Hydor 25W Defective?

[lucius]

I bought a Hydor 25W heater for a 5 gallon tank.  I have it set to 87 degrees fahrenheit and the thermometer reads it at only 77 degrees.  Checked with a second thermometer and it's close to the first thermometer.

So do you think I have a bad heater or are Hydro thermometers really that crappy?

I'm still within my return period.

[Mike L]

I have had similar issues with thier heaters in the past.  I've  had to return and get a new one which is what I  would do in your case.
Mike

[lucius]

Yeah, I think I will.  Set it to 89 last night and it read 79 this morning.

[Selenacrowe]

I had a problem with those too ended up getting a Ehiem

[lucius]

I may need to switch brands.  The replacement I got is also off by a few degrees.    I had considered the 25W Eheim but it's nine inches long, two inches longer than the Hydor.  My 5 gallon is only 10 inches high and after adding a substrate, there wouldn't be enough clearance unless I had it sticking out.  If I'm going to place the heater horizontally, I will probably go back to the 50W Aqueon pro I was using.

[missavgp]

I've had the opposite problem with the hydor heaters, all mine ran hot and I had to set them on 68 to get 78. I just tried the Aquatop heaters that CJ is carrying and like them. The smallest one isn't programmable, but the next size up is and has a probe to put on the opposite side of the tank to get an accurate all over heat reading.

[lucius]

I saw those as well and the price was comparable.  I will wait and see what happens.  I think the Aquatop heaters are on the longer side as well.

[Mike L]

I think the main concern is weather the heater keeps an accurate temp.  What it says on the dial is less  important .  Back in the day heaters did not have any temp markings?  We adjusted  the dial according to what the thermometer  said. I still run a supreme heater that's 25 years old that is that way

[charlie]

Have the same issue with a 50 watt hydor on a 8.6 gln tank.
The knob is retarded as far back as it can go and still overheating the tank.
Regards