Saga of the pond Heaters

The recently ordered pond heater arrived yesterday and as it was predicted to be very cold last night I decided I would fit it even though it would be dark when my wife would bring it with her from work.  Its more practical to have it delivered to her work than be hovering at home especially if an item has to be signed for.

In preparation I took out my multi tester to make sure the others were not dead because of fuses.  It did dawn on me that maybe I should have done this earlier but I was so convinced they had failed after reading in the net that they only last a couple of seasons.  Both are at least 3 years old.

They were both plugged into one of those adapters and that had a fuse, it tested ok.  While I was testing it i plugged one of the heaters straight into the extension and it worked! changing one heater for the other only confirmed that they both worked!  I tracked down the problem to the fact that the air pump bubble machine is on a timer that allows it to run for 15 minutes then off for 15 minutes.  We've always had it like this because if they run all the time the bubbles cause so much wash you cant even see your fish.

The adapter had been up against the bubble machine timer and didn't allow the plug make a contact sufficient to get power to the rods.  I couldn't see this as i have my filter box in a large polystyrene case to stop it freezing in winter and it hinders the opening of the plug box.

The upshot then is I spent £39 for nought.  The one saving grace is that the new machine has a thermostat and only switches on when the temp go's below zero and off again as it rises above.  The other type were on all the time if it was freezing or not.  money saved in the long run? Hey ho!

Pics below shows old and new heaters with final pic showing new in pond.  Final point why do pond pumps and accessories not come with fitted plugs but instructions to say they must be commissioned by a qualified electrician?!