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Hi everyone, so I recently bought an Eheim Jager aquarium thermostat heater that is 300W. I tried testing it on my own skin to make sure it wouldn't burn my RES's skin and for some reason if I touch it more than 1 second when it is on and in the water, it burns me. This is setting it to about 78 degrees(not even max), so I was wondering if I bought the wrong heater or if it is just a defect. I hear a lot of talks about how good Eheim Jager's are so I'm confused but would like to confirm before getting an exchange.

It should be hot if you touch it but not burn you. Are you actually grabbing the glass tube or just touching it?

Are you doing this underwater?

Yes I am doing it under water, and just touching it burns me. If my skin has contact with it for more than 1-2 seconds, it starts to burn. I've tried looking up the problem but there's nothing at all on it so I'm guessing its defective unless someone says so otherwise. I also emailed eheim so I'll have to see what they say about it but good thing the return policy isn't up yet.

Another consideration if you have a canister filter is a Hydor Inline heater. It comes in 200w and 300w.

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)

A 300W is pretty powerful. This might be a good time to consider a heater guard if you have concerns.

I bought the 200w and I havent touched it but when its on my tiger barbs (half inch to 1 inch) love to swim on it and sit on it.

I've had the hydor a little over a year now and never had a problem with it. I've since moved it to my planted fish tank and replace it with a jager 200w with no issues. I've had my canister filter clog a few times with the hydor still running. As long as you give the heater time to cool off before turning back on the filter it will be fine.

For extra piece of mind you can pick up a heater controller.

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).