snoozii wrote:I have a filstar XP4, but the reviews on amazon for the Hydor scare me with the temperature spikes. Just confirming, no one else has a problem with their eheim jager's burning them right? How about at the highest temperature setting? 93 degrees? Will it burn if you touch it underwater at that setting? Also is there any difference putting it horizontal or vertical in the water?(Horizontal for me)
The eheim heaters are one of the best out there. I would suggest you contact Eheim support for assistance. They'll be able to help you determine if you have a defective (and unsafe) heater.
As for the heater settings... that's not how they work. The heater is 300 watts. It's on or off. Changing the setting on the dial does not adjust the heat coming out of the tube. It just sets the internal thermostat to the heater for the shutoff point. Essentially, the heater is on... and stays on until the temperature of the water reaches the set temp point. Then it shuts the heater off. When the temp of the water drops, it turns the heater back on and that's how all aquarium heaters work. The exception is an undersized heater. Let's say you try to use a 25 watt heater on a 400 gallon tank and set the heater to 85. There just isn't enough wattage in the heater to ever bring the temperature of that volume of water that high... so the heater stays on (assuming the ambient temperature of the room is much less than 85).