Jager Aquarium heater – Major explosion

by Chuckmeister on Sep.06, 2007, under Misc topics

I noticed a little condensation happening in my heater a few days ago. I left it because I have had the problem before without any major issue. Tonight I heard my heater blow up. It did with such a force that it wacked the side of my tank and that got my attention. it then proceeded to blow up another 2 times (over about a 3 second period) with bright blue flashes and bangs against the side of the tank before the fuse on the meterbox tripped. Makes me wonder how reliable my fusebox is as the sparky told me that the fuse should trip in mil iseconds.

Heres a short clip showing a crack from top to bottom. Sorry about the quality but I had to compress the crap out of it for the forum. It still gives you an idea and I dread to think if I had my hand in the tank what sort of kick I would have got.

I’d just like to remind people that if they see condensation inside the heater to either replace the heater or return the product to place of purchase for either a refund or exchange of some sort. The force with which this blew up is an indication of what you may have to endure if you have a body part in the tank, come failure.

6 Comments for this entry

Jessi
March 17th, 2008 on 5:17 am
I had a guardian heater that stoped working, I noticed that my tank was cooler than usual. So I pulled it out to investigate, and it looked like it was turned down somehow, I turned it up the and the light came on and as I was putting it back into the tank BOOM. The heater exploded, shooting the top piece into the air, a firey display of almost electricution on my part, blown breaker and all…Now I have kept fish for 10 years and then some…never asumed anything like this was possible. Very SCARY!
Linda
January 8th, 2009 on 2:52 am
My heater broke apart inside my saltwater aquarium. I found it in pieces after about an hour or so. The water smelled funny and everything was developing a greenish tint to it: live rock, gravel, etc. I took my fish out and did a 20% water change. The green is gone but the water still smells. What is inside an aquarium heater and could it have made my aquarium unsafe for my fish?
Danny
March 9th, 2009 on 9:07 pm
I put in my aquarium a heater that my friend gave me when he moved interstate. It worked fine in his take. I left it out of the water for 2 weeks and decided to use it. After 10 minutes, it explosed. The force was so strong that it shot black liquid 6 feet into the air and the ceiling was covered in black spots. There is a huge black stain on the curtain and bits of glass and heater parts were all over the room. The explosion was so loud it was like a gunshot. Well, I guess the advice is go and buy a new heater. Don’t take chances. At least all my fish are still alive, amazing they didnt get sizzled.
Bill
April 2nd, 2009 on 11:42 am
My glass 300W heater exploded today. Killed my 7yr old frontosa. Set off my burglar alarm (glass breakage detecter), and could have burned down my house. Black soot all over the wall and ceiling, and a half a dozen black burn spots in the carpeting up to four feet from the tank. No more glass heaters for me. Probably going in-line.
odin
May 22nd, 2009 on 8:06 pm
ever thought maybe you people are submersing them too much?, i never trust the seal and always leave the rubber out of the H2O.
unaccurate
February 28th, 2010 on 7:05 am
hi yea mine was better mine actualy poped i gad 3 pices of heater glass in my tank i was lucky it wasent a submersable one other wies my fish would of got fried. 2 of them did it so i changed brands