Heater Malfunction

[zissou]

Hello,
I recently added a second heater to my sump and after 2 days of "odd" operation I was going to pull it out. Unfortunately it didn't give me the chance and literally exploded in the sump. I guess some water must have got inside the heating element...yes it was a submersable heater. My question is has anyone had this happen and did it "poison" your water at all. The water smells terrible like burnt plastic, other then that everything seems ok. The heater was only in the water for about 1 minute after the incident...it was plently loud to alert me to the issue.

 

[John Henry]

Sorry to hear about your bad luck!

Your best bet now would be to do some water changes and put some new carbon into your system. Most tanks recover fine from this kind of accident. Also, make sure you pick out any pieces of the old heater.

 

[wrightme43]

Never had that happen to me. Just lucky so far. Knock on wood.
I figure your using carbon, and are prepareing some water for a partial water change. Thats what I would do in your shoes.
The burnt plastic cant be good for the critters. Sorry that happened.
If you dont mind, what brand of heater was it?
I use EboJager, and have had very good service from them.