Heater got stuck "on"... lost a fish

[YngUrbanCMH]

Today I lost a female krib, my heater somehow got stuck in the on position... before I noticed it the temperature was 90 degrees.

I took the hood off the tank and unplugged the heater, but before the temperature dropped she was already dead. I ended up having to scrap the heater, it won't shut off even when I have the temperature all the way down.

*sigh*

At least I didn't loose any others... she was my favorite though. Very colorful, was lucky enough to find a wild caught instead of a domestic bred. My male krib won't even come out of his cave now, unless I lure him out with shrimp.

 

[Liz05]

Sorry to hear about your fishy... Can't trust those dumb heaters
The only method of heating my 10 gallon tank is the light in the hood... if left on, it keeps the water temperature at a comfy 78-80 degrees.

 

[Dragonslair]

Unfortunately accidents happen, and it's not nice when it does. Mechanically operated heaters do have an inherent fault, and that is the relay unit sometimes does stick. If you can afford it try and buy a digitally controlled heater. Some come with an alert so it beeps when the temp. rises/falls above/below the preset factor. Unfortunately put it down to experience.

 

[smb]

I mentioned this a few days ago and hope I don't sound like a broken record...

I would recommend to have 2 heaters in the tank that each is only rated for about half the size of your tank.

That way when one heater is stuck in the "ON" position it's not big enough to overheat the tank. If one fails to turn on in the winter, the other can still keep the tank relatively warm enough until we recognize it.

jmo.

 

[Dragonslair]

Not to be argumentative smb, but it wouldn't have been helpful in this instance. Even if one heater switched off at 1/2 the temp. the other would still have carried on heating way beyond it's preset temp. The 2 heater senerio only works one way.
There is no cheap solution to the problem of mechanical heaters. These heaters are mass produced to be economical to the ordinary aquarist. Unfortunately in any mass production there are faults or faults develop within a product through age and use and this is beyond the manufacturer's juristiction. Anything with a relay unit will wear out in time. Think how many times you can bend a piece of metal back and forth before it snaps. The same principal occurs inside a relay system.

 

[smb]

Not to be argumentative smb, but it wouldn't have been helpful in this instance. Even if one heater switched off at 1/2 the temp. the other would still have carried on heating way beyond it's preset temp.

No problem at all. I don't consider it argumentative at all when someone disagrees with me in a nice way like you've done. I like to learn also, so if someone doesn't comment on something I say, I can't learn if I'm wrong.

I don't understand why you say the other would have carried the heating beyond the preset temp tho?

If the other heater was working and the preset temp was set for 80, then if the water was above 80 it wouldn't turn on.

 

[Dragonslair]

I was taking the presumption that there were two heaters in the tank and one malfunctioned as did the original. The temp would still rise if it was stuck in the on position. I take your point if it was preset the temp should have stopped rising, but in this case the relay did not switch off and so the temp kept rising. The same would happen with a 2 heater method if the relay was stuck in the on position. The only advantage that I could see is that the temp would rise slower than normal due to the fact that it was set below the normal temp in the first place. The fact that it was on,meant that the heater did not know how to switch itself off and it would remain on until it was physically turned off.
Nevertheless you do have a valid point with the two heater system.

 

[smb]

Oh ok, now I see your point. I'm sorry that I misunderstood you earlier.

I agree with you.

Like you said, heaters are so unreliable it's almost scary.

 

[Dragonslair]

No probs, mate.

 

[teknikz]

ive not been fishkeepin long but im gonna change my heaters for new ones every 6 months to try keep the odds down on my fish bein cooked

Tek