Exploding Marineland Stealth Heater

[kinglucky]

I just had one of my new Marineland Stealth Pro Heaters explod. It exploded with enough force that it shattered the glass top of the tank and busted a 1 inch pvc fill fitting completely off.

I just called marineland and they are going to send me information on how to recover the cost of the damaged top and equipment.

I just did a search on the web, and apparently there are numerous of these heaters exploding of all different wattage.

Beware, the lot number on mine is 01H31 which the customer service person asked me for and it appears tht lot is one that is having the issue. The lot number can be found on piece just below the cap that necks down to the tub, a white set of numbers.

Luckily I was home toda, this is the 135 gal tank I use to do water fills and it blow the fill hose on the ground. If I had not ben home, I would have had 135 gal of water on the floor.

I saw pictures on the other websites that shattered the sice of the tank.

[kinglucky]

Here is a copy of the return information they sent me in an email

Hello,
We are sorry to hear this has happened. Tetra strives to produce the best quality products for all our customers to enjoy.

Please supply your name, shipping address and phone number.

For a compensation claim, we would need the actual product, a detailed letter regarding your set up, what happened, and an estimate as to the value of the fish lost. The estimate MUST be on a pet store's letterhead and/or with a store business card included.

The product will be tested. Testing usually takes two weeks, unless it is a chemical or food and a problem occurs during initial testing, then it can take up to four weeks as we will send it to Germany for further testing. Once the results are known a claims specialist will be in contact with you to let you know the outcome of the testing that was performed.

Be sure to include as much information about your aquarium as possible. Things like:

• How many gallons you aquarium was

• Have your local pet store provide a loss estimate of the aquarium, animals, etc.

• The name, address, and phone number of the pet store that gave the loss estimate

• Any pictures of the tank and animals in the tank (before and after pictures are very helpful)

• Any receipts you may have

• How long you have had the heater

• How long you have had the aquarium set up

• If any water changes were done around the time the heater problem occurred

• If the tank was filled completely

• If the heater was placed horizontal or vertical in the tank

• Any fluctuations you may have noticed in the temperature before the problem occurred

You can ship it to:

United Pet Group
Attn: Rosemary Hartmann
3001 Commerce St
Blacksburg, VA 24060

Thank you,
Tetra Care

[kinglucky]

did a little web search. I only lost a glass top and it cleanly busted off a 1 inch pvc fill pipe spilling 15 gal of water.

Here is a link to another person who had the same problem and the damage it did to his tank

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/equipment/103155-beware-marineland-stealth-pro-heater-3.html

[mewickham]

Yikes! I thought the stealth bomber was an airplane!

[pinkrblu]

Dang... You were lucky. Do I understand correctly that this was a reservoir tank, not a livestock tank? So glad it didn't take out a side instead of the glass top!

[kinglucky]

Yes, I have 135 gal tank that I have not set up yet that I use for water aging. lukily the heater was near the top so top blew up into the top and I assume the bottom was slowed by water before hitting the bottom glass.

[kinglucky]

I received four replacement heaters for the one that exploded and the three of the same lot that I shipped back earlier in the week before I even shipped them back.

I shipped the bad heater and the other three to them last Wednesday with receipts for the PVC fittings that were busted and pieces of the broken glass top.

I just got a call from the UHG (marineland). The lady said that the heater did look like it had exploded. She was very apologinic and said that they would pay for a new top and the cost of the PVC fittings I had to replace. It was very pleasant, no haggling at all. She says the reimbursement still has to go through channels and it will be a couple of weeks. Knowing big companies, I can live with that. Then she aplogized again for the inconvenience.

Happy ending to what could have been a bad story.

[pinkrblu]

Great customer service is getting rare. Congrats to UHG and Marineland for continuing to be a fantastic company for the aquarium hobby.