Cobalt Neotherm - exploded

[jbdreefs]

I thought these heaters were supposed to be indestructible???? Mine exploded this morning. I started preparing for a water change, by filling a 5 gallon bucket with water, adding a power head and this heater and then plugging everything up. A minute or two go by, and boom followed by smoke. After taking a look at the heater, there is a nice crack going down the length of the heater.

It is a little over a year old, so I guess it was time to replace anyways. I really liked this heater until now: a little disappointed.

 

[atlorange]

Happened to me too. Smike, bubbles, shocking everything. I had 5 of these. Only failure, but now I am leery.

 

[morganatlanta]

I've heard about these before. There was a thread on RC about it. I have several of them also.

 

[jennm]

Have you contacted the manufacturer about this?

I believe they have a really good warranty - and if there is a failure due to a manufacturing defect, they won't know until people start telling them.

That's the first I hear of such a failure, but that's serious.

Jenn

 

[camellia]

jennm;1031715 wrote: have you contacted the manufacturer about this?

I believe they have a really good warranty - and if there is a failure due to a manufacturing defect, they won't know until people start telling them.

That's the first i hear of such a failure, but that's serious.

Jenn

+1

 

[axio]

Hmmmm this is no good. 2nd one now that I'm hearing of "exploding".

And I do not think that a heater being a year old justifies it being OK or even time for a replacement. A good quality heater should last 3-5 years imo.

Just like Jenn said I would absolutely contact the manufacturer. There is warranty and they have great customer service... but jeez... I would be nervous picking up a 2nd one.

Jakub

 

[indecloudzua]

mine recently went out..they have a 3yr warranty..so def contact the manufacturer..at least your tank didnt explode like my JBJ did..

 

[morganatlanta]

Make that three!

Sunday night around 1AM the breaker on the circuit with my main tank tripped. Then it would trip intermittently over the next day. Yesterday, I thought I had isolated the issue to the Sicce pump that fed the tank in my son's room. When I plugged that pump in, the breaker would trip-- not always immediately, but within 15 minutes or so.

Today I pulled that pump out and was installing a new feed line tapped off the main manifold, when I reached into my son's tank to adjust the locline and ZAP!!!! There was only a 200W Neotherm and a Koralia in his tank, so I unplugged the Koralia-- ZAP! Unplugged the Neotherm and... nothing. I pulled the Neotherm and immediately could smell a burnt smell. The end had split and epoxy was leaking out. This is a 200W Neotherm. I haven't heard of any other models having an issue. Luckily, I don't have any losses (yet), though the critters in my son's tank don't look happy.

If you have a 200W Neotherm in your tank PULL IT OUT NOW!!!

 

[drjett]

MorganAtlanta;1034065 wrote: Make that three!

Sunday night around 1AM the breaker on the circuit with my main tank tripped. Then it would trip intermittently over the next day. Yesterday, I thought I had isolated the issue to the Sicce pump that fed the tank in my son's room. When I plugged that pump in, the breaker would trip-- not always immediately, but within 15 minutes or so.

Today I pulled that pump out and was installing a new feed line tapped off the main manifold, when I reached into my son's tank to adjust the locline and ZAP!!!! There was only a 200W Neotherm and a Koralia in his tank, so I unplugged the Koralia-- ZAP! Unplugged the Neotherm and... nothing. I pulled the Neotherm and immediately could smell a burnt smell. The end had split and epoxy was leaking out. This is a 200W Neotherm. I haven't heard of any other models having an issue. Luckily, I don't have any losses (yet), though the critters in my son's tank don't look happy.

If you have a 200W Neotherm in your tank PULL IT OUT NOW!!!

Yep there seems to be issues with the 200w models. Same thing happened to me and they replaced it with 2 100W models. they have been working great ever since.

Apex reads the temp at 76.0 degree's (+/- .1 degrees)

 

[atlorange]

DRJETT;1034066 wrote: Yep there seems to be issues with the 200w models. Same thing happened to me and they replaced it with 2 100W models. they have been working great ever since.

Apex reads the temp at 76.0 degree's (+/- .1 degrees)

'They' replaced it? Meaning Cobalt?

 

[drjett]

atlorange;1034156 wrote: 'They' replaced it? Meaning Cobalt?

Yes Cobalt replaced it.

 

[ghbrewer]

Yeah, there are a lot of reviews on BRS that have stated the issues with the 200w version...

 

[catgirl29]

I like the form factor of this brand but I just got done reading about a slew of bad experiences on Reef Central - http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2376715&highlight=cobalt+neotherm">http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2376715&highlight=cobalt+neotherm</a>

Seems it's mostly the 200W but some 150W as well. My LFS is recommending this but I just can't go with it after all the bad reviews.