Hydor recalling some Theo 300 watt aquarium heaters
8 Comments
Hydor is recalling their Theo 300W aquarium heater product that was sold across the United States and the rest of the world. The recall is only effective if you own a specific batch number for the heater specifically 929 – 932 – 939 which was produced during the June – October 2009 time frame and in the UK batch number 946. If you happen to own any of these batch numbers you are to stop using the product immediately and contact Hydor for a replacement and or refund. The defect could cause irregular functioning of the heating element that could burn or cause the glass to crack. There has been only 4 cases that have been reported (2 in USA and 2 in Italy) and it is very nice to know that Hydor has taken it upon themselves to go ahead and issue a recall voluntary. The image to the right shows where the batch numbers are located on your heater. Again if you own one of these specific batch numbers you can contact Hydor directly.
Update: Hit below the break to read what Hydor Customer Service sent us.
The issue is with the glass tube for certain batches of 300w and 400w Theos. The bad tubes may crack during normal operation. If this occurs the heater should simply shut off and stop working. The specific affected batches are outlined in the attached letter. A copy of this letter as when ass additional information for customers will be available on our website. If they have any additional questions they can contact us by email or phone. That information is also available on our website. We have already stopped sales of the affected batches and new heaters with properly manufactured tubes are now available to replace the stock. The majority of the heaters did not make it to the retail customer, but we want to get those that did out of circulation. Most customer returns will be handled thru the store they purchased it from.
Very interesting. I have a hydor theo heater with a faulty temperature control that I bought back in 08. I need to take a look at the batch number on it.
February 4th, 2010 at 8:09 am
I think recalls are a sign of a reputable company. Countless generations of aquarium heaters have been as faulty or worse than this one yet Ebos and AGA heaters never got a recall. They just failed and some were replaced. The fact that Hydor is doing Quality control on their heater line will make me much more likely to choose their brand next time I am shopping for a heater.
February 4th, 2010 at 10:07 am
When is a company going to stand up and make a quality, reliable heater?!?
I know ELOS has been working on something, lord knows I can’t wait to see that come to fruition!
February 4th, 2010 at 11:04 am
@Jake– I’m in complete agreement. Hydor is a reputable company so I figured it was a fluke when it happened. I even bought an identical replacement, which works fine.
February 4th, 2010 at 12:34 pm
I’m not surprise 1 of my 300 watt Hydor, stuck on ON. The water was boiling in the summer, Kill good amount of my corals before I came back from work to catch it. lesson unplug all heater during the summer months.
February 6th, 2010 at 6:50 am
I am sorry to say that Hydor is very far what you would call a reliable manufacturer (at least in the heater space). This is just another one of the many times that I hear of their heater failure, it is actually very common for hydor heaters to fail and fail to stop and burn down the whole heater. I know of at least two LFS that had their display crashed by hydor heater failures… one even had their ‘blacken’ heater hanged on the wall permanently.
.. Don’t even get me started on their Koralia zaps …
At least the good thing is that their customer service is really good and are willing to replace all defective products. – That I give them alot of credits.
February 7th, 2010 at 1:57 am
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February 17th, 2010 at 2:42 pm
I think one of the US cases happened here in our local club.
Good to see Hydor taking ownership for it.
February 19th, 2010 at 4:39 pm