Heater burst .....!

So i was cleaning my tank today, and all of sudden the heater popped.....i just heard a pop and frizzling noise.....and noticed the heater was frizzling. My hand was still in the tank, but down ask me how i survived that. Lesson learned...turn off heater before cleaning tank. So i had to buy a new heater. I did have a 300L heater in my tank (my tank size is 240L), however i only managed to find a 200L heater. Would this be a sizable heater for my tank considering i have about 20KG of gravel, some large artificial rocks and the tank is not filled to the complete top?

 

atleast a 200w jager heater

 

I had the same thing happen to me, the heaters have a cut off switch built in when the elements are floaded/submerged in water they cut out, Thank goodness that's how i survived lol!!!

In summer a 200w would surfice but with winter on its way it will work overtime to keep the water warm get a backup heater just in case a smaller one would be ok! Consider putting it in the tank at an angle turn it on so the 2 can work in tandom so if one goes the other will be the backup until you can by another one. i have 2 in my 300lt tank & it works like a bomb.

 

i think jager heaters has some type of protecter doesn't it? anyone? Almost had the same problem last week, was pluged out, after 5min I smelled some rubber the I saw I pulled the heater out and was lying on ots cord and started to meld the cord, luckily it didn't burst when I quickly putted it back in water

 

It looks like we all had near death experiences lol!!! Yes jager heaters do but we dont want to take a chance with electricity & water.
Just one of the hazards of loving our fish. So there are simple steps to take when it comes to heaters
1. Unplug them before tank cleaning.
2. Take it out & place it on a surface (Try a towl) that will not crack the glass.
3. Once cleaning has been completed rinse off the heater & place it back into the water but dont turn it on.
4. Let it sit for 2 or 3 mins so it can warm up to the tank water temp then plug it back in.
This method stops cracking & shattering from expansion & contraction.

If anyone has anything else to add we would love to learn something new!

 

I always unplug my heater and pumps that sit high,i almost forgot yesterday.Lucky one pump started making noises and i noticed i forgot to plug them out along with the heater.

Why not buy 2x200L/200w heaters?

 

lol! at least we dont feel so alone!

I suppose you could buy 2 x 200l/200w heaters but i think that might be over kill. You can run
them in two separate sockets, (not parallel or series) so they kick in together & kick out together
so if one blows the other can still carry the load for a while. i'm thinking cost as well as security so
a 100/150w extra will sirfice. If you are going to put them both in the tank put them on oposite sides
of the tank so they dont clash heat wise.

 

@Angel28 , yes unplug, but I noticed even if you had unplugged it, can still warm up, make that an test, because I felt more then once them still heating up after I unplugged it

 

just put in a 200L Elite heater. The one that popped was a 300L Elite. So the question remains....will the 200L Elite do the trick, considering so many rocks and gravel in the tank? All in all there is probably about 210L in the tank. Surely if these heaters are designed for 200L tanks then even if you had exactly 200L to heat up it should be able to cope with that?

 

I think you are better off getting a 300w heater when you can. For now get the 200w which can become your backup.

A 200w heater in your tank is probably going to have to work quite hard thereby shortening it's lifespan.

 

@snail Yes, 1x 200w heater will do, but you may notice that there will be a difference between the heater temp setting and the actual temp of the water. normally about 2 degrees.

I gather that you have a 1,2m tank. You might also notice that there is a temperature differences or cold spots in the tank depending on how far away from the heater you get and how good your water circulation is.

Your best bet is to get another 200w heater and have the 2x heaters sitting in each end of the tank. This way you'll have better heat distribution. You won't have to "over-run" you heaters. AND you'll have a backup in case something happens to one, so you won't need to rush out and buy a heater ASAP.

 

hehe my backup is a extra 50 watt heater i have:banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead: that won't work in a 4foot tank.

 

It happened to me twice, the first time was when I was new to fishkeeping many years ago, and the last time quite recently, no excuse for the last one to happen. fortunately I escaped both times without getting shocked. As far as new heaters are concerned it must either be 300W or at least 2 x 150W