Do not buy this junk: Jbj titanium heater/controller

Discussion in 'General Reef Topics' started by schackmel, Feb 15, 2011.

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  1. schackmel

    schackmel Giant Squid

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    Just was notified that not a single fish is swimming in my tank and it is a result of the jbj titanium heater with controller! The temp of the tank reached 98.3 overnight with no mh being on for past couple days. The controller was set to kick off at 78 however it continued to heat despite that and by the time we noticed it was at 98.3 i know it happened overnight because i had my hand in the system last night rearranging corals

    today there are firefish that are dead and floating in the tank, and missing anthias, tonomi tang, sailfin blenny and mandarin. Along with that there are a butt load of dead snails and crabs in the system. Our rare litho is not looking good and our sponges are melting including a spider sponge that was the size of my hand

    this is the second malfunction of this heater with me. The first was when the stupid heater caught on fire while underwater and fully submerged. It released a bunch of crap into the system and killed the few fish we had. Jbj replaced the system for us, however now this.

    The heater was fully submerged underwater and our probe was fully submerged.

    I have heard of other heaters catching fire underwater (was told by a rep i know) that this has happened

    i am so mad.....not only at jbj for selling absolute crap but myself for allowing this to happen again. I know no bashing of products are allowed on this site, but this is a warning! Do not buy this expensive piece of crap
     
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  3. Seano Hermano

    Seano Hermano Giant Squid

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    :eek: I almost bought this heater. Thanks for the heads up.

    Sorry this had to happen to you...loosing all your fish and a lot of coral(it seems).You seem to have a lot of bad luck. :( I hope things get better.
     
  4. sostoudt

    sostoudt Giant Squid

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    No schackmel, I remember you talking about your bad luck in the biopellet thread and now this happens.
     
  5. Dingo

    Dingo Giant Squid

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    oh no! this is terrible :(
    i am really sorry... it seems like the worst always happens to you though :/

    My recommendation: just use cheapo heaters and run them with two failsafes; the built in one on the unit itself and a second failsafe on a controller with a temp probe!
     
  6. Blue Falcon

    Blue Falcon Fire Goby

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    This is just terrible. I am so sorry for your loss. I could only imagine how frustrating it must be to have so much time and money invested in something you love and it gets ruined due to an equipment failure.
     
  7. inwall75

    inwall75 Giant Squid

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    Trent,

    This unit has an external controller with a remote probe. The controller properly showed the temperature the tank achieved.....it just "forgot" the temperature it was supposed to turn off at. :cry:
     
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  9. Dingo

    Dingo Giant Squid

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    aww man, thats terrible! but i guess thats the downside to technology also, it can malfunction so easily.

    Now are you guys going to be contacting them again about this second mishap?
     
  10. schackmel

    schackmel Giant Squid

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    yeah already did and not in a to pleasant of a way. Kind of went off on the rep (that I know) on his facebook page basically telling them what a piece of junk they have. Probably not the best thing to do but made us feel better! :}
     
  11. snooopidydoo

    snooopidydoo Coral Banded Shrimp

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    any way to get them to pay for your losses?
     
  12. pink4miss

    pink4miss Panda Puffer

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    im so sorry about your fish, this stinks! i just had a problem myself 2 weeks ago with the jbj true temp heater
     
    Last edited: Feb 15, 2011