# life expactancy of a visi them heater?



## CharlieTuna (May 20, 2006)

Hello peeps.

ok i bought 2 visitherm stealth heaters about 3 years ago and they both crapped out around the same time recently.

What is the life expectancy of thease things technically?

What have some of you other users experienced?


----------



## MidNightCowBoy (May 7, 2007)

I don't know what the life expectancy is but I'm using visitherm stealth heaters on both of my aquariums with nary a hitch. I've had both of them for about 2 years now I'd say.


----------



## Markolodeon (Nov 4, 2007)

10 years and still running like a champ.


----------



## CharlieTuna (May 20, 2006)

Markolodeon said:


> 10 years and still running like a champ.


I was robbed! I was robbed ! :lol:


----------



## CharlieTuna (May 20, 2006)

now i've seen them sold in a plastic see thru package and a yellow box type package. i'm assuming the yellow box is the older packaging? if so i wonder if the product isnt as well made as they used to be for example like the AC110 vs the old 500 series.

fyi mine were the see thru package.


----------



## sbernstecker (Oct 11, 2007)

I believe that the Visi-Therm Stealth Heaters have a lifetime warranty. At least that's what Pet solutions says

http://www.petsolutions.com/Visi-Therm-Stealth-Submersible-Heaters+I51303053+C1.aspx

Good Luck


----------



## Alleycat (Dec 2, 2006)

sbernstecker said:


> I believe that the Visi-Therm Stealth Heaters have a lifetime warranty. At least that's what Pet solutions says
> 
> http://www.petsolutions.com/Visi-Therm-Stealth-Submersible-Heaters+I51303053+C1.aspx
> 
> Good Luck


  I've got 6 or 7 and never knew that !!

Thanks !!


----------



## RyanR (Apr 29, 2008)

How did yours **** out?: "no heat"?.... or "boil everything"?

We're running Stealth heaters in all of our tanks.

-Ryan


----------



## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

I have a lot of Stealth heaters... some are 5+ years old, some are newer but all work like new...


----------



## CharlieTuna (May 20, 2006)

@RyanR

mine just stopped working. no heat. what get's me is that i bought them both at the same time and they are in different tanks, and they both died within a week or two of each other.


----------



## Timeless R1 (Oct 14, 2005)

Are you 100% sure the heaters dont work? I ran into the same issue. My thermometer was reading that the water temp was dropping down to 72, and since there is no real way to see if the heater is turning off and on since the stealths dont have a light, i started turing the heater control up higher...to lke 84......well i ended up buying a new heater, come to find out..it wasnt the heater it was the thermometer...the water temp was actually 84!! :x the visa therm stealth heater is also made to automatically shut off if taken out of water, so you really never know 100% if its working or not.


----------



## CharlieTuna (May 20, 2006)

thanx for the reply timeless.

no i tried 2 different glass thermometers. and they both read in 68-72 depending on the temp in my living room. and i foolishly felt them underwater and they are both cold. and the water feels cold. and my fish are acting wierd my lab is hovering around my submercible pump and the barbs are hanging at the top of the tank near the intake for my filter so i'd say they are all looking for the warmest spots in their territories.


----------



## CharlieTuna (May 20, 2006)

i contacted marineland today and they say they will replace them when i email the info they requested.


----------



## spotmonster (Nov 23, 2006)

I've had pretty bad luck so far with mine. I had one not working properly bad out of the box. Had 2 others go in 3 months. I've exchanged them and tryign to stick with them, but overall I'm not yet sold in the quality dept.

CharlieTuna, can you share what information Marinland is asking you for, and if they are offering to take care of shipping or not?


----------



## CharlieTuna (May 20, 2006)

address and phone number. they said they would ship'em right out didnt mention shipping


----------



## Markolodeon (Nov 4, 2007)

So where is the love for the regular Visitherm glass heaters? I just purchased my first Stealth, otherwise it's been EBO's and old-school Visitherms. I'm going to give it a try tonight on the tank that's had the same Visitherm for 10 years now, it's pretty well encrusted (fortified) with mineral deposits and the tank is breeding like crazy (multifaciatus and cyprichromis). No point taking any risks!


----------



## CharlieTuna (May 20, 2006)

well my replacement heaters came friday and i'll tell ya, I am very please with the way Marineland treats their customers. i never had one email go unanswered and they replaced my stealths with no questions asked.

looks like they are well worth the price.

:thumb:


----------



## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

The only down side is most of their products do so well most of us never get to use their great customer service


----------



## CharlieTuna (May 20, 2006)

Toby.

i hope it works out for the better this time. but seriously i'll stick with them no matter what. the all black shell disapears into my black painted background and i like that they are submersable + all the other qualities. the way they handled this is just a bonus.


----------

