H-419 Ice Chaser Submergible Stock Tank De-Icer, 1500W

I bought two of these for a great deal during the off season and have been very happy with them so far. I have two rubber 100 gallon stock tanks in central Oklahoma. Normal winters include temps below freezing at night, warming up during the day, but we did have approximately 5 days of consistent below freezing temps down to less than 10 degrees Fahrenheit and they did keep the water from freezing. Both look to be in perfect condition after this winter and will be stored to use again for next season.

Worked great all season. Purchased 3 for the winter and kept the tanks clear of ice all winter.

I bought this in the summer in anticipation of freezing weather in Wisconsin. I filled the bucket full of ice and water to test it. It melted it quickly and then shut itself off. I don’t want to have to carry water out to my chickens several times a day in the winter and a heated bowl just gets filthy and will need to be dumped out regularly, which makes an icy mess. This seems like a perfect solution provided the heater keeps the water, nipples free of ice. The heater itself seems to be working perfectly and doesn’t use any energy if the water temperature is above freezing. I’m really happy this fit in a 5 gallon Lowe’s bucket. I drilled a hole in the lid to take the cord through and keep the chickens out of the water.

I have lots of wild deer on my property and they depend on my water tank to keep them hydrated. When the tank freezes, they have no water to drink for days and days. I originally had a floating deicer, but it was not effective. The submergible deicer work fantastic. Even at -2° the water with dill liquid and allowed the deer, squirrels or boxes to water.

We've bought and used countless submergible de-icers on our farm through the years. A good portion of them were junk, some were pretty good and only one will I say is good quality, this Farm Innovators deicer. With that said, I don't consider it great. Great to me is one that would last 10 years or more. Unfortunately that is very rarely the case. We long ago came to expect that we would need to replace them in the 5-7 year range. We have had a couple last about 10 years. Though for the time and effort it saves in keeping the water troughs open and the initial cost, its well worth the money. We have used them in 40 gal tanks up to 150 gal ones. The temperatures here in the winter are well below freezing and dip into the minus temps a couple times every winter. These de-icers have no trouble keeping the water open for the animals. We have 4 different tanks that we put one deicer in each. There are complaints in the reviews about them not working after a short time. This has happened only once for us in the 20 or so we have bought through the years. We find them very reliable and they are the only brand we will buy. If you are going to use them in a plastic tank, you might want to place the deicer on a couple of bricks to keep it off the bottom. One plastic tank was ruined from it melting through the bottom. I feel that it was an extreme isolated case, but setting it on bricks is worth the peace of mind. Hope this may be of help in your decision making.

Works great.

Its hard to complain about this item when its -20 and your not carrying 5 gallon buckets of water for your horses. The Good... - ( were in Alaska ) When its -20 in a 100 gal rubber maid plastic tank the water is ice free. ( probably 75-50 gal in tank ) -Has coiled ( I assume zinc over steel ) cable protector for those horses that play with cords cord is also long enough to make it out of deep tanks and very stout. -stand offs keep it off of bottom of tanks ( can be used in rubber maid tanks ) -sits on bottom of tank ( our horses used to throw out the float type ) i think this one has a thermal protection in case that does happen ( not confirmed ) The Bad... - I wish there was a way to modify the thermostat ( I don't know the exact temp but our water is very warm say 40°+) i'd like it only above freezing not a problem with one horse but if you have 15.... Comments: please note this is 1500 watt, if you have one circuit and you string a bunch of these together expect to pop a fuse. ( should not be an issue most of the time but below zero these things come on a lot ) -there were some comments about longevity, this is a great unit ( above par with other units ) its not stainless steel and it does have a cord on it, we've gotten about 3-4 seasons on our last one before it died ( and we ordered another one, and we will again in 4 years... ) -costs... its 1500 watt, if you live some place where its cold and this is on all of the time its like having 15X 100 watt bulbs on. its not bad, its whats required to keep it ice free when it has warmed up the water enough it will turn off. ( other have given this a low rating because of the power usage, if you only need a 250 watt one your ordering the wrong one... this is the monster truck of water heaters. ( some may need other may not )

Had it for a month with some snow and have had no issues keeping the 100 gallon trough melted. Our horses haven’t messed with it either! Great product so far

Working as it should, quality product

Strong durable heater

I bought this to keep my trough I use for cold plunges from freezing solid in -10 to -20 temps and with being on twice a day for one hour with a timer it works great. Keeps water very cold but not frozen.

Worked great for a winter and now trying to use it for my second winter, stopped working. I live in a cold part of Canada. Disappointed!! Find something better.

Excellent heater. It was -33°F this morning and no ice on the cattle water tank.