've tried doesn't work too well, which is about 7 of them. Every time I do a water change, when the water falls below the position of the heater, the heater is still on regardless. Sometimes it gets so hot I can smell the plastic.


Why don't you just unplug it?:icon_ques


----------



## mattyp

*They actually told me mine might explode.*

I just returned a brand new pro model to marineland. It wasn't calibrated right and who knows what else was up with it. The rep who I talked to told me that if I put one of their heaters in my sump it might explode. As far as I know, as long as you maintain enough water in the sump, it's where all your ugly equipment is supposed to go. I think it's time to start buying european aquarium equipment. When folks over there spend money on something, it'd better work right. They don't have as much to spend. I have a fluval canister that I love and a hydor in line heater that maintains perfect temp on it's tank. We've gotten so used to disposable crap that we just say "oh well" when something critical fails. On the same day I bought the heater, I bought an eclipse 5 gallon for my g-friend. The pump rattled so I brought it back. Second pump rattled so I went in the closet, blew the dust off of an old eclipse unit that used to house a mantis shrimp (saltwater), took the guts out of it and put it in her tank and, oh my....silence. The only difference between the new pump and the old one is the Made in China stamp on the new one.


----------



## gcramer1234

yeah mine was in my sump. i had no idea of this problem until i was playing vidoe games sat night and my sump blew up. destroyed my sump and my protien skimmer and lost 20 gallons of water. sadly to say marineland said im s.o.l. due to the fact it was in my sump!anyone who has one in their sump, take it out and throw it away!


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## James77

How is the whole situation coming along with marineland?


----------



## vaporize

Heard of another 2 incident on our side of the world in Canada, this time STEALTH PRO broke a 150G coral tank.

Despite marineland's effort to replace buy-able items, somethigns like your wife and children cannot be replaced by money..... I would not buy a single STEALTH PRO for sure. I myself have used over 30 the old model stealth and the worst issue is leaking electricity in 2 of them, but that's still acceptable... breaking a tank is serious


----------



## Missy4

It is my 150g that exploded yesterday, the side of the tank was blown wide open with an exposion so loud I thought my house was coming down. This heater is dangerous, someone could have been killed by the explosion and I am very angry that the company was previously made aware of this problem but yet still sold this product. 

I'm not sure how to private message on this thread but would like the person who started it to contact me directly as I plan to pursue this further.


----------



## DKShrimporium

I am _horrified_ that there is not a massive, well-publicized recall on this product.

Does anybody know... are there any reported problems with the NON pro models??

I have the non pro heaters and swear several have developed electricity leaks, as I get zinged with my arms in a tank if I have broken skin anywhere such as a cut or scrape. Maybe they won't blow up, but are they going to electrocute me?


----------



## Harry Muscle

greenisgood said:


> I am _horrified_ that there is not a massive, well-publicized recall on this product.
> 
> Does anybody know... are there any reported problems with the NON pro models??
> 
> I have the non pro heaters and swear several have developed electricity leaks, as I get zinged with my arms in a tank if I have broken skin anywhere such as a cut or scrape. Maybe they won't blow up, but are they going to electrocute me?


Generally speaking the non Pro models are considered to be very reliable and good, more or less on par with Ebo Jager heaters.

Harry


----------



## goddessjen

This is really appalling. Why is there no recall on the product. Are they waiting for human injury? I hope the people this has affected consider suing despite Marineland agreeing to pay damages. They should be pulling this product off the market before a person is hurt or killed! I have the non-pro (thanks god) heaters in my 110g but still I think I am going to get a hydor inline to replace.

Have the people that Marineland promised to reimburse actually recieved any reimbursement yet. I am skeptical that they are actually going to pay out unknown thousands with no fight. It is not the American Cooperate way anymore.

To anyone this has affected my advice is GET A LAWYER! This is dangerous and the products are still for sale.


----------



## draal5

To anyone this has affected my advice is GET A LAWYER! This is dangerous and the products are still for sale.

That should be the last thing you do and only if you have to other wise it will get drawn out and the Lawyer gets most of the money.

I saw this post right after the first problem. I called Marineland and this is what they did for me I had 4 brand new heaters they asked for the 4 numbers behind the heater once they had that they immediately sent me 4 brand new ones no trouble at all.

I did more searching and found out that they moved there manufacturing to a new location and on top of that completely changed the product. there is a select production run that is potentially bad.

Marineland is a stand up co. they have stood behind their products at least for me even when my equipment was out of warranty.

Yes it is scary to have a tank explode weather it be from age or one of the unlucky few from a heater its not pleasant.

The stealth heater has been the best heater in the hobby hands down. Marineland has always replaced bad ones no questions asked.

The stealth Pro will also get there.

Any who has one should call Marineland @ 800-322-1266 ask them direct if you have one of the defective heaters.


By the way green is when the heater is off and at temp red is when the heater is heating up the water.


----------



## TeamTeal

i dont even know how to discribe this, but my heater "melted"
i lifted the heater up by the wire and it separated from the heater......


----------



## SirKappa

I have used both Stealth and Stealth Pro's in the past with no problems what so ever. My stealth pro is slightly off calibrated but that isn't much of an issue with me(I just set it a tad higher then it says). 

Regardless, my brother is letting me live with him for free, so I can't afford a 55g spill in his house. I would feel awful to cause water damage to his house. So I went out and purchased a Hydor ETH just as a safety precaution(I have wanted to do this for a long time to remove the unsightly heater from the inside of the aquarium but now this is a perfect excuse). I will install it tomorrow during my weekly maintenance. I am tempted to try and sell the stealth pro but I guess that would be unethical knowing the potential problems it can cause. Might just have to retire it to a box in the basement, or put my faith in the product in a smaller aquarium.


----------



## fooledyas

This has got to be one of the scarriest threads i ever read when i get home i plan to check all my heaters. ihope every one else will do the same.


----------



## vaporize

@SirKappa for what its worth, Hydor heaters ain't alot better, one of my LFS shown me a completely melted and burnt to black hydor heater to me once. 

I have not heard of any issus with Rena's Smart heater that is suppose to be unbreakable (too).


----------



## bigboij

not feeling so bad a bout my cheapy tetra heater thats going on strong 3 years now.


----------



## kcrossley

Missy4 said:


> It is my 150g that exploded yesterday, the side of the tank was blown wide open with an exposion so loud I thought my house was coming down. This heater is dangerous, someone could have been killed by the explosion and I am very angry that the company was previously made aware of this problem but yet still sold this product.


I am so glad I saw this post a few months ago and changed my F&S order to a Hydor Theo. I hope Marineland compensates you accordingly.


----------



## tnsser

kcrossley said:


> I am so glad I saw this post a few months ago and changed my F&S order to a Hydor Theo. I hope Marineland compensates you accordingly.


I turned the whole thing over to my homeowners. I hate that this has happened to others. There needs to be a recall. When I saw what this thing did to my tank I knew it would happen to others. If anyone wants to get a hold of me just email me at [email protected]. I am going to call my insurance today to see what they have found out.


----------



## tnsser

Where are all the nay sayers now! The ones that said this was impossible and that the rock caused the hole?


----------



## ericmu22

Yea Nay Sayers! haha this thread is unfortunate but very entertaining.


----------



## kcrossley

tnsser said:


> I turned the whole thing over to my homeowners. I hate that this has happened to others. There needs to be a recall. When I saw what this thing did to my tank I knew it would happen to others. If anyone wants to get a hold of me just email me at [email protected]. I am going to call my insurance today to see what they have found out.


I hope your HO insurance doesn't have a $1K deductible like mine.


----------



## tnsser

kcrossley said:


> I hope your HO insurance doesn't have a $1K deductible like mine.


No $500 and I installed better floors than I had originally. The estimate for repairs was $10000. I settled for $6000 which included the deductible. Bought some nice floors for $2600. Looks better than new. It was a huge pain in the arse but turned out all right in the end.:thumbsup:


----------



## VadimShevchuk

maybe i should install a heat in an empoty room and wate for the money to come to me! Jk. This must suck for all of oyu that are having troubles with the heater. Why isnt there a recall?


----------



## Craigthor

tnsser said:


> No $500 and I installed better floors than I had originally. The estimate for repairs was $10000. I settled for $6000 which included the deductible. Bought some nice floors for $2600. Looks better than new. It was a huge pain in the arse but turned out all right in the end.:thumbsup:


Ouch, I hope the insurance company plans on going after Marineland to recoup the costs.

Craig


----------



## fishyjoe24

this why I don't like steaths. i tell people to get eheim ebo jagers or hagen e class heaters but people won't listen to me. I always had problems with steaths, only think i like from marineland are there filters.


----------



## kcrossley

tnsser said:


> No $500 and I installed better floors than I had originally. The estimate for repairs was $10000. I settled for $6000 which included the deductible. Bought some nice floors for $2600. Looks better than new. It was a huge pain in the arse but turned out all right in the end.:thumbsup:


Did Marineland offer you anything or did you sign a ND?


----------



## Airphotog

My 300 watt Stealth quit so I called up Marineland and they are out so they are sending 2 150s and then a 300 when they come in. Now I am not sure about using them.


----------



## tnsser

kcrossley said:


> Did Marineland offer you anything or did you sign a ND?



No the insurance company is going after them. I gave them all the pictures, the original receipt, and the blown-up heater.


----------



## VadimShevchuk

marineland should stop producing these heaters or else they will lose their profits if the are gonna kepp on paying for damaged floors and expensive tanks.


----------



## kcrossley

Agreed. Thankfully, no people have been injured yet. 

Thanks to tnsser for starting this thread. He probably helped a lot of forum members by giving us the heads up, including me.


----------



## plaakapong

I recently purchased a stealth pro 200 wt from Big Al's, haven't used it yet. After reading this, thank you, i called them yesterday and will be returning it. I emailed them a link to this thread and also added it to comments on Drs Foster & Smith. This is a very serious issue and needs to be known!


----------



## deeda

tnsser said:


> Already sent it to Marineland. Let's let them figure it out and stop all the guessing over the internet.


I've been following this thread with a great deal of interest but am now a bit confused about whether you sent the exploded heater back to Marineland or to your insurance company. Could you please clarify this statement.


----------



## deeda

tnsser said:


> Already sent it to Marineland. Let's let them figure it out and stop all the guessing over the internet.





tnsser said:


> No the insurance company is going after them. I gave them all the pictures, the original receipt, and the blown-up heater.


I've been following this topic with great interest but I'm a bit confused whether you returned the expoded heater to Marineland or to your insurance company.


----------



## tnsser

deeda said:


> I've been following this topic with great interest but I'm a bit confused whether you returned the expoded heater to Marineland or to your insurance company.


I was premature when I first posted that I sent it to Marineland. It was packed up in a box ready to go; however, my insurance company did not want to send it back until they looked at it. My adjuster said that sending it back before a 3rd party tested it would be a bad idea. So I gave it to the insurance company who has it's own engineers that look into, and investigate faulty products.


----------



## James77

What ever became of Marinelands offer to cover the damages themselves? Did that end up falling through?


----------



## deeda

tnsser,

Thanks for the clarification, that makes a lot of sense to have the heater failure tested by a 3rd party. Hopefully you will get access to the failure report, at least for your own satisfaction.

I apologize for the double post. I was trying to put 2 quotes in one reply and failed miserably.


----------



## comet

*Called Marineland about the Pro heaters*

Spoke to a Marineland rep. about the Pro heaters--

I had returned a 100 W and 250 W original styled heaters to Marineland for replacement and they sent me two of the Pro styled.

I called them this morning to ask them to exchange them for the original styled stealth, because of what I had read here about the Pros having problems.

Her response was that they should be perfectly safe to use.

They did have a problem with the *300 Watt* heaters.
You can check the Lot # on the heater as the ones with the letter G in it are the problem ones. Ex. 01G31 is the number she gave me.

She knew I was still concerned, so she is sending me two Visi-Therm glass heaters to replace them as they no longer have the original models in stock. 


 Can anyone that had melting/exploding of the Pro, let me know what wattage the heater was?

I'm still wondering if it's safe to use the lower wattage heaters.....


----------



## snafu

i had a 100W Pro that melted through the casing which was a replacement for an original 100W stealth that had stopped working.


----------



## comet

snafu,

* Interesting*! Can you tell me how long ago that was and if you happened to have read or remember the lot # on it?


----------



## snafu

it happened earlier this year (Feb). i do not have the lot # since they asked me to ship the defective unit back and i didn't think to write it down. sorry about that.


----------



## PDX-PLT

How does a heater that's submerged in water melt through the casing?


----------



## tnsser

They lied. Mine was 200w


----------



## comet

> tnsser;They lied. Mine was 200w


Why am I _NOT_ surprised....

tnsser, did you happen to write down the "lot #" ? Just curious if it matches the description marineland rep gave me...."having the letter G in it"...

Right now it seems they are down playing the whole situation with these heaters...sad.


----------



## tnsser

I will have to get my paperwork out.


----------



## trag

FSM said:


> So instead of taking the time to unplug it, you continue to run the risk of a heater exploding while your arms/face are potentially in the tank?


An easy solution to this...

I keep all the devices which should be off during a water change on one of those switched strips such as Frys sells for about $3. When I start a water change, I just flip the switch to 'off'. When the tank is refilled and the filters primed, I flip the switch back to 'on'. No muss, no fuss.


----------



## Jdub777

Thanks for the pm comet. I still have the heater and I can't figure out which series of numbers is the number you are looking for. Could you tell me exactly where it is found? 

The wattage of mine is 100 watt


----------



## comet

*Location of Lot #*

On my pro, the Lot # is located towards the bottom on the top piece (dark gray) that the (black) heating tube goes into.
It's numbers/letters are embossed in white around it.


----------



## Jdub777

Sorry I got back so late. Lot# is 01H31. Hope that helps. BTW- any news on this?


----------



## kendrid

I had a 200w stealth that cooked 1/2 of my fish. I came home and my tank was over 100 degrees F.

Is there any recourse? Right now I use the broken heater to heat my water for water changes. Since it's so hot it can heat 10 gallons in no time at all.


----------



## fishsandwitch

well that heater was 4x too big so I doubt it


----------



## kendrid

fishsandwitch said:


> well that heater was 4x too big so I doubt it


Sorry about the poor wording, it wasn't in a 10 gallon aquarium, I was referring to heating 10 gallons of water change water.

Even if it was in a 10 gallon aquarium it should not have failed in an 'on 100%' state.

That being said, I bought the smallest heater that will heat my aquarium so if it happens again (Rena heater now) it won't cook the fish.


----------



## kuro

My 200w stealth has some plastic boil, It got so hot that the plastic begin to boil in certain spot when i forgot to unplug it during a water change. At the moment it still working fine only off by 2 degrees. Should i send it in to get it replace?


----------



## kendrid

kuro said:


> My 200w stealth has some plastic boil, It got so hot that the plastic begin to boil in certain spot when i forgot to unplug it during a water change. At the moment it still working fine only off by 2 degrees. Should i send it in to get it replace?


I wouldn't trust it.


----------



## Estee

Hi folks - new here, but after seeing all the issues you are having with the Stealth Pro heaters, I wanted to give you some of my experience as well.

I had a 100gallon tank before and being the conservative person I am, I doubled up and bought (2) 300W Stealth Pro Heaters when they first came out. I had the 250W Stealth heaters before and out of the 5 i had, 3 of them went out with one issue or another. I was hoping the Pro version would correct the issues from before and it was nice to get the LED to see when it was on. I had used my Stealth Pro heaters w/o any problems for about 5 months, when one day, suddenly both died....meaning no heat. Luckily i had my old Stealth heaters as backup. I tried the Pros in one of my other tanks and my saltwater mixing fixture. THe seemed to start working again, so I let them ran. Unfortunately, the next day....the tank waters were HOT! The lone fish in my QT died of course and my saltwater mixer powerheads seemed like they were overheating. I called Marineland right away, gave them my lot number, and they promptly sent me replacements right away no questions asked. Good service i thought and maybe i was just unlucky. I'm on my second pair of Stealth Pros now. One is working and the other one recently died causing my breaker to trip overnight! Kinda pissed me off this time around, because i had started reading some of the same issues on other fish forums. I called Marineland again and told them of my issue and asked if they were experiencing problems. The guy on the phone denied anything, yet all 300W Stealth Pro heater replacements were backordered (sigh i thought). He sent me out 2 150W heaters instead and told me they would ship me a 300W when they received them automatically. For now, I would highly advise against using the Stealth Pro heaters, even for a big Marineland fan as myself. Luckily, MArineland has great customer service otherwise I'd be really PO'd. 

BTW the 2 lot codes to avoid are:

01L31
01H31

There may be more, so if you have problems, please post it.


----------



## TheVisionary78

I'm glad marineland cut you a check.


----------



## BeavisMom62

bigboij said:


> not feeling so bad a bout my cheapy tetra heater thats going on strong 3 years now.


Wow, you're lucky. I got one of those with my very first tank "kit" and it never worked. Another time I needed a heater for another tank and my father bought me another Tetra heater. It didn't work either. He returned it to the store for me. I went back to find a different kind of a heater and they put the original Tetra heater that didn't work back on the shelf (I could tell it was my returned one because of some folds and scuffs on the box)!


----------



## BeavisMom62

I just had one of the shatter proof stealths fry one of my tanks last week! Thankfuly hubby was home and noticed all of my harlequin rasboras floating dead. He went to do a water change and happened to notice that the water was hot and when he checked the thermometer and it was over 90 degrees. The heater was set on 76. 

I have some of the visa-therms and some of the shatter proof ones and all of them keep the water about 4 degrees higher than where they are set. I contacted Marineland about a replacement. I don't think that I should have to pay for the postage both ways, so I'll see if I can return it to where I bought it.


----------



## charlie 1

Hi all, like BeavisMom62, i just experienced a similar heater failure, thankfully no lost of anything.
The pro stealth 250 watt was a warranty replacement for the older stealth which failed on me after serving me well for 5 + years, Marineland sent this to me no question or hassle ( great customer service), the new pro failed after 4 months of service, i was doing some trimming when i noticed the water felt quite warm, on checking the tank was at 85 degrees while the heater was set at 76 degrees - green light was on but the heater was still heating up, this was confirmed by holding the heater while it was in the tank .I will be calling them tomorrow.


----------



## llamas

comet said:


> Spoke to a Marineland rep. about the Pro heaters--
> 
> I had returned a 100 W and 250 W original styled heaters to Marineland for replacement and they sent me two of the Pro styled.
> 
> I called them this morning to ask them to exchange them for the original styled stealth, because of what I had read here about the Pros having problems.
> 
> Her response was that they should be perfectly safe to use.
> 
> They did have a problem with the *300 Watt* heaters.
> You can check the Lot # on the heater as the ones with the letter G in it are the problem ones. Ex. 01G31 is the number she gave me.
> 
> She knew I was still concerned, so she is sending me two Visi-Therm glass heaters to replace them as they no longer have the original models in stock.
> 
> 
> Can anyone that had melting/exploding of the Pro, let me know what wattage the heater was?
> 
> I'm still wondering if it's safe to use the lower wattage heaters.....


Well I have the 250W with lot number 01G31.....Now I'm all paranoid :icon_conf

Any good recommendation on other heaters?


----------



## Postal Penguin

Wow. My stealth tried to cook my betta tank about a month ago when the thermostat started keeping the tank higher and higher above the set-point. Fortunately I took it out before it cooked the tank. I am glad it did not explode. 

I too need a suggestion on a replacement brand heater but am thinking of going with the Jager brand.


----------



## Airphotog

I just got my replacement stealth 300 today from Marineland.


----------



## DavidZ

I do not see why you would get a stealth replacement, seems odd, why not go with Visi.
I had a stealth explode on me also, sent it back to Marineland and asked them for a Visi and not the stealth. Have to say they do as stated, will replace with no questions asked.
Got my Visi and will see.
Problem is that at first(and I have several of their fheaters Visi model now) they were made in Italy, but like every other company now started to make them in China to save money and make a bigger profit. It is all about the bottom line.
I hope they were able to fix their problem!


----------



## Airphotog

It was sent by Marineland at no charge. It is suppose to be the new version...


----------



## Saverio

Subbed to this thread, as I just bought TWO 250watt Stealth Pro's from Petsmart a few days ago for my 125g planted discus tank. Needless to say, coming across this thread after that fact now has me quite nervous. 

One thing I didn't see, unless I missed it, was whether the OP's heater ruptured while it was running submerged or if it was out of water (i.e. left plugged in during a WC)? Just curious as I always unplug my heaters prior to a WC and plug them in after I've refilled, regardless of any "auto shutoff safety feature if not submerged". I get the impression that it happened during normal use.

Am debating whether to call Marineland to try and get some kind of replacement now or not. Is the lot # stamped on the heater itself or on the packaging? Can't check for myself atm as I'm at work.


----------



## CoolestBreeze

Well guys, it's still happening. Here is what happened to me. 

Last saturday I was doing a water change on my Amazonian tank and I noticed that the water was cold. The heater wasn't working. It was a marineland stealth 150w about a year old that I got at Big Al's in Toronto. I don't know if it was pro or not. 

I reached in and brought it out--in two pieces. The top had blown out and the part attached to it was bent at a 30 degree angle with a couple of bare wires sticking out of it. The black tube seemed to be in one piece. I didn't think and ended up throwing it out. The Sunday I went and bought another one at Big Al's. 

I put it into the tank which is a 55 gallon 18x36x18 which is 2/3 full with large rounded different coloured granite rocks built to make caves with some other coloured rocks, nice plants, bubbler in lava etc. I was busy and didn't check the temp for a day and a half and then I realized it was stuck full on and boiled my fish. The temp was well over 90 and I lost my best fish. A clutch of Apistogramma cacatoides just getting ready to breed with 4 females and a great looking male that were so tame they would wiggle and giggle for me but if anyone else came they wouldn't. As well as ten full sized super healthy Cardinals, 2 Pearl gouramies, my fave a long finned albino bushinose. I found a full grown normal bushinose that was still alive although not in good shape. So I unplugged the heater and spent a couple of days fishing dead ones out. 

This morning I was changing water trying to keep my bushinose alive and it was cold. It was cold outside and the tank is in the coolest part of the house. So I thought that since the heater was stuck in the on position I would just plug it in for a short time and try and heat up the tank.

After being plugged in for about five minutes, I heard a large explosion. It was very powerful and I could hear rocks shifting. When I looked huge poisonous smelling smoke was just pouring out of the top and bubling up from the heater with large smoke filled bubbles. I could smell the smoke on my jacket on the way to work in the car and it was hung 25 feet away. I could smell it in the house when I came home from work. The water in the tank smells strongly of burnt plastic and wiring and I have to go and change the water now. 

The black tube was split in a fairly straight line from the top to the bottom.

I'll write in later with the serial number but I won't stop. I'm going to consumer protection. These need to be recalled and the manufacturer fined for still alowing these to be sold after all this time since they were notified of the problem.


----------



## majerah1

Thats unbelievable!I cannot believe they still have them on the market.I was looking into getting one of the pros but after this,ill steer far away from them.


----------



## CoolestBreeze

I skipped out of work Friday afternoon for a while and went over to Menagerie on Parliament Street to see if I could get a new heater. Although it's a small store I have found they are very fine in many decades of shopping there. Harold is smart and I trust him. I wanted to ask him what heater he would recommend. I didn't even need to speak to him. His whole wall was filled with Eheim Jager. I bought the 125 watt for $39.00, the same as I had paid for the Marineland and I had only to drive 1km from work.

It was only later after I had gotten home from work that I got to look at the package in detail. Guess what--made in Germany, and with a thick laboratory glass shell resistant to breakage and heat. Mind you flying glass shrapnel is a nightmare. Will I sleep at night now? Maybe I will just keep cold water fish and eliminate the heater. I think a few small bluegills from Grenadier pond could really come to like my river tank.


----------



## DANIELSON

Wow i just came accross this thread...Good think i just go rid of my marineland 150W last week!! It sounds like a controled charge, similar to what we do in the Marines for doorways and such, which is very dangerous!! I am really sorry to hear all of the problems everyone is having. I think of it (ya they might have great customer service, but that doesnt negate the problem that they need to fix their product). I will never buy a Marineland heater again thats too much for me to risk having tanks in everyroom.


----------



## Saverio

CoolestBreeze said:


> Well guys, it's still happening. Here is what happened to me.
> 
> Last saturday I was doing a water change on my Amazonian tank and I noticed that the water was cold. The heater wasn't working. It was a marineland stealth 150w about a year old that I got at Big Al's in Toronto. I don't know if it was pro or not.
> 
> I reached in and brought it out--in two pieces. The top had blown out and the part attached to it was bent at a 30 degree angle with a couple of bare wires sticking out of it. The black tube seemed to be in one piece. I didn't think and ended up throwing it out. The Sunday I went and bought another one at Big Al's.
> 
> I put it into the tank which is a 55 gallon 18x36x18 which is 2/3 full with large rounded different coloured granite rocks built to make caves with some other coloured rocks, nice plants, bubbler in lava etc. I was busy and didn't check the temp for a day and a half and then I realized it was stuck full on and boiled my fish. The temp was well over 90 and I lost my best fish. A clutch of Apistogramma cacatoides just getting ready to breed with 4 females and a great looking male that were so tame they would wiggle and giggle for me but if anyone else came they wouldn't. As well as ten full sized super healthy Cardinals, 2 Pearl gouramies, my fave a long finned albino bushinose. I found a full grown normal bushinose that was still alive although not in good shape. So I unplugged the heater and spent a couple of days fishing dead ones out.
> 
> This morning I was changing water trying to keep my bushinose alive and it was cold. It was cold outside and the tank is in the coolest part of the house. So I thought that since the heater was stuck in the on position I would just plug it in for a short time and try and heat up the tank.
> 
> After being plugged in for about five minutes, I heard a large explosion. It was very powerful and I could hear rocks shifting. When I looked huge poisonous smelling smoke was just pouring out of the top and bubling up from the heater with large smoke filled bubbles. I could smell the smoke on my jacket on the way to work in the car and it was hung 25 feet away. I could smell it in the house when I came home from work. The water in the tank smells strongly of burnt plastic and wiring and I have to go and change the water now.
> 
> The black tube was split in a fairly straight line from the top to the bottom.
> 
> I'll write in later with the serial number but I won't stop. I'm going to consumer protection. These need to be recalled and the manufacturer fined for still alowing these to be sold after all this time since they were notified of the problem.


Any update on what your lot number was? Was it an 01G31 or 01L31?

I have a pair of 250W pro's myself, but my lot number is 01J31 and Marineland, after 3 separate calls to 3 different reps, have told me that my lot number has "no reported issues". Not that that's easing my mind. lol


----------



## CoolestBreeze

Interestingly enough, my lot number is different again--lot number 01E32.

So it seems that the problem is more wide-spread than they are letting on. 

I strongly advise everyone planning to buy an aquarium heater to find something other than Marineland. Even if they have fixed the problem as thay have claimed, there are still defective heaters on the shelves.

And even if their heaters have worked well for quite some time they can still blow up as I found with my first one.


----------



## ridewake210

You guys scare me, you guys scare me big time. 


Ive got a Stealth Pro in my much loved 90 gallon.


----------



## OoglyBoogly

CoolestBreeze said:


> Well guys, it's still happening. Here is what happened to me.
> 
> Last saturday I was doing a water change on my Amazonian tank and I noticed that the water was cold. The heater wasn't working. It was a marineland stealth 150w about a year old that I got at Big Al's in Toronto. I don't know if it was pro or not.
> 
> I reached in and brought it out--in two pieces. The top had blown out and the part attached to it was bent at a 30 degree angle with a couple of bare wires sticking out of it. The black tube seemed to be in one piece. I didn't think and ended up throwing it out. The Sunday I went and bought another one at Big Al's.
> 
> I put it into the tank which is a 55 gallon 18x36x18 which is 2/3 full with large rounded different coloured granite rocks built to make caves with some other coloured rocks, nice plants, bubbler in lava etc. I was busy and didn't check the temp for a day and a half and then I realized it was stuck full on and boiled my fish. The temp was well over 90 and I lost my best fish. A clutch of Apistogramma cacatoides just getting ready to breed with 4 females and a great looking male that were so tame they would wiggle and giggle for me but if anyone else came they wouldn't. As well as ten full sized super healthy Cardinals, 2 Pearl gouramies, my fave a long finned albino bushinose. I found a full grown normal bushinose that was still alive although not in good shape. So I unplugged the heater and spent a couple of days fishing dead ones out.
> 
> This morning I was changing water trying to keep my bushinose alive and it was cold. It was cold outside and the tank is in the coolest part of the house. So I thought that since the heater was stuck in the on position I would just plug it in for a short time and try and heat up the tank.
> 
> After being plugged in for about five minutes, I heard a large explosion. It was very powerful and I could hear rocks shifting. When I looked huge poisonous smelling smoke was just pouring out of the top and bubling up from the heater with large smoke filled bubbles. I could smell the smoke on my jacket on the way to work in the car and it was hung 25 feet away. I could smell it in the house when I came home from work. The water in the tank smells strongly of burnt plastic and wiring and I have to go and change the water now.
> 
> The black tube was split in a fairly straight line from the top to the bottom.
> 
> I'll write in later with the serial number but I won't stop. I'm going to consumer protection. These need to be recalled and the manufacturer fined for still alowing these to be sold after all this time since they were notified of the problem.


Damn! I too had a Stealth heater! I woke up to some crazy oily residue above my heater and covering the entire surface of my tank AND all my shrimp were dead. I had sooo many shrimp too. I started with around 30 RCS in the summer and they had a lot of offspring. Anyways I still need to get around to going to the LFS and getting an estimate of my lost livestock since Marineland said to send them a brief written letter of what happened + my heater + the LFS estimate of livestock on either the store letterhead or a receipt. They said they will have their lab guys check it out but IDK I really don't trust them so I guess it's good I took pics of what happened so I'll send those too.

Here is my thread about what happened.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/shrimp-other-invertebrates/120517-disaster-strikes-3.html


----------



## CoolestBreeze

My tank had a nasty oily residue over the surface as well after the explosion but I have heavy bubblers working so it has disapated now, but the water still stinks real bad of burning plastic and electrical fire.

Any advice on how to get this nasty smell from my water would be appreciated. I'm going to change the water today but I'm waiting for the water filter. I'm not sure this will really do anything because the plants and rocks will still have the smell impregnated into them.

Here are a couple of photos of my 18x36x18 river tank with real and phony plants. You can see the size of the rocks that were clanging around when the eplosion happened. None of them are puny.

These are older photos when I had my Apistogramma trifasciata 'electric blue' from Germany. They died off without reproducing so now I had Apistogramma cacatoides which I lost.


----------



## DreamCatcher

any one knoe the serial number for the ones that explode? making sure so the ones i have don't have the same numbers as exploding ones.


----------



## RipariumGuy

Silly question... But do you guys and gals think I should get a Stealth?


----------



## timobxsci

Just get a nice Jager and hide it behind your plants or driftwood. Works like a charm. No need for "stealth" heaters and Hydor inlines.


----------



## CoolestBreeze

My Eheim Jager 150 watt is keeping my tank exactly at 75f degrees. It does say fully submersible on the box. I have mine laying horizontally on the botom. It cost me the same as the Marineland as well.

The tank is looking great with the new clean look and the re-stocked fish. 

4 pygmy corries
10 large cardinals
4 copper rasboras
1 good sized male pearl gourami
a gorgeous pair of red/orange cacatoides
4 burmese loaches

I'm still looking for an albino bristlenose and maybe some blue eyes.


----------



## irbenson

Are these stealth heaters the titanium ones without a light? I always thought titanium>glass in the sense that it's "shatter proof". And now it shatters a tank? O.O
Unless it's not titanium...


----------



## CoolestBreeze

Dreamcatcher--nobody knows the serial number of the ones that will blow up next. My serial number didn't show up anywhere but it still exploded. 

irbenson--it looks like black plastic to me, no light. I'll try and take a photo of the dammage to the stealth pro some time.

At least the Eheim Jager says shatterproof laboratory glass for what that's worth.


----------



## kendrid

ridewake210 said:


> You guys scare me, you guys scare me big time.
> 
> 
> Ive got a Stealth Pro in my much loved 90 gallon.


 
I'd replace it. It's $30-40 for a quality heater vs losing the fish you love.

I lost half of my tank to one of these heaters. I will never purchase another of their products again.


----------



## kendrid

timobxsci said:


> No need for "stealth" heaters and Hydor inlines.


Anything wrong with Hydor inlines? I picked one up on sale at my LFS and it's been great, but so was my Stealth pro before it cooked my tank.


----------



## defiesexistence

My standard, non-Pro 50W Visitherm Stealth has bubbles on the outside where it is submerged. After reading this, shuddering, unplugging and removing it, I was wondering, do heaters usually get bubbles on the exterior? (Pardon the noobishness. I'm a coldwater type)

As an aside, I've had this working for about a month, no problems. I unplug during WC's. Where do I find the LOT #? I assume they are 5 digits, by your posts. There's white stats on the rear of the heater, but by what information would the LOT be?


----------



## non_compliance

Only problem I hear with the inlines is that they are inefficient. Takes more wattage to heat less water. Could be conjecture....


----------



## kevmo911

By the way, I just discovered something interesting. My heater (100w Aqueon on a 25g) had been making popping and cracking noises occasionally for months, and recently started making a low "hissing" sound. I removed it and ordered another (a few, actually, big al's was having a sweet sale on both jagers and hydors, might still be).

Two days ago I put on a 300w that I had. Way too powerful, tried to cook my fish, but it was making the same noises. Looked carefully and realized that bubbles, and seemingly noise, was coming from between the clip and the heater. Slid the clip down a bit, the location of bubbles changed. Slid the clip up past the heating element, and it stopped!

Pulled my old heater out of the garbage, set both clips above the heating element, and no noise through last night. Still don't understand it. But I've seen the noise complaint before, so anybody who hears something weird may want to play with the clip location before dumping or returning a heater.


----------



## rwong2k

wow i just read through the whole thread, i just purchased a 25 watt stealth pro heater, little bit worried cause it's going into a high grade crs tank


----------



## neilshieh

its been stated before but, the stealth shatter proof heaters (not the pro ones) are simply superb, never owned a better heater. the thermometer is always rock solid on the temp i set the heat at. the only fault is it doesn't have an indicator light, it's not necessary but just for pure aesthetics. one thing though, putting in the suction cups to the holders are a real PITA


----------



## Bk828

tnsser said:


> I was premature when I first posted that I sent it to Marineland. It was packed up in a box ready to go; however, my insurance company did not want to send it back until they looked at it. My adjuster said that sending it back before a 3rd party tested it would be a bad idea. So I gave it to the insurance company who has it's own engineers that look into, and investigate faulty products.


any updates?


----------



## hbosman

neilshieh said:


> its been stated before but, the stealth shatter proof heaters (not the pro ones) are simply superb, never owned a better heater. the thermometer is always rock solid on the temp i set the heat at. the only fault is it doesn't have an indicator light, it's not necessary but just for pure aesthetics. one thing though, putting in the suction cups to the holders are a real PITA


+1 I have two Stealth (non Pro) heaters and they are just great. I use a Hydor Inline now which I like better but, it cost a bit more too.


----------



## justin182

I have both the older Stealth and the newer Stealth Pro 100w. Both are still working fine, but I gotta say I love the older one more. The new one is holding the temperature stable but off 3-4 degrees.


----------



## AquariumNoob

darn i just ordered a new 250 watt stealth for my 75g. Put it in last week aaa lol what a waste. Replaced my 300w aqueon with it as i thought it would look better hidden in the back.. sooo, how are Hydor inlines? Think i may get a 300 watt for my 75g. I have two eheim 2217's running. Should i put heaters on both filters and get two 200 watt's? or just put the heater on one and get a 300 watt? id prefer getting 1 300 watt as its cheaper.. Anyhow, are they any good? And what size are the eheim 2217's output lines? they have 1/2 and 5/8 sized heaters (dont know what the eheim is and emptying everything to see the hoses would be a PITA lol).
Thanks!


----------



## TMcNeil

Crap...
I bought 2 of these in the last 6 months, I've been happy with them, though one I only use to heat top-off water or whatever, the other is in my 46 BF.
I received this message from Pet Smart today concerning these heaters. I think I will give Marineland a call.



February 11, 2011 

Dear Valued PetSmart Pet Parent, 

Marineland has issued a voluntary withdrawal of the Stealth PRO Submersible Heater (100, 200 and 250 watt). The product is being withdrawn due to a quality issue. 

If you have this product, please stop using it immediately and take the following steps:

1. Unplug the heater from the wall to stop the flow of electricity 
2. Let the heater cool for 15 minutes 
3. Remove the heater from the tank 

Please bring the product to your closest PetSmart for a full refund or exchange. Replace the product with a comparable heater as soon as possible to maintain the temperature of your aquarium. A PetSmart store associate can help you select the right heater for your aquatic environment. 

If you have questions about this withdrawal, please call Marineland Customer Service at 800-526-0650 or 800-432-6986. 

At PetSmart, we are concerned pet parents, too. We will continue to do everything we can to help you and your pet during this time. 

Sincerely,



Debbie Gonzalez
Vice President, Brand and Customer Marketing


----------



## justin182

Thanks for the heads up.




TMcNeil said:


> February 11, 2011
> 
> Dear Valued PetSmart Pet Parent,
> 
> Marineland has issued a voluntary withdrawal of the Stealth PRO Submersible Heater (100, 200 and 250 watt). The product is being withdrawn due to a quality issue.
> 
> If you have this product, please stop using it immediately and take the following steps:
> 
> 1. Unplug the heater from the wall to stop the flow of electricity
> 2. Let the heater cool for 15 minutes
> 3. Remove the heater from the tank
> 
> Please bring the product to your closest PetSmart for a full refund or exchange. Replace the product with a comparable heater as soon as possible to maintain the temperature of your aquarium. A PetSmart store associate can help you select the right heater for your aquatic environment.
> 
> If you have questions about this withdrawal, please call Marineland Customer Service at 800-526-0650 or 800-432-6986.
> 
> At PetSmart, we are concerned pet parents, too. We will continue to do everything we can to help you and your pet during this time.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> 
> 
> Debbie Gonzalez
> Vice President, Brand and Customer Marketing


----------



## rwong2k

justin182 said:


> Thanks for the heads up.


thanks! for the warning, doh i just bought one recently!


----------



## astrosag

This is scary and frustrating. Here I am sitting with all my equipment and the one thing I thought I had right - the heater! - may actually be faulty?!

I have a 100 watt Marineland, Visi-Therm Submersible (duh) Heater.

Nowhere does it say "pro" so I'm assuming I'm in the clear?

Should I still just abandon this heater?


----------



## cmosh

It's the stealth pros not the visitherm


----------



## greg2639

StillLearning said:


> Which is what made me question the whole thing when the fish lived. I just dont see how it made it through the shock from electric or the depth charge which is what it would of been like if it sent glass fragments across the room. They will question it even more then me if hes trying to get a new tank though.


I can totally see how this happened and there is no question in my mind this case is legit. I am an electrical engineer specializing in arc-flash testing, which is basically blowing stuff up using electricity. 
Glass is a crystal, so it does not like to flex, that is is why it shatters. The strength of the shock wave is inversely proportional with the distance (squared) so the glass would disintegrate at the point closest to the origin of the shock wave. As others have pointed out, water does not compress much so a shock wave travels very well through the water. Once the shock wave shatters the glass at its weakest point (or exposed to the greatest force) a good portion of the shock wave is absorbed by the release point the remainder is also dampened by the rest of the glass shreds moving independently from each other (like a sponge) preventing the wave from bouncing off. Thus the fish would not be exposed to much of a shock wave since it already has found a release point, as well as the fish is at a distance from the origin. 
The reason why the glass was shattered towards the top of where the heater used to be mounted and not to the sides is because the force was directed at an angle: look at the heater, the bottom part swung around and acted like a pendulum directing the force towards the upper corner of the tank. 
As far as an electric shock goes, there may not have been any, the current takes a path of least resistance (first law of electrical engineering) so the vast majority of the current traveled between heater (heating element) leads, bypassing the heater element (which is basically a resistor) vaporizing water in the process creating secondary shock waves (at 50/60 times a second depending on location). 
No matter what kind of a protection you have, it is not instantaneous, fuses and breakers rely on the amount of heat created while the current goes through them (heat takes time to "travel' through the material depending on a heat transfer coefficient) so even fast blow fuses can still conduct for a while till the filament burns out (usually vaporizing and creating although short lived but still conducting metal vapors / plazma inside of the fuse). Circuit breakers are by far the worst (slowest), not only it takes time to generate heat, it also takes time for the breaker to clear (open). CGFI is better than brakers since it checks for current going in and coming out (hot to neutral, common mode current detection) so in case like this it would detect a ground current quickly and start turning itself off but it would still take time for the contractor to clear if it uses a mechanical contactor device (I used the term clear and not open because although the contacts may be opened they will still arc and conduct). Some CFGIs I have seen use semiconductors (back to back SCRs or other thyrestors), they are quicker that mechanical devices but in case of SCRs they can still conduct for up to half a cycle (once an SCR is gated it will be on till forward current stops flowing - reaching zero crossing of a sinusoidal wave) those are a lot more expensive and usually not used for home applications. So regardless of protection used (even the fastest of the fastest protection devices), depending on the position of the sine wave (worst at the peak) when the failure occurs, there is still enough energy to create this or even much greater damage. A protection device will only limit the time of the failure but rarely the initial force (unless you go to to superconducting short-blocker kind of devices and have millions of dollars in your pocket to burn).
Better yet, comments based strictly on speculation and suspicion and not backed up by any facts to prove conspiracy theories are really counterproductive and a waste of every one's time. Enough said.


----------



## SgtPeppersLHC

I'm not sure if this was said yet but Petsmart put out a recall on 100, 200, & 300W stealth pro heaters. The manager said anyone could bring theirs back and get credit for another one of equal value.


----------



## Psychoforkaatz

*Stealth heater voluntary recall*

Yesterday my stealth 200, for my 75 gal. Aquarium which houses my two RES turtles, split and started smoking when my turtle bumped it to the top of the water. Twice before I forgot to unplug it while doing a water change and it shut off. This time, horizontal to the water line it failed. I smelled the smoke from downstairs and freaked when I checked my room and found it full of toxic smoke pouring out of the heater. Luckily I was home, my tank did not explode and my turtles were fine. I've had this heater for six months, which I think could be it's lifespan. I had just raised the temp from 78 to 82 because of frigid temps here and I don't heat my room during the day. I took the heater back to Petsmart to exchange for new one and was told they had pulled them from the shelf. I am going to contact Petsmart for not making me aware of the danger, this has happened many times per them, and also contact Marineland of this danger. I am warning any of you who use this to take it back asap!


----------



## Aubzilla

If you used your PetPerks card(that has the correct contact information for you- including an email address) when you purchased it, you should have been notified when Marineland issued the stop sale.


----------



## CWO4GUNNER

* Email United Pet Group Stealth Heater Recall *


-----Original Message-----
From: _Me_
To: Joshua.Miller <[email protected]>
Sent: Sat, Feb 26, 2011 9:41 am
Subject: Re: stealth heaters

Thank You! I own 2 Visi-term heaters as well and they have never given me any trouble, only my two EPT 250W Stealth which are about 2 years old purchased I think from local Pet Smart or Pert Solutions. 1 of my 2 stealth heaters is very temperamental to touch in my 80 gallon Red Parrot tank after my last water-change the temperature jumped to 90F and I had to turn it down from 78 to 72 to get it to go back down. The other Stealth in my Oscar tank has been OK but I'm worried now. I would greatly appreciate 2 Visi-therm 250W replacement heaters. I have attached 2 photo of each of my 2 stealth heaters for verification to this email. If you provide me with a shipping label I would be happy to sent them both to you, but I will need the 2 Visi-therm heater replacements as I have only 1 spare extra heater ( Jebo 300W) and 8 other aquariums to maintain. My address is (xxxx xxxxxxxx St, BULLHEAD CITY, AZ 86442) PHONE (928 xxx xxxx). Please provide replacements as soon as possible.

Very Respectfully,
Gunner G, CWO4 US Coast Guard Ret
 




-----Original Message-----
From: Miller, Joshua <[email protected]>
To: _Me_
Sent: Wed, Feb 23, 2011 7:47 am
Subject: stealth heaters

The Stealth 100-300w style heaters are currently under quality review and we have placed a stop sale on them. We have two options to offer you. We can either replace your heater with a new Visi-therm Deluxe, glass style heater of equal quality and wattage, or we can refund your money for the heater. In either case, we would like to send a call tag to pick up the heater, at no charge to you. If you prefer to receive a refund, please provide us either with a receipt for your heater or a printout from your store or online retailer regarding what it would cost you to replace the heater, and we will refund the cost. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. If you have any questions, please let me know or call 1-800-338-4896.

Sincerely,
United Pet Group


----------



## Psychoforkaatz

*Petsmart recall*



Aubzilla said:


> If you used your PetPerks card(that has the correct contact information for you- including an email address) when you purchased it, you should have been notified when Marineland issued the stop sale.


My contact info is all current on my petperks including email yet I received no notice until returning it to the store, and of course they didn't mention how serious the "quality issue" was! Btw, mine was the Pro version.


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## Aubzilla

There was a date cap for the emails sent out- depending on how long ago you bought them would depend on whether you received an email or not.


----------



## Tyger

*Unfin believable!*

Unbelievable! Dude! Marineland should cover the heater, the tank, the deductable, and give you a $500.00 credit at the retailer of your choice! Given they sell aquariums, Marineland should offer to replace your tank free with equal tank! I am so sorry to hear what you are going through... I was thinking of getting a ML Pro-Stealth - forget it!

~Tyger~



tnsser said:


> Sorry to hear.
> 
> It has caused $3000 worth of damage to my floors. I turned it in to my Homeowners ins. and they are going to cover the damage after I pay my $500 deductible. They are going to contact Marineland for me and see about recovering the damages. I have not heard from Marineland either. I will also call them tomorrow. Please take pictures of the heater and all the damage. You can also contact me via PM and maybe with can trade info. I think it would go a long way with helping get this resolved.


----------



## YSR50

Has anyone dealt straight with United Pet Group? 

I received an email on the 15 from F & S notifying me of the recall. I called on the 16 and they sent me a replacement of my choice as well as a return postage label right away. 

On the 16 I also called Big Al's who I purchased all my other Stealth Pro heaters from and was told that it was not a recall, only a stop sale. The "Tech" was happy to send me an email containing a link to the information, but nothing else.

Since Big Al's wouldn't help I called Marineland Customer Service (United Pet Group). I explained I was calling about the recall and was told the same thing, it's not a recall. I then said "So you're telling me it's fine for me to continue using the heaters???" to which the person on the other end replied, "Eh... if you don't feel comfortable continuing to use them we will send you out some replacements." :icon_roll He then took my name and address and asked how many and what sizes I had.

I received the Marineland replacements but did not receive any return postage label. I have no plans on paying for shipping out of my own pocket, and they did not take any credit card info so I'm wondering what to do?

Oh and btw, Big Al's sent out a recall on the 24 :icon_roll


----------



## Blackstar65

Tyger said:


> Un-F-in believable! Dude! Marineland should cover the heater, the tank, the deductable, and give you a $500.00 credit at the retailer of your choice! Given they sell aquariums, Marineland should offer to replace your tank free with equal tank! I am so sorry to hear what you are going through... I was thinking of getting a ML Pro-Stealth - forget it!
> 
> ~Tyger~


They did.


tnsser said:


> Just got off the phone with them and they are going to cover all my damages. including replacement of floor. They will keep my business and are going to stand fully behind their product. Great to see.


----------



## jagr200

CW04 - Just because you are a retired Coast Guard Warrant Officer doesn't mean you need to sign your personal emails as such. Get off your high horse. - Coming from another Coastie.

I just got a $2,000 check from Marineland (United Pet Group) today due to my Stealth "pro" malfunctioning, cracking, and killing my entire saltwater reef tank. Took about 4 weeks from when I sent in the heater with the quote from my LFS till I received my check. Pretty happy with the outcome. Although I will never purchase another Marineland product.


----------



## cich

Damn, I just bought one of these today!!!

Also, here is another link I found within 20 seconds of googling:
http://reefbuilders.com/2011/02/14/marineland-stealth-pro-heaters-recall/

Print, return, and look all day for another heater :-(


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## Fish4Fun

my Marineland cracked in my saltwater tank as well..... I dont know what to do about it though (im only 17)



jagr200 said:


> CW04 - Just because you are a retired Coast Guard Warrant Officer doesn't mean you need to sign your personal emails as such. Get off your high horse. - Coming from another Coastie.
> 
> I just got a $2,000 check from Marineland (United Pet Group) today due to my Stealth "pro" malfunctioning, cracking, and killing my entire saltwater reef tank. Took about 4 weeks from when I sent in the heater with the quote from my LFS till I received my check. Pretty happy with the outcome. Although I will never purchase another Marineland product.


----------



## mcubed45

Fish4Fun said:


> my Marineland cracked in my saltwater tank as well..... I dont know what to do about it though (im only 17)


contact them and document ALL your damages. seems they're being pretty good about reimbursement.


----------



## jagr200

Fish4Fun said:


> my Marineland cracked in my saltwater tank as well..... I dont know what to do about it though (im only 17)


This is what you have to do. Straight from Marineland. 

Hello, 

For a compensation claim, we would need you to return the heater, a detailed letter regarding your set up, what happened, and an estimate as to the value of the fish lost. The estimate *MUST* be on a pet store's letterhead and/or with a store business card included. 

Once we receive this information, the heater will be sent to our lab for testing. Testing usually takes 2-4 weeks. Once the results are known, a claims specialist will be in contact with you.

Please send to:


United Pet Group 
Attn: Rosemary Hartmann 
3001 Commerce St 
Blacksburg, VA 24060 


Sincerely,

Marineland


----------



## cmscarpulla

*Stealth Pro Exploded*

You can add me to the list. I just got upstairs from cleaning up the mess from a 30 gallon breeding tank. 100W Stealth Pro heater purchased in February exploded. The tank broke open on the side that the heater was. It's possible that the tank broke then the heater exploded. I've seen that before. I have to wonder though with the recall and other posts that I have seen.


----------



## JasonG75

adroit said:


> Every time I do a water change, when the water falls below the position of the heater, the heater is still on regardless. Sometimes it gets so hot I can smell the plastic.


 
My question would be is this a defect of the product or IMPROPER USE of the product. It is a submersable heater, correct? The water keeps it cool?

I always "regardless of heater" have unplugged my heater during water changes.

I am days away from buying a new heater for the 75 gallon tank, and seeing this has changed my mind.


----------



## Safez

I still sacrifice a little bit of tank by using a Rena unbreakable. It's completely sealed and can be used inline if necessary.

Cost me a pretty penny but as another member has stated... I would not trust a 145 Gal all glass tank to a 30 dollar cheapo from china.


----------



## NoRemorse76

I just got a letter in the mail from Petsmart to return mine for store credit. I will be bringing it in this weekend to do so.


----------



## waterfaller1

I just heard of a recall of all stealth heaters. It is supposedly a quiet recall. I am concerned, as all of my heaters are stealths.


----------



## ridewake210

Anyone want to buy a 250w model? 

hehe


----------



## waterfaller1

That was another thing I read, look up 'stealth recall'. It is supposedly 100 watts and up. I contacted them by e-mail, and will be calling tomorrow.


----------



## ridewake210

Your slackin! 

Yeah, this stuff has been going on for quite some time.


----------



## waterfaller1

:redface: Totally missed it until today...


----------



## ValMM

I have a Penn-Plax heater. I keep it unplugged most of the time, unless I really need it. The temperature knob is sensitive to pressure and can be turned on if something presses against it. The other thing is it can turn off by itself too. I always make sure I am around when I use it.


----------



## bsmith

ValMM said:


> I have a Penn-Plax heater. I keep it unplugged most of the time, unless I really need it. The temperature knob is sensitive to pressure and can be turned on if something presses against it. The other thing is it can turn off by itself too. I always make sure I am around when I use it.



Yeah that's just a crappy heater, whichbim convinced every single heater out there is except a hydor in line and an eheim jaeger. The stealth heaters in discussion here are fizzling out under water and at worst bursting causing tank damage!


----------



## ridewake210

waterfaller1 said:


> :redface: Totally missed it until today...


lol its alright

I highly suggest, and so will others, unplug and remove every Stealth you've got that is 100w's or more and run them into the local Petsmart. roud:


----------



## Granny

My message to them asked if my 250W heater was safe to use and inquired as to the status of any recall.

From: US Aquatics Consumer Support
[email protected]

"The Stealth and Stealth Pro 100-300w style heaters are currently under
quality review and we have placed a stop sale on them. No recall has
been issued on these heaters. We have several options to offer you. If
you are happy with the performance of your current heater, by all means
you may keep it. It is still covered by the lifetime warranty of the
product. If you are unsatisfied with the product, you could take it back
to place of purchase or we can either replace your heater with a new
Visi-therm Deluxe, glass style heater of equal quality and wattage, or
we can refund your money for the heater. In either case, we would like
to send a call tag to pick up the heater, at no charge to you. If you
prefer to receive a refund, please provide us either with a receipt for
your heater or a printout from your store or online retailer regarding
what it would cost you to replace the heater, and we will refund the
cost. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. If you
have any questions, please let us know or call 1-800-338-4896."

Sincerely,
United Pet Group


----------



## bustah8

I'm sure it would like pulling teeth to get Marineland to replace a tank, rent dryer, float the carpet, pull and replace the carpet pad. Oh and I read in one of the OP posts that a shard of glass ended up 30 feet away... potential for bodily injury, permanent disability or even death. Nice.


----------



## Granny

I'm for sure having them replace mine before any of that happens! I sit right beside my tanks a good part of the day and I don't want to be beheaded by my exploded aquarium.


----------



## Charuru

Holy cow! At the Petsmart I work at we recalled ALL the Stealths because of such things! I'm so happy your baby is ok ! 

Do you remember where you got it from? If it was Pmart, you can contact them and they can reimburse you for a new one OR give your money back! And by new one I mean a brand with the same watts as your current one .


----------



## dna

I have a Stealth Pro 150W which was purchased a little over a year from today. I called Marineland today, and was informed there was no recall issued by Marineland or the government for these heaters, however they are pulling them off the shelves for "quality" issues. I was told that the affected batch was from Dec '10 and on. Marineland will manufacture new ones once they resolve the quality issue. I'm still not comfortable with what I've read on-line and forums about this, but I haven't had any issues with it thus far. Do you roll the dice and take a chance, or just get a new heater from a different manufacturer. I really like this heater (aside from the present issue). It has a nice led which is always on (green or red), letting me know the thing is working. Anyone know if another manufacture makes a similar model with the LED? Most only light up when the heater comes on, but this model indicates that the power is on one way or another.

*UPDATE*- I returned my Stealth Pro to LFS w/ no problems (had my original receipt). Bought the Aqueon Pro 150 (*made in Italy* according to the print on the back of heater). Seems to keep the temp steady, but did notice the green light (power on) stays on ALL the time. I haven't seen the red light (heater on indicator) kick on yet. ?? I know the red light works, as I tested the heater/light when I installed it. I know the heater has kicked on because I have a separate digital thermometer that indicates when the temp goes up. Might have to call Aqueon if this keeps up. I hope I didn't upgrade to another problem


----------



## kirk

What is it w/ these aquarium heaters! I would pay double if i knew that the heater was not going to leak, overheat my tank, shock me or the fish/plants. Wow! Explode! What the..!:icon_eek:

i just returned a stealth (non pro) because it was overheating/ stuck on. And the visitherm that replaced it is now leaking and does not consistently respond to temperature adjustment. leaking = condensation inside.

I'm going to take this one back too as i now see exploding fish tanks is nothing to fool around with.

*Stop manufacturing pretend products!*

Id say maybe half the items purchased today are for profit and _pretend_! If we would actually consider the real cost of consuming non-renewable resources to make fake or half baked products just for profit then everything would be made as if our lives depend on them. And they do. Long term if not in the short term that is. We are smarter than than that... 

best wishes

kirk


----------



## bsmith

Im telling you, I am 100% convinced that every heater on the market is a POS except the hydor inline and the rena smart heaters. Submersible in tank heaters are just manufactured in a way and are made so cheaply that im really surprised that there have not been more complaints and backlash from overheated tanks killing people beloved expensive livestock.


----------



## kirk

Thanks i'll check out the rena and keep the visitherm for the buckets


----------



## kirk

i've now read people having problems with the Rena's as well.

Is there a high quality submersible available?

I remember back maybe twenty years ago that the visitherms were great, but now they are obviously at a loss of quality. And for what? A few bucks.


----------



## jimangie1973

I agree. All the recent submersibles I have had are crap. I had a Visitherm that about cooked my fish. The water was 95 degrees when I realized it was stuck on. I've had several others that all start condensing inside and the temperature variations are several degrees. I now have a Hydor in-line that seems to keep the temp very constant.


----------



## Java Moss

NOTE: Anybody considering exchanging their Stealths...do not bother calling Marineland for further information. I made that mistake and the two folks I spoke to completely denied the issue. 

Stopped by Petsmart (Willoughbuy, OH) to check my luck and without question along with never having one of their cards, it was exchanged with no fuss or resistance. Wanted to get the glass Fluvals, but those only had 3 year warranties. Ended up with Aqueons which looked like altered Stealths along with lifetime warranty. 

Okay, Aqueon is not the first name in heaters. But, who is these days?


----------



## JCoxRocks

You know, I've read these threads over and over again and kept telling myself that I had never had a problem with my stealths before, so shouldn't have to worry. 

About 3 nights ago, 3 of my prized Ken Kennedy Phillipine blue angels died unexpectedly. I tested my water and everything was fine. I had recently done a 50% water change, and I assumed that maybe the difference in water temp and/or chlorine in my tap water might have been the culprit. I had added some water conditioner during refill, but I assumed it hadnt completely mixed with the new tank water. I was pretty bummed out about it as one of the three was a gorgeous zebra veil that I loved. Another was a platinum that my g/f was obsessed with.

I noticed last night that the fluid in my drop checker was almost clear, not yellowish, but clear. I had also noticed that my blyxa, rotala rotundifolia, limnophila aromatica and a small cluster of riccia in my tank had been melting and all my RCS shrimp had died. Somehow I had attributed that to some excel dosing I had been doing to combat some hair algae. I also noticed earlier this week that my plants hadn't been pearling as much. Especially the rotala, which usually goes crazy. I replaced the lights in my hood since they were 6-7 months old. I had eliminated everything I thought could be causing these issues, or so i thought.

When I reached in to replace the fluid in my drop checker I was amazed at how warm the water was. Something didnt seem right. I checked the temp in my 125g and the digital thermometer readout said 77 degrees. The water felt like ice compared to my 38g. I looked at the old fashion stick-on strip on the front of the tank and it was solid black. It goes up to 82 degrees at the highest and was off the charts. I borrowed a digital thermometer out of one of my other tanks to check the tank and it was 92 degrees. 92!!!!!

I immediately pulled out the heater and it was steaming hot to the touch. It was set on 75 degrees. This was at 10pm, so I couldnt make it to the store to get another heater at the time, so I'm hoping the temp will drop to around room temp (70) and then by the time I get off work today and can get home with a new heater I can slowly raise the temp back up to 75-77 degrees. I will order a hydor inline but use a store-bought unit in the meantime.

If you think this wont happen to you, think again. I lost 3 gorgeous angels that I raised from pea size, a whole colony of shrimp and my plants look like garbage. Don't wait for it to happen to you. Get rid of these garbage heaters!! I plan to go hydor on all my tanks.

J


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## ssjones

I just got a letter from the stealth people-the recall has expanded from the pro to the other model as well as expanded in the watts, don't know if that's on here but you might want to check into it!


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## pgjz7c

If you are still using a stealth heater go get it swapped out now! On the morning of 13 June I found my prized fish all dead after the heater malfunctioned over night bringing the temperature to 110' F and rising. The letter posted on the web from Marineland said that Pet Smart would do the recalls. I use stealth heaters in all three of my tanks and Pet Smart swapped them out with problems, but unfortunately they could not compensate me for my lost fish.


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## Noahma

I actually received my check from them last week. 21.50 for the 50watt.


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## sewingalot

Let's stay on topic and leave this as an informative thread only. We do not allow any sort of vendor reviews. If you are having issues with a company, please take it up with them directly.


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## bpb

Had two of these units cook my 10 gallon. One after the other. Luckily it had Guppies and a betta and they survived the 98 degrees by the time i noticed. I go heaterless now. Living in Texas, it is a struggle to get the ambient temperature in my house down to 75 so the tank stays relatively stable.


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## studentclimber

Just thought I would bump this up for those who had not seen it. I know I have three of these and did not find out about the recall until one failed. I think I am going to pull the other two out and just go without heaters till the replacements come in. Any one have any experience with the replacements they are sending out?????


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## D9VIN

Here's a bump for I just heard about this. Wow. Gotta run to petshart tomorrow.


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## jackyuen89

I was thinking about bringing mines into petsmart instead of sending them into DRfosterandsmith. D9VIN howd the swap go for you?


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## D9VIN

Well, I took it to on petsmart, they told me they hadn't heard anything about the recall, and their advice to me was to find another heater identical to the one I had, buy it, and then return one of them. But they didn't have any like mine at the time. I even showed them the recall website. Of course you don't have any for sale, they explode. So I called marineland, and they asked if I wanted a replacement or a refund, I opted refund, and they told me to send it in and they would send me a check in about 5 weeks. So I called the other petsmart in town, mentioned the heater and the girl immediately knew it was recalled and told me to bring it in, exchanged it for the aqueon of the same wattage no problem. So good luck!


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## waterfaller1

I have been using stealth heaters for over four years without issue. You do need to unplug any heater before you do a water change and expose it.


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## fishyjoe24

it depends on the petsmart, i went to a few of them. because I got the marieland is the best heater what seems to be the problem from the old guys, then on my last stop the guy I talk to was around my age or a little longer and new they been recalled told me i could get a refund of or another heater..... one of the managers at the petsmart told me the stealths got replace with the top fin. (top fin is pet smart brand).... i said where are the ebo jagers, and the hydor inline filters.... 

speaking of pet smart, they will stop carrying the rena canister filters and replace them with the marineland canister filters. so the rena are on clearance I picked up a xp1 for 29.97 ! .


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## D9VIN

Uh, waterfaller, did you read the first post? I mean, if you are using these recalled heaters, I would seriously consider stopping asap. It is a federal recall, making them 100% illegal to sell.

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml11/11202.html

Fire hazards? Laceration hazard? It's all fun and games, until someone loses an eye. Literally. It seems alot easier to me to replace a couple heaters than to replace a tank, your home, or your eyeball.


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## POTSHOT

@D9VIN
Thanks for putting up the recall link!! I heard about this some time ago but could not confirm the recall. I have a Stealth ETL150 and it's been OK for the last couple years. However, forewarned is forearmed!! I have no desire to go through an explosion. I will be replacing it this weekend.
Might as well take the opportunity to inquire if anyone has experience with the Fluval Electronic heater? Seems like a good design.


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## sreid

*Fluval E Heater*

@ Potshot

I have been using Fluval E200 for a couple weeks now after noticing condensation inside my original heater that came used with the tank. So far I am very pleased with it. Easy and accurate to set with the digital display that read +/- .5F to what my Hagen Marina Digital Thermometer reads.

I find the temp in my 30G stable to within 1F of the set point with the temp in my house fluctuating 9F or more depending on the time of year (Programmable thermostats that turn down when i am at work). In comparison to my old heater the fluctuated 4-5F on a daily basis.

I would recommend them as I have had good luck with it for the last couple weeks. Being able to glance and see that the display is green makes for a nice feature.
http://www.charterhouse-aquatics.co.uk/catalog/hagen-marina-digital-thermometer-p-1991.html


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## AesopRocks247

I use a eheim jager heater and it's spot on with the temp stability.


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## kharma

AesopRocks247 said:


> I use a eheim jager heater and it's spot on with the temp stability.


I second you. I have been using one for about 4 years now and its still doing the job perfectly even in the winter when my room drops to 55-60.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk


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## Rich Conley

fishyjoe24 said:


> this why I don't like steaths. i tell people to get eheim ebo jagers or hagen e class heaters but people won't listen to me. I always had problems with steaths, only think i like from marineland are there filters.



There isn't a single brand/model of heater that you can't find some sort of story where it has caused multiple thousands of dollars of damage. Any heater with a bimetal switch WILL fail eventually. And it will fail on. 



What I don't undersand is why some of you are running heaters that are big enough to get your tank up to the 100 degree range. There's just no need for that.


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## bsmith

From my experience in the 15+ years in this hobby using heaters the best two I have used have been the Hydor ETH and the Rena Smart heater.


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## kharma

Rich- I use one rated higher than my tank because the room temperatures drop dramatically in my room in the winter due to not having a heater, so it makes me feel a bit safer having just a bigger rated heater. It can keep it more stable imo. I dont want my apitos getti g cold 

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk


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## Rich Conley

kharma said:


> Rich- I use one rated higher than my tank because the room temperatures drop dramatically in my room in the winter due to not having a heater, so it makes me feel a bit safer having just a bigger rated heater. It can keep it more stable imo. I dont want my apitos getti g cold
> 
> Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk


 
A bigger heater won't keep it any more stable. It either is powerful enough, or its not. 


You'd be much better off with two smaller heaters if you want to run more wattage than you need.


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## Steve N

I'm another victim. I had no idea there was any sort of warning about these heaters, bought one from Petsmart about 18 month ago, and until yesterday assumed it was perfectly safe. Luckily I was home when it happened and I was able to save 20 of the 25 fish by tossing them into the 55 gal I still have.

Now I have a WAY overstocked 55 gal and a freaked out wife - well me too to be honest. (densely planted, however, so lots of hiding space)

I can probably rummage up the receipt but whats the point? Does Marineland care at all about my destroyed tank?

They've undone my fish management completely too. My anabantoids, danios and loaches and now joined by corydora, tetras, pygmy cory, ottos a freaked out blue ram. 

I've hooked the 29's canister up to the 55, so its being filtered by both now. The water parameters of both tanks were essentially identical and the 55 will now be very well planted..... Despite all that its freaking crazy! The number of fish in the tank right now is ... 45 ... several are smaller but many are 2" and the pearl gaurami at 4" are the largest.

Will this work or should make move to reduce stock?


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## happi

Steve N said:


> I'm another victim. I had no idea there was any sort of warning about these heaters, bought one from Petsmart about 18 month ago, and until yesterday assumed it was perfectly safe. Luckily I was home when it happened and I was able to save 20 of the 25 fish by tossing them into the 55 gal I still have.
> 
> Now I have a WAY overstocked 55 gal and a freaked out wife - well me too to be honest. (densely planted, however, so lots of hiding space)
> 
> I can probably rummage up the receipt but whats the point? Does Marineland care at all about my destroyed tank?
> 
> They've undone my fish management completely too. My anabantoids, danios and loaches and now joined by corydora, tetras, pygmy cory, ottos a freaked out blue ram.
> 
> 
> I've hooked the 29's canister up to the 55, so its being filtered by both now. The water parameters of both tanks were essentially identical and the 55 will now be very well planted..... Despite all that its freaking crazy! The number of fish in the tank right now is ... 45 ... several are smaller but many are 2" and the pearl gaurami at 4" are the largest.
> 
> Will this work or should make move to reduce stock?


Marineland will take care of your when you contact them, petsmart wont do much though. you should be able to get your money from Marineland for all the loss, including fish, carpet, tank, heater, etc.


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## Wulfyn

Atleast it sounds like Marineland doesn't bury thier heads or read a "script" to you. Good to hear they are willing to work with you and accept some responsibility. Be glad they're not like Sony roud:


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## Steve N

Wulfyn said:


> Atleast it sounds like Marineland doesn't bury thier heads or read a "script" to you. Good to hear they are willing to work with you and accept some responsibility. Be glad they're not like Sony roud:


I wouldn't assume anything about being taken care of. For instance, while I may have a receipt, I never bothered to register the warranty - who registers a simple heater? Well, if they DO take care of me, I'll let you all know and give a nod of support to Marineland.


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## Steve N

Steve N said:


> I'm another victim. I had no idea there was any sort of warning about these heaters, bought one from Petsmart about 18 month ago, and until yesterday assumed it was perfectly safe. Luckily I was home when it happened and I was able to save 20 of the 25 fish by tossing them into the 55 gal I still have.
> 
> Now I have a WAY overstocked 55 gal and a freaked out wife - well me too to be honest. (densely planted, however, so lots of hiding space)


Well, I finally filed with Marineland. Months after the event, so I could really assess the damages fairly.

The overstocked tank was fun for a while, then it collapsed while I was on vacation. The brown plague took over after 4 weeks of vacationing without any hitches. EVERYTHING died and the poor kid who was care taking was traumatized to see the tank look a little off color one day to showing up the next day to the grim reaper. Poor kid. That's never going to happen again. 

Anyhow, Marineland compensated me for the lost stock from the 29 gallon tank, seeing as how I had no way to keep them alive for long. I did not mention to them the lost stock of the 55 gallon stock. That was my fault. 

The silver lining is I have a simpler tank set up now and I don't feel financially cheated. So, I'm just going to keep enjoying the hobby!


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## AquariumNoob

Steve N said:


> Well, I finally filed with Marineland. Months after the event, so I could really assess the damages fairly.
> 
> The overstocked tank was fun for a while, then it collapsed while I was on vacation. The brown plague took over after 4 weeks of vacationing without any hitches. EVERYTHING died and the poor kid who was care taking was traumatized to see the tank look a little off color one day to showing up the next day to the grim reaper. Poor kid. That's never going to happen again.
> 
> Anyhow, Marineland compensated me for the lost stock from the 29 gallon tank, seeing as how I had no way to keep them alive for long. I did not mention to them the lost stock of the 55 gallon stock. That was my fault.
> 
> The silver lining is I have a simpler tank set up now and I don't feel financially cheated. So, I'm just going to keep enjoying the hobby!


Whered ya' contact them? I used their contact us form on the website and they never got back to me.
Ive got a stealth that needs to be replaced by the new version o_0.


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## BenderBendingRodriguez

Hi there. I recently returned 5 of these since I got back into the hobby recently and didn't want to have dangerous heaters in my tanks. I found this link on google
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml11/11202.html 
and called the hotline and had no trouble sending them back. It's the first number on the page. They emailed me a packing slip and paid for shipping. Very easy process. They even reimbursed me for them.


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## AquariumNoob

BenderBendingRodriguez said:


> Hi there. I recently returned 5 of these since I got back into the hobby recently and didn't want to have dangerous heaters in my tanks. I found this link on google
> http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml11/11202.html
> and called the hotline and had no trouble sending them back. It's the first number on the page. They emailed me a packing slip and paid for shipping. Very easy process. They even reimbursed me for them.


 Awesome. Gonna call tomorrow, then .


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## Hoppy

FSM said:


> So instead of taking the time to unplug it, you continue to run the risk of a heater exploding while your arms/face are potentially in the tank?


Don't we all pull the plug on our heaters anytime we lower the water level? I thought that was taught to us when we were still wearing diapers.:icon_mrgr

I have, a couple of times, forgotten to unplug the heater, but each time I remembered as soon as I looked in the tank and saw the top of the heater. I would never rely on the heater to shut down automatically with low water.


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