# Visi-Therm Stealth heaters not reliable



## fjohnny (Apr 13, 2006)

I have Visi-Therm Stealth on all of my tanks. All are the 250W version, each tank has couple of them. Tanks are 125, 75 and 55-gallon. At least one in every tank as stuck in the ON position, and fortunately I have caught in time and prevented my fish in getting cooked alive!

All of my heaters are set to 80 degrees, couple of days ago, when I checked the temp. it was over 84-degrees. The room temp. ~60 degrees. I had to disable one of the heaters in every tank. So now I have only one heater in every tank. For now it looks like one heater (250W) on my 75 and 55-gallon tank can keep ~78 degrees in a room where the temp. is ~60 degrees.

This is really scary with these Visi-Therm Stealth heaters 

Has anyone else experienced this with Visi-Therm Stealth heaters?


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## Dragonkeeper (Feb 9, 2007)

My experience with the Stealth heater is they are pretty rock solid. i have 200's on my 40 breeders and they only fluctuate a degree or two. I had one that appeared to be stuck on but its hard to tell without an indicator. I just shook it a little and it has been fine since. I keep floating thermometers in all my tanks and I also have a good digital that floats between tanks when needed.

Keeper


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## CDMOK (Mar 28, 2008)

I definitely hate the lack of an indicator, but I am giving mine the benefit of the doubt.

I have never used them before, but bought two 250W for my 125. I was concerned at first because it took them a good while to get going. Granted, the water I added was around 55-60F on it's own so it would realistically take a while to heat 125 gallons up 15-20 degrees, but once I added the fish it went from 76F to near 83F over night and I paniced. I turned them each down a bit and it's been steady since.

I think just getting used to where/how to adjust them is the biggest problem, as with any heater. I have heard many great things about the stealths though, and wouldn't toss them out so fast.


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## fishyfishyfishy (Dec 24, 2005)

I've resisted to chime in to various threads about my bad experiences with these because overall people seem to be pleased with them.

BUT....I had about 6 or 7 go bad between myself and my brother. Either getting stuck on, not turning on at all and even one giving me a good zap. It seemed to happen after the warmer months when they went for a while without being in use.

Either way, now they're really stealth because you'll never see one in any of my tanks again!


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## TheeMon (May 11, 2004)

i love mine... i have them in all my tanks execpt 2 10gals...

they work great, yours must be defective or your just some troll


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## fishyfishyfishy (Dec 24, 2005)

well of course they're defective! :roll:

like I said, many are happy with them and I make no judgement either way for those who have or want to use them.

The OP simply asked if anyone has experienced problems similar to his...


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## bentcountershaft (Nov 23, 2007)

Personally, I've never had a problem with them, but this is far from the first time I've heard of someone who has. Most threads I've seen they are the most recommended but there's always a nightmare story of two in there as well it seems. Although it isn't always feasible, due to tank space/hiding considerations, but I prefer to use several lower wattage heaters as opposed to one or two of the larger wattage. When they all work well, the heat is slightly better distributed (although good water flow will take are of that anyway) but in case of a failure, the one heater isn't really big enough to make a significant difference. The downside is that you don't know very easily if you have a failing heater.


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## MidNightCowBoy (May 7, 2007)

I've had no problems with mine. It's always been rock solid in my 55 gallon. I'll definitely pay a little more attention to make sure nothing goes wrong tho.


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## Hoggy Boss (Oct 4, 2006)

I had the same issue with a topfin heater, but not with the stealth.


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## CDMOK (Mar 28, 2008)

All I know is that I bought mine on sale from Dr. Foster and Smith, so I hope it wasn't some "defective product blowout sale!" :lol:


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## kornphlake (Feb 12, 2004)

How long have the stealth heaters been on the market? 3 years maybe. I'm always skeptical about a new product that earns rave reviews, someone a few years ago claimed stealth heaters were the most reliable heaters they'd ever used after they had only owned it for a few weeks. How rediculous is that? My new Chineese import heater is the most reliable as well by those standards. I don't knock the stealth heaters, but I'm not suprised that problems are popping up after a few years. I don't believe there is any heater that is immune to malfunction and that would include Ebo Jager and Visitherm Stealth heaters. Are Stealth heaters less likely to malfunction within the first year or so? I'd say yes.


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## Hoggy Boss (Oct 4, 2006)

S___ happens.


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## Ispintechno (Mar 27, 2008)

****, I just bought a 250w for my 75G under a month ago... I figured they looked durable compared to regular glass heaters for rockwork... 
Well, mine is working perfectly so far.


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## CDMOK (Mar 28, 2008)

My heat is still fluctuating quite a bit. It shot up to 80F again last night without any increase in the heater's gauges. I turned it down, no change yet. I don't mind if it stays between 75-80F, but the fact that it fluctuates so much at all bothers me. :?


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## gbleeker (Jul 31, 2007)

The bottom line for every heater is that it cannot be 100% fully trusted. Invest $10 or $15 in another line as an alarm. If you have an independent alarm on your tank to alert you at temperature changes, it doesn't matter what brand you use for your heater.

Personally, I have used Visi-Therms for years and I love them.


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## law086 (Sep 1, 2004)

I really don't think that any heater can be trusted 100%. In my experience, it's about mitigating the risks thought various techniques.

1. Use multiple smaller heaters instead of one large heater. If one becomes stuck, it won't have enough power to cook your tank.

2. Don't load your tank with more heaters / power than you need.

3. If you're investment is very important to you, check out temp controllers such as the Ranco. They are 100% rock solid and you no longer have to rely on the crappy thermostat in your heaters.

As far as heaters go, I have found in my experience that the Stealth line and Ebo Jagar to be the best when no using a controller.


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## a7oneal (Dec 30, 2004)

Please utilize the Reviews section.


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