Ebo-Jager heater = BOOM

[JWeb]

I was fiddling with my Durso standpipe problem last night (still can't get the damn thing stable!). I had taken the canopy off... removed the overflow and piping down to the sump. After I had cleaned everything out (again), I brought it all over to the tank and was reinstalling the plumbing. All of a sudden, I hear a "pop" and all power to the tank was gone - lights, skimmer, return, everything. I look in my control cabinet and notice the GFCI had tripped! Uh oh. After unplugging everything and restarting one-at-a-time, I found that one of my 75W E-J heaters was the trouble (I have 2 75W heaters in my sump... fortunately.). I stole another spare heater from a small freshwater tank I have (hope they make it!) and put that in the sump.

The E-J heater that popped had condensation inside the glass tube.

Is it toast? Has anyone every had luck taking it apart and resealing it?

I know everyone says to dump the glass-tube heaters... but they generally do well - and this isn't a cheapy, isn't E-J stuff pretty good? Furthermore, it's only several months old!

Idears?

 

[ScottM]

i got sick of getting shocked from glass heaters and bought titanium.
now adays they are very close in price.

as for re-sealing them , i have done it on via aqua heaters but long term, not a good idea

 

[JWeb]

Well, I'm happy with sealing the heater until I order some titanium replacements. I don't know why I so stubbornly insist on glass heaters.

Scott, what do I seal? I see two areas: where the top "cap" meets the glass and where the cap meets the dial that sets the thermostat. Is silicone acceptable?

 

[NateHanson]

I'd think you'll have to get all the condensate and dried salt out of the heater before sealing it will do any good. Personally I wouldn't bother with it, but you've proven to be craftier than I in electrical matters, Jeff, so maybe you'll have luck.

I know it's not in your neighborhood, but AA is now carrying two lines of "Finnex" titanium heaters. Middle of the line model is about $20 for a 100W, and the super deluxe ones that are packaged like a fine watch, are more in the $60-80 range.
I was very happy to see quality titanium heaters down at the same price as glass heaters.

 

[karl wagner]

Ebo Jager is now out of business.
Eheim bought them and shut them down.
It's been a while too. The heater must have been exposed to the air, that's usually the only way they go bad, and they do so quickly.

 

[JWeb]

You are probably right, Nate... it's not worth the time to fix this one. It just rubs me the wrong way that it failed in just a few months.

Here's a question: I have found a source for WON brothers Ti heaters that sells 50W, 75W, 100W, 150W and 200W all for $24.95 each. I have 2 75W heaters for my setup that totals ~40 gallons. Following the 2W / gal rule, I only need 80W. I figured 2 75s was a great safety. Since the heaters are the same price all the way up to 200W, does it make sense to run a 200W next to the 75W?

On the one hand, I'm supposing that the RATE at which the 200W heater heats is much greater than the 75W... so I might have some crazy imbalance there.

On the other hand, if the 200W ever fails ON, it will definitely cook the tank. Yet, if the 75W fails on and I don't catch it for 12 hours (typical of my daily routine), I'm sure I'll still be in trouble.

Anyway, what I'm really asking with all of these words is can I buy a 200W heater for the same price to have future capability and not get myself into trouble now?

 

[dad300]

I haven't heard that much good about the won heaters.... do a search on Rc and see what you get... if I recall correctly they like to either stick on and cook the tank or they like to not come on...

 

[stang8s]

I recently bought 2 of the visatherm Stealth heaters. They are aluminum inside and totally plastic on the outside. I have always had good luck with visatherm, i have a couple in my FW tanks that are 15-20 years old. The stealths were cheap.

 

[JWeb]

Ebo Jager is now out of business.
Eheim bought them and shut them down.
It's been a while too. The heater must have been exposed to the air, that's usually the only way they go bad, and they do so quickly.

Karl, I am nearly certain the heater wasn't exposed to air.

Thanks for letting me know they are out of business...

 

[NateHanson]

Jeff, I have a 250W Won ProHeatII digital heater and a 200W Finnex heater on my ~80 gallon system. I like the digital temp readout on the Won heater, and my only complaint with it is that the temp knob turns too easily if bumped. The finnex has to be pressed in to turned. Nice feature. If either stuck on, during the day with the lights on, I expect my tank would fry. But I don't like to turn up the furnace when we're away for a long day or a weekend, just to keep the tank warm. So our house is probably 55-60 degrees at some point during most weeks. Occasionally the room the tank is in also gets cold if the woodstove isn't going strong all night and it's particularly cold outside. So for me the more likely danger was chilling the tank.

So personally, I don't really see a problem with putting a 200W heater on your 40g, but I expect others think otherwise.

 

[JWeb]

Well, I just spent some time searching over at Reefcentral.

First, sometimes I become so frustrated by the CRAP that people post over there. Some people have NO idea what they are posting.

Anyway, regarding titanium heaters:

The general concensus is that the WON Pro-Heat units are MARGINAL at best. Much of the problems seem to arise from poor construction. Foremost, although the Pro-Heat units are supplied with a three-prong (grounded) plug, nothing within the heater is actuall grounded. The potential for danger depends on combinations of GFCI, grounding probes, and your personal proximity to earth ground. Nonetheless, many, many people have reported getting shocks/tingles from the Pro-Heat units. Others have reported that the heater simply stops functioning or (less often) fails in the ON state - cooking the water. Many have actually taken their heaters apart to investigate the internals.

Here are some links: false ground, electrocution! potential

There were some reports that the Pro-Heat II units by WON are a bit better... actually grounded, much lower failure rate, etc.

There were others talking about relative success with ViaAqua heaters... although there seemed to be as many complaints as compliments.

In sum, the consensus was that titanium heaters simply aren't as reliable or built to the same quality as Ebo-Jager glass heaters. The Ebo-Jager heaters were specifically named.

I'm thinking that my failure was simply bad luck... I will probably order another Ebo-Jager to replace it.

Also, for what it's worth, nobody mentioned that Ebo-Jager has gone out of business. Yet, I do confirm that Eheim has purchased the rights as their address is on the instruction sheet.

 

[NateHanson]

Jeff, you should look into Finnex.

AA might even mail one to you. Or if this critter order happens, you'll be in this neighborhood anyways.

 

[karl wagner]

FWIW: almost certain is uncertain.

 

[shawn]

One thing to note is that the E-J heaters are not fully submersible (they have a "high water" line), though it seems as if users often submerse them. Just curious, was it generally fully submersed, or did you keep the top out of the water?

 

[frazmanw]

E-J heaters are fully submersable. The water line is a low water line in order for the thermostat to propperly work. however they absolutely are fully submersable.

As far as being exposed to air. E-J heaters turn them selves off when the water gets too low. as a safty. Most heaters don't.

I have NEVER ever had a E-J heater malfunstion.

Jamie

 

[NateHanson]

From a dealer's website listing of Ebo-Jager heater:

Specifications:
This heater is not completely submersible.

I first thought what you said, Jaime, must be the case, since my other heaters have LOW water lines, not HIGH water lines. But I did a little googling, and it appears that in fact EboJagers aren't supposed to be completely submersed.

 

[stang8s]

I had 2 ebos in my tank and they both have failed. First one after about 1 yr, 2nd one after about 2 years.

 

[JWeb]

Jeez... Ebo is good, Ebo is bad. Titanium is good, titanium is bad.

I have my Ebo heaters FULLY submerged. Nate, in my Google search, I determined the opposite - that Ebo heaters are fully submersible. The markings on the heat itself are terribly misleading (says "Do not immerse beyond this level") or something to that effect. You would think the manufacturer knows best... so maybe this isn't so misleading! Nonetheless, LOTS of people on RC (and several online drygoods suppliers) suggest that they are fully submersible. I have no idea, now. Maybe that's why mine failed. I suppose there is no real reason I need to fully submerge the heater...

Stang, how were your Ebos installed? Fully submerged?

Don't know what to do.

 

[JWeb]

Nate, what is so special about Finnex? Are they higher quality than the WON heaters?

 

[Aquadiva]

Jeff,

FWIW...I have at least 1 of most of the heater brands listed above. I have a visatherm stealth, 1 glass ebo-jaeger, 3 WON Pro-Heat units and a Finnex that Nate was talking about.

The only one that has failed is the glass one I dropped on the basement floor. All three of the Won Pro-heaters that we have are grounded. Hubby broke them open to check because we read the same as you on RC. I don't know the deal with some of them, but ours were OK. No problems at all, although the little temp dial is pretty worthless. Once I find the sweet spot, a little duct tape keeps it in place.

I also bought a new Finnex from AA. They seem to have two different grades. The super heaters ( the one I saw was 800watts, I believe) has a beefy looking temperature controller. Mike uses at least one of these in his shop. The one I bought was a 300 watt. The controller looks like a toy, (blue see-thru plastic), but seems to be holding the water temp bang on. No overnight fluctuations due to the cold weather. I do, however, need to set it at 82, and it shuts off when the tank reads 80. About as good as the Won heaters.

And finally, I fully submerge my E-J. I use it for heating newly mixed water.

All seem to operate fine. I think heaters are like most stuff made these days. Quality control kinda stinks, and sometimes you get a winner, and sometimes you get stuff that doesn't work out of the box.

Also....having bought a "non glass" heater, I will never buy a glass one again.

Hope it helps.
-Linda