Customer Reviews

NORPRO 559 Immersion Heater for Warming Liquids

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(40)

 

 

Product performs as expected. the one bit of advice to anyone purchasing this item is READ and pay heed to the INSTRUCTIONS! I went through 2 before I realized the reason they didn't last long was that I was letting the liquid go past the point of damaging the heater. in other words don't walk off while it's immursed for it takes one time and one time only to damage it. It takes about 5 minutes to heat water to 180 to 190 degrees perfect for tea. if you do this it will last a long time.

This is the third immersion heater I have used and it is the best. I paid twice as much for the others and this one heats water to boiling within about five minutes as opposed to ten or more minutes with the others. I got this one at ACE hardware.

The name of the product is pretty self explanatory.
Its PORTABLE.
Its IMMERSIBLE.
And it HEATS.

So why would anyone not think this works well?
You can't heat soup, or lasagna, or hot chocolate or even coffee or tea if you follow the directions to the letter. You can heat WATER. PERIOD.
Anything else and you're likely going to be disappointed that the unit dies a premature death.

That immersible thing is tricky too, because the cord is short.
You can't plug it in before you immerse it.
You can't remove it while it is still plugged in.
You can't let it boil off the water leaving it above water level (meaning you CANNOT leave this unattended).
Follow these three simple rules, and I think you'll be more than pleased with yours.
One that I had lasted over a year...until-distracted-I forgot about it.
Came back to find a half full cup of water and a dead heater.
My bad.

Learn from my mistakes.
Enjoy hot beverages anywhere on the go!

AND FOR ANYONE WONDERING...
ACEHARDWAREOUTLET folks are GREAT.
Fast shipping, quick email responses, good customer service.

When purchasing a Norpro Immersion Heater you have a 50/50 chance of the heater not lasting your 10th cup of tea. I have experienced one heater bad out of the box and another heater failed after one cup of H20. Norpro's Taiwan manufacturer makes so-so products while Norpro (the distributor) will not correct the problem nor honor a failed immersion heater for refund or replacement. Norpro's rude customer service blames the customer for any failed product. Quality USA manufactured immersion cup heaters no longer exist to my knowledge.

I ordered the immersion heater. I used it once and then it never worked again. The packaging was fine, but I decided that the shipping costs were not worth me sending a product back that was not very expensive to begin with. I will search for other vendors/suppliers as I am still interested in another immersion heater. I think they are wonderful products that can be used by a variety of professionals, from secretaries, teachers, nurses and so on.

I bought this immersion heater to take with me into the hospital. I was having radioactive iodine treatment for thyroid cancer. I knew I'd be able-bodied, but bored, under orders to drink lots of fluids, and seeing very little of the nurses, as they do these treatments in special isolation rooms. It was such a good thing to be able to have a cup of hot herbal tea, or some cocoa, whenever I wanted, just as I would at home. The immersion heater worked perfectly. The key is to remember that you must never plug the heater in until the coil is immersed in your cup, and never remove the coil from your cup until you unplug it. The heater boils water so fast, you really do need to watch it- a watched pot may never boil, but a forgotten immersion heater would boil your cup dry very quickly. I had to put my heater away in a box with the books I read in the hospital, as they scanned my stuff with a Geiger counter when my treatment was over, and it read "hot". Everything will be safe to use again after a month, and I will be glad to have the heater to use when we travel. My post-treatment scan gave me a clean bill of health, so I will be enjoying this heater for a long time to come!

Fool me Once Shame on You. Fool me Twice Shame on Me.

Yes, i've purchased two of these immersion heaters. both failed after only a few weeks of simple and limited use. With both units, the failure occurred after the water (filled in a ceramic mug well above the top of the heating coil stem) reached a rolling boil (at sea level). In each failure, the failure was discovered when attempting to heat a second mug of water on the same day - No response whatsoever to plugging unit in to the hotel 110v. Tried reseting GFI breakers and plugging it into all outlets that were otherwise working, lamps, etc...) I suspect that the defect with these units is a low threshold for the "one time" safety circuit. Once this circuit faults, the heater is destroyed.

Also, you should know the guidance for these heaters. Do not plug the heater in to the wall outlet until the heater is immersed in the water you hope to heat. Make sure the metal "coil" in completely immersed for the entire time the unit is plugged in. Unplug the unit and let it cool down before removing it from the water you have heated. I've followed each of these rules faithfully and the units each failed after a matter of weeks (approximately a dozen uses each).

Does anyone know of a basic reliable immersion heater that operates as advertised?

This heater worked really well the first three times I used it, but broke the fourth time. I wrote to Ace Hardware and they sent me a free replacement, but that broke the second time I used it. I may have been doing something wrong (possibly you have to let it cool for a certain amount of time before re-using it?), but my overall experience with this product was extremely disappointing. I gave it two stars just because while it WAS working it worked great, and it really did heat the water very quickly.

Works great if you ALWAYS follow these steps:

1. Fill your cup with water
2. Insert the heater into the water, THEN plug it in.
3. It takes a couple of minutes to get the water boiling.
4. Unplug the heater first, THEN remove it from the water.

The immersion heater works great. Takes only 2 or 3 minutes to get piping hot water for coffee or tea, a little longer if you like lattes. Wish I could use it in other liquids rather than just plain water, but any particulates in the water, like milk or coffee, would cling to the coil. I think cleaning it would require a toothbrush. The man of the house forgot about it, walked off and let the water boil away until the coil was above the water. It doesn't work that way. The house is still standing, but the immersion heater is toast. Recommend allowing (some) men to use it only with proper supervision.