Nearly Boiled My Fish

[ColR1948]

My heater packed in yesterday so went this morning and bought a TetraTec 300W, I set the right temp (25C) with the turn switch at the top, the light comes on, great I thought.

Just happen to look a few minutes ago and the heater light is still on but the temp was 32C. I unplugged it and opened the hood to let the air slowly cool the water down, I shall be returning it in the morning.
Funny thing is on the box it says automatic shut off, I nearly bought a cheaper one but after the other one packed in I thought may a more expensive one would be better, I'm really annoyed, too late to take it back to the shop now till morning.

Any one else had this with TetaTec heaters?

 

[smithyif]

i prefer the newish fluval E series heaters and havent had a problem with them yet (fingers crossed )

 

[ColR1948]

It's a good job I checked when I did because I tried it again this time in a tub of water, I twisted the thermostat knob a few times just in case that might have loosened it, set it to 25c, checked it after a while the it was 36c and still on so just think what would have happened if I hadn't looked when I did.

 

[snazy]

I have a tetratec 300W, no problems at all. What's the size of your tank?

 

[ColR1948]

360 litre.

 

[snazy]

Nearly the same as mine. Yours is definately faulty as the temperature in mine is spot on and according to my digital thermometer it's heating up to exactly the same temp as I set it on.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

I always test my heaters out in an empty tank/bucket first with a thermometer at least over night to make sure all is fine.

 

[ColR1948]

I had a smaller heater in the large tank because my old one packed in and I just wanted to get up and running again quickly so didn't really have that option.

The lfs doesn't open till 11.00 so can't tell you yet the outcome, I also sent a message to the Tetratec website but had no reply yet but then again it is Sunday but I'll let you know if and what they say too.
I also noticed too when I unpacked the heater there was no plastic cover on the plug pins or the little cardboard wiring diagram that fits over the plug pins that you normally get and the cord wasn't coiled neatly so I'm now wondering if it had been returned and they just put it back up for sale.

 

[ColR1948]

OK the update:

Took the faulty heater back, 2 guys at the till. I told them what happened and how annoyed I was, one of them said, "Well we don't make them just sell them," So the other said something about exchanging it for another make, I said I just wanted my money back and didn't want another heater.
As I was getting my money I said about the plastic pin protector missing off the plug and heater being loose in the box plus the cord not coiled neatly, I said it looked like it had already been returned and put back on the shelf.
Then one of the guys said, "Ah yes I demonstrated to someone not long ago how to install the heater so I might have done that," I just knew that was a lie and I said, "Shame you didn't leave it plugged in a while then you would have seen it was faulty," he just shrugged. The annoying part was as I was leaving the shop I looked back and they were both grinning, well I have spent a lot of money in that shop in the past and I won't be spending any more there.

So I went to another shop a bit further away and got another heater plus it was £10 cheaper, got home installed it plugged it in, light came on, checked it after a while the temp was 25C and the light was off so that one is working OK.

 

[westmidsgal]

name and shame the shop so people can avoid it next time

 

[PrairieSunflower]

name and shame the shop so people can avoid it next time

Yes, clearly that shop doesn't care!

 

[ColR1948]

I was going to but I thought I couldn't do that on here.

 

[Mikey1]

this is why its always better to use two LOW powered heaters instead of one strong one, if one of the lower powered heaters "stick on" it will not heat up the water as quickly,

and also, if one fails completely, the water will not cool down as quickly

 

[ColR1948]

I did stick a low power one in after the main one packed up, but not wanting to disagree I recently read not sure if it was on here or not but someone said if you have 2 heaters they can trick each other and you don't get a proper water temperature.

Having said that I can see the logic it having 2 smaller ones.

 

[KCB]

name and shame the shop so people can avoid it next time

This and maybe go back and talk to the manager and complain about the employees? That'll wipe the grins of their faces.