sticking heaters

[Toney]

I've had 3 stick this year....

The hydor 50w I got in a used aquarium stuck, woke up around 3am after setting it up and the temp was well over 80.

A tetra 50 had heated one over 90.... Found it during a wc.

Oscar's 300 ebay heater was stuck on, but the element had a bad connection. I had noticed oscar being lethargic.

Think if it had been summer I would have had soup...

Noticed 2 out of three were preset

I've broken a lot of heaters over the years but never remember them malfunctioning....

 

[Demeter32]

I've had preset heaters die on me and one never stopped heating the tank. I tested it by filling a mason jar and set it in there. Came back a bit later and the jar was hot!

I prefer adjustable heaters now but they are rather hard to come by for smaller tanks, and they can be quite pricey.

 

[Toney]

I've been making the switch to adjustable heaters to try to lower my electric bill a little bit, I'm heating a lot of water.

Only my new bettas or my Africans need to be heated up to 78 or higher. Most all my tanks now are running 72-76

 

[mikey11]

i generally like to use two lower powered heaters in my tanks as opposed to one higher powered one,

my reasoning is, if one heater fails completely, the water will not cool down as quickly because the other heater will compensate slightly....and on the other hand, if one of them sticks in the "on" position, it will not overheat the tank as quickly because its lowered powered/wattage,

having said all this, i have rarely ever had issues with my heaters, i use Eheim Jaggars for the most part.....my LFS gives a 3 year replacement warranty with them, I have only ever had to return one, and they just gave me a new one for free

 

[AbbeysDad]

'Stuff' happens!
I've had decent luck with Aqueon heaters, but I've had a couple replaced (They are guaranteed for life). And I used to double up on heaters in the event one failed. Some time ago in my 60g tank I switched to a Finnex Digital External Controller with a 500w titanium heater. So far, so good!

 

[mikey11]

'
Some time ago in my 60g tank I switched to a Finnex Digital External Controller with a 500w titanium heater. So far, so good!

500w in a 60 gal?

holy crap....i only use 300w in my 100 gallon tanks!

 

[AbbeysDad]

500w in a 60 gal?

holy crap....i only use 300w in my 100 gallon tanks!

I previously had two 200w heaters. (choices for this controller are 300w, 500w, 800w).
The greater wattage merely means that the heater doesn't stay on as long (or work as hard) to maintain the set temperature (and they're covered with guards to protect the stock).
(I have an 800w in the turtle pond in the unheated basement!)

 

[Toney]

I read that a lower wattage heater might be on more but cycle a lot less than a higher powered heater causing a lot less wear on the contacts

 

[mikey11]

I read that a lower wattage heater might be on more but cycle a lot less than a higher powered heater causing a lot less wear on the contacts

that is probably true....

its not really good for any electrical appliance to go on and off every couple of mins

 

[seangee]

I have a Hydor 300W external that I seem to have had forever. I do have a spare heater in a cupboard. Main reason I haven't plugged it in as a backup is the only heater failures I have ever had have been thermostats stuck on and (IMO) having 2 heaters doubles the chance of that happening.

 

[AbbeysDad]

I read that a lower wattage heater might be on more but cycle a lot less than a higher powered heater causing a lot less wear on the contacts

I don't think so. A thermostat turns a heater on and off based on a target temperature. The tank temperature decreases relative to the radiant heat loss as a function of the water volume and the room temperature. So the heater is energized at the same interval regardless of the heater wattage. But with the higher wattage heater, it takes less time for the temperature to come back up to the set point, so it's on less time.
Similar to industrial heater controls, the digital control relay is designed to handle the 110 power supply. I don't have test data on average cycles until relay failure...but I'll bet my digital controller and nearly indestructible titanium heater will outlast the typical aquarium heater.