New Heater Broke - Topfin

[jessiepbg]

I got a new adjustable heater less than 5 days ago. It's a Topfin 50 watt. I came home tonight and noticed that my fish were all really lethargic and figured it was because I just did a big water change. It turns out that the brand new heater broke. It wasn't even warm when I pulled it out. Does anyone know about warranties or return policies on them? I just threw out the packaging and I don't know if I have the receipt for them. I'm going to go see if I can dig them out of the trash in the morning I guess. It was in my 10 gallon. The water I put in there when I did the big change was around 74 degrees and the heater was still warm when I put it back in. There's no reason it should have given out. Thank goodness I had a backup heater; I'm getting more than a little tired of these late-night Walmart runs.

[Malvolti]

Doing water changes with some heaters can be dangerous. Most say right on them "Do not use dry" and it isn't referring to your state of innebriation

If you leave them on while doing a water change it can cause them to overheat and melt/blow the thermostat. Just a warning for future water changes.

Most stores will take it back as "defective" as long as you can provide the packaging and reciept, otherwise you can try contacting topfin customer service, tell them it stopped working and see if they will fix it or send a replacement. Contacting the manufacturer can be hit or miss and sometimes they demand you send it to them first to fix but you also have to pay shipping. Either way it's worth a shot but if you end up shelling outmore cash, just buy a new heater.

[jessiepbg]

Hehe, I prefer doing water changes sober, maybe that's the problem. I turned it off about 10 minutes before the water level dipped below that "minimum water level" line. If they won't replace it, I'm just going to go with a different brand. It wasn't an expensive one, so it's not really worth my trouble to fight them over it. It'll probably be the last topfin product I buy if there are alternatives. I haven't had much luck with any of their products.

[MrVampire181]

I place my heaters on the bottom of my tanks (bare bottom) or close to the bottom.

[jessiepbg]

Should I put it down horizontally then? I thought it said something about not doing that on the packaging, but I might have read that wrong. It's as tall as my tank is, so even with it almost touching the substrate the water line was only an inch or so above the minimum line for the heater.

My fish are all zipping around now that the tank is heating back up. It had gotten down to about 70 and now it's back around 74(this preset heater only gets to 76, but it's the best I have until Petsmart opens). Is this a good sign? They're picking up some pretty decent speed.

[MrVampire181]

Yeah its fine. I've done it with many heaters and I've never had a problem.

[jessiepbg]

I might just do that then. It would be really easy to hide behind my rock.

Shoot, I think I might lose one of my panda cories. He was never really in good health and he took that cold snap really hard. He's still breathing, but he's just sitting in the rock shelter.

[wallywestisthebest333]

Thanks for the review! D: I was about to try the topfin! I guess you get what you pay for when it comes to heaters. :/

I hope your cory perks back up!

Welcome to the forums btw! =] I love the boy in your avatar! =] His coloring is awesome! =]

[jessiepbg]

My cory's still going. He's still moving slow, but he doesn't look ready to keel over anymore.

There's a part II on that heater though. I went back to Petsmart and they were super nice and let me exchange it for a new one. I stuck it in the tank for 20 minutes before turning it on. I woke up in the morning and the temp was only at 74, so I turned it up. I got back tonight and it was still at 74. I can't get the dang thing to get any higher than that. I'm going to take it back and get a better quality one. I saw one today that was smaller, had actual temperature settings instead of high-low, and was only like $5 more than the other one. I don't think it was in stock when I bought the first one. I'm officially done with Topfin products except under extreme duress.