My VisiTherm 200w heater shattered somehow. I'm not sure how. I just made a co2 reactor/inline heater DIY and I installed it all, watched the temp climb, and got worried. removed the heater to find the heater had shattered.
The thermostat is at the top of this heater, is there one with the thermostat further down (the water line mark)?? I believe the low clearance between the heater and the hetco part contributed to fooling the heater till it fried...I don't know.
also, I installed my heater upside down, Would this be bad? no one seemed to think so at the time... I wonder how the thermostat works, would being upsidedown screw it up?
I have seen people do this reactor/heater with the eheims, and I thought I would do it with my visitherm. I dont mind going and getting the ehiem now, but Im wondering if being upsidedown was the bad part.
first most likely reason for breakage: if the hot tip of the heater was above water while heating (=extra hot)...and it either breaks then or breaks when cold water gets added back around it...
Putting in the heater upside down should work fine, with visitherm, as I thnk they are fully submersible...but it would up the risk of the heater end being exposed in this way when the water is down...got to unplug heater during big water changes/when water is lowered for maintenance access
I just went to petco. All the heaters there had the min water line (usually the location of the thermostat) at the very top of the shafts. This means i can't attach the hetco part w/o sealing off the thermostat from the water (no good)
I am extremely disappointed, and I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I may just call the whole thing a loss and get the professional inline heaters.
zavikan,
I don't understand what a co2 reactor/inline heater DIY is? Did you build a CO2 reactor with a heater inside? Got any pics?
You may want to try the Stealth heaters. They don't shatter and I think they are shorter http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=12060
Thats it, basicly... with co2 going in the side. I mounted it all upsidedown, so the thermostat would never get in a co2 bubble.
I just checked the stealth. The water line is like 2mm away from the top 'assembly'. This means that the heyco fitting would go over it, and I would not get an accurate read (or at least I think so... anyone tried?)
Unless I get a cheap heater, or I am very sure that something like the stealth would work (despite the water line issue), Im going to bite the bullet and go hydor.
thoughts?
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
The Planted Tank Forum
3.5M posts
130.6K members
Since 2002
A forum community dedicated to Aquatic tank owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about flora, fauna, health, housing, filters, care, classifieds, and more!