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I noticed a high pitched whistling coming from my tank this morning. I figured it was a leak in an air hose but it turns out it was my heater. I immediately unplugged it and threw in my spare. Has anybody had this happen? I assume it is broken and will need to be replaced but I would like to understand what the issue is.

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I can’t tell you how many times I have been zapped by a faulty heater. 
 

Its better to be safe than sorry! And it can be a number of things. Most common is that whatever grommet they use to seal the cord to the top of the heater fails and moisture gets in the housing. Water touching coil boils rapidly and steams out the top.

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@Jennys planted tank, that's most likely the internal thermostat beginning to fail. They have a mechanical connection that connects the power to the heating coils. This connection makes and breaks with temperature changes. When they corrode enough that the connection is tenuous, they can vibrate as they try to connect & reconnect (turn the heater on) and sometimes that vibration is fast enough to hear as a squeal. In the dark you often can see small blue sparks. 

Or as @Biotope Biologist said, if you see condensation inside, it could even be steam escaping.  But unfortunately, either one is an indicator that it may be unreliable (getting stuck in the 'on' or 'off' position) and that it will fail soon. 

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  • 5 months later...

I am using a ACOOP 100w heater and have this same (or very similar issue).  Heater whistles for a while after kicking on, but only for a while, eventually it will be on and not whistle.

I have talked with support and they sent me a new heater, the new heater does it as well.  I have tried positioning the heater lower closer to the substrate and it hasn't helped.  I have also tipped the heater on an angle to see if it helped.  Heater is set to 76 and the tank measures between 76 and 77 with the laser thermometer. 

Given that this is the second ACOOP heater that is doing this should I replace it with something else? Talk to support again? 

 

20G High

ACOOP 100w Heater

ACOOP Medium Sponge filter with Airstone, pushed by ACOOP air pump on lowest setting. 

Lots of plants and 9 RummyNose, 8 Ember Tetra's, and a bunch of cherry shrimp.

 

Thanks!

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On 10/31/2023 at 12:11 PM, EL2 said:

ACOOP Medium Sponge filter with Airstone, pushed by ACOOP air pump on lowest setting. 

All of the fish in the tank should be happy to have a little bit more flow than the lowest setting.  Just a note.

One thing we often miss with heaters is that they need flow to dissipate heat and function properly.  More circulation means that you have better performance and higher efficiency.  Some heaters have a "low flow" warning and it's really useful for me to know when I have to clean out the heater guard or check on something. 

I would turn up the flow on the air pump to medium range at least and see if you notice any issues with the fish/shrimp and if the noise goes away. 

Keep us posted.

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On 11/1/2023 at 5:12 PM, EL2 said:

I've been battling an airstone that seems to want to clog.  

I've got one doing something similar and if it's the ziss one I end up taking it apart to clean it once or twice a week.  They also come with replacement felt bits if you really are struggling to sort it out.  The only other thing I can think is a chunk in the stem or something (the part where the airline goes into the airstone.

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Update:

I cleaned out the air stone yesterday, I couldn't find the replacement felt discs, and I've got some serious flow now after cleaning out the air stone and going to level 3 (from 1) on the air pump. 

I did a water change today and dumped out the bubbles from the water heater again, immediately after dumping out the air bubbles it turned on and started whistling again.  I can hear it whistling now as I type this. 

So, given that there was more flow in the tank for 24 hours or so and the fact that I keep dumping the bubbles out of the heater, I'm wondering if it is an issue with the heater itself.  Thoughts? 

I wonder if the ACOOP heater just isn't a good fit for my tank, wonder if I should try something else. 

Thanks.

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It's totally normal, I talked to support and they said their's do it as well. I have it in my bedroom with little to zero background noise so I hear it really well. It makes a high-pitched sound when it's actively heating. I have a degree in electromechanical technology and when a lot of power is put across resistors, heating coils, or inductors it can make a high-pitched sound. Any of those three things that heating elements commonly use get an insane amount of power sent across them for what they actually are. For reference, the average LED bulb in your house nowadays uses around 5 watts and 20 of those bulbs worth of energy are put across a component that's smaller than your thumb. There are ways to negate the noise and I'm sure when further iterations of the aquarium co-op heater come out, it will get implemented as it gets better. I have noticed with time the sound has gotten noticeably much more quiet.

Edited by Lucyn
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Hey @Lucyn, thanks for the reply. 

Definitely a high-pitched sound when it is actively heating, 100%.  I understand what you are saying about the power across the heating element.  I'm just confused because this didn't always happen (it ran quiet for a month or two after installing) and when I contacted support about the original heater they offered a replacement right away stating it shouldn't be doing that. 

Really wish it wouldn't happen, the heater isn't throwing any error codes or anything, Is there a type of heater that might be less susceptible to this? 

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I emailed support and ran the situation by them. 

They suggested I look for snails in the heater, they can get stuck in there 😞 

To my knowledge I have no snails in the tank but I took a look.  I unplugged the heater, waited a bit then shook it and inspected it out of the tank.  I couldn't find anything inside the frame that didn't look like it shouldn't be there.  

The mystery continues. 

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I had a 100 watt start making the high pitched noise.  I moved it around closer to the intake on the HOB and higher and lower on the glass , it seemed to reduce the sound. But it's when the EL (end of life) came on, That's when I removed the suction cups and turned it around to avoid seeing the fashing EL,  so the heater basically free floats, Now it doesn't make the noise!  Does this make sense? 🤪  I don't know but it worked! 😄

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Support replied to me and offered a replacement due to the annoyance factor. They did mention that this happens to theirs as well (like @Lucyn mentioned) and doesn't seem to impact the performance. 

I plan to do some testing on this whistling heater once the new one arrives, maybe I can confirm what @Matt B reported. 

Thanks all.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Update: I disconnected the heater from the wall, leaving the suction cups attached to the heater and the noise has changed tone (higher pitched) and shorter length now. I waited a bit to confirm but this is definitely the case and appears to be related to the removal from the wall.  

I will be removing the suction cups and testing that out as well. More to come. 

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Hey @Matt B

Heater is currently free floating in the middle of the back wall on a 20G High.  I have a sponge filter, no HOB. 

I left the suction cups on it, but it is not attached to the wall.  I will be removing the suction cups and leaving it free floating to see if I can repeat your experiment. 

Attached a pic but this pic shows the relative placement of the heater to the sponge filter, it was taken before I disconnected the heater from the wall. 

TY

IMG_2546.jpeg

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I really don't think there's any possible way removing the suction cups makes any difference whatsoever.  I only did it because I was not useing them and they work so well, they would suction on to things when I'm goofing around in the tank! :classic_laugh:   I was also wondering  @Macready.   Has your heater reached its EL flashing point?  That is why I turned it facing towards the back of the tank in the first place. Every other day, useing the cord, I give it a little turn to check its temp reading and then just turn it right back.  One other thing, I have the cord hanging over the top of the HOB filter.  That's what keeps it suspended in the water column.  :classic_biggrin:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Howdy @Matt B, ah I had misunderstood. The heater is only a couple months old and has not reached its end of life, best I can tell.  No "EL" warning, or any code on the display. Just the temperature. I confirmed the temperature is accurate with a laser thermometer. The heater works really well except for the noise.

Update: I removed the suction cups just to complete the troubleshooting. The sound changed again, shorter duration and higher pitch.  I wish I had recorded it throughout so I could control for wishful thinking 🙂 .  One final test, I received my easy flow adapter yesterday and installed it, judging by how much stuff is floating around in the water column now I believe I've increased the flow significantly, even more than before. So I'm going to test that for a bit and then I'll likely replace. 

Hopefully this thread shortens someone else's troubleshooting in the future. Assuming someone else is bothered enough by the noise like I am.

Thanks for all the input.  

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On 12/5/2023 at 5:04 AM, Macready said:

Update: I removed the suction cups just to complete the troubleshooting. The sound changed again, shorter duration and higher pitch.  I wish I had recorded it throughout so I could control for wishful thinking 🙂 .  One final test, I received my easy flow adapter yesterday and installed it, judging by how much stuff is floating around in the water column now I believe I've increased the flow significantly, even more than before. So I'm going to test that for a bit and then I'll likely replace. 

If you haven't, I would get in touch with coop support. Electronics whine isn't usually a good noise on a heater.

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Howdy @nabokovfan87, yep I've been in contact with support. They sent a replacement. 

The concern is this is the second ACOOP 100W heater to do this to me. So I really wanted to make sure it was a defect with the equipment and not something environmental I'm doing. 

Jury seems to still be out whether it is a big concern or not. I definitely don't like the noise, but support as well as others on the forum have mentioned that it's just high current/voltage over the heating element. 

I'm just troubleshooting while it is still in the tank then I'll be replacing with the one ACOOP support sent me.  If that replacement heater also starts to whine 3 or so months in I'll have to go find another heater.  

Worth noting that I believe I had a low flow issue prior to starting this thread, and that is resolved now. So perhaps that can contribute to the whine? 

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On 12/5/2023 at 8:57 AM, Macready said:

The concern is this is the second ACOOP 100W heater to do this to me. So I really wanted to make sure it was a defect with the equipment and not something environmental I'm doing. 

Jury seems to still be out whether it is a big concern or not. I definitely don't like the noise, but support as well as others on the forum have mentioned that it's just high current/voltage over the heating element. 

That would point towards a power conditioning issue perhaps. Are you using a surge protector or anything?

 

On 12/5/2023 at 8:57 AM, Macready said:

Worth noting that I believe I had a low flow issue prior to starting this thread, and that is resolved now. So perhaps that can contribute to the whine? 

Yes. Others have reported this issue as well.

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On 12/5/2023 at 7:00 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

That would point towards a power conditioning issue perhaps. Are you using a surge protector or anything?

 

Yes it is plugged into a surge suppressor.  Along with: ACOOP Light (on Eve smart switch), ACOOP Air pump, and Eve water guard water sensor. 

I... hope that the surge suppressor isn't the issue. I guess it never occurred to me that could be an issue like with other larger heaters (room heaters, etc).

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