Hi Bruce,

I checked the web site of Drs Fosters and it looks like my 100 Watt heater
cables that I purchased from a different on-line store are identical to what you
have. Next time I will try to get a better quality product (Dupla perhaps). It
is very frustrating not because of the money involved but because as you wrote
to replace this would involve just way too much work.

For the time being in a local pet store I purchased 2 stick-on
under-tank-heaters designed for terrariums. They will most likely not do as much
for the tank as cable heaters but I'm not ready to redo the whole tank :-(

Marvin



"BruceKGeist" wrote in message
...
I ordered a cable heater for my 135 gallon tank from (what was at the time)
Pet Warehouse, and is now Drs Foster and Smith's Pet Warehouse. I installed
the cables as recommended, being careful not to overlap the coils, and even
verified that they were working before I put the substrate in.

The cable heater may have worked for a week, since in that time I had
difficulty keeping the tank temperature below 81 degrees F. However, shortly
after, the cable heater stopped working. I think I paid around $150.00 for
the
cable I bought. I spoke to the manufacturer regarding the cable, and was
chagrined to learn that I would have to break down the tank and send them the
cable if I were to get any kind of refund. Not too unreasonable I guess--
though at the time I was really irritated. I mean really, who is going to
completely break down a large tank just after setting it up to take out the
heating cable. I guess I should have, but I didn't. I was hoping the
manufacturer would offer some kind of proxy for when I did break the tank
down,
but they would not. I guess I can admit that this would be difficult for a
small business to implement; however if they did, I would be buying cable
heater's from them!

At any rate, for those who may be considering heating cables, I say beware of
the ones sold at Drs Foster and Smith's Pet Warehouse. Even though they come
with a 1 year waranty, unless you are REALLY willing to break down your tank
and strip out the non-working cables, that waranty is worthless. Get some
cables that wont go wrong.

To the person who started this thread, be SURE to test your cables for a good
couple of days before installing the rest of the tank.

I would be interested in anyone's perspective on a good brand. How about the
dubla cables? I hear the 12 volt cables are better than the ones that plug
directly into ac current. They sound safer too..

I have to say also that my tank has been pretty successful for the past two
years even without a working cable heater. I question the value of cable
heaters, though I know many contributers to this newsgroup swear by them..