Heater plug in contact with water - Can I still use it?

[Cantusaurus]

Long story short. Yesterday I was cleaning my skimmer, and accidentally spilled water over the back of my AIO. And it somehow found its way perfectly onto my power cord where the heater is plugged into the extension power cord. I heard fizzling, and small amounts of sparks, and smoke. So I immediately turned off the power cord, and started unplugging everything frantically. Everything is unaffected. I replaced the power cord just in case, and I made sure the heater plug is completely dry, but I did not plug the heater back in.

It is an Eheim Jager heater. I have a 32 gallon tank, and I just left the tank with no heater just in case. I ran the heater in a bucket of water, and it seems to still work. It did not crack or break.
I put my hand in the water and I did not get shocked.
I cleaned it off really well (since I might as well).
It is 1 year old.
BUT
Do I still use it?
If I do use it I will definitely observe it carefully, and I do not think I will have it for much longer. I will definitely replace it with the same or different heater (brand new).
I know there are heater horror stories so this has been giving me a lot of anxiety.
It has been warm where I live lately, so I have not been too worried about the tank getting too cold, but I definitely want to get the temperature back to being more consistent.

 

[Dolphins18]

Should not be a problem. Plug all your aquarium components into one of these and you do not need to worry about that happening again, if it detects water, it will instantly cut power.
Amazon product

 

[blaxsun]

Fizzling, sparks and smoke - I'd probably replace the heater (either are never a good sign, and definitely not all three together). @Dolphins18 has a great suggestion with the outlet, but I'd still replace the heater (not worth the risk IMHO).

 

[JumboShrimp]

I assume the "fizzling, and small amounts of sparks, and smoke" were right there at the wall outlet where the heater was plugged in? And so now the plug is dry-- with 'possibly' a small amount of rust (if it could even begin to rust that quickly, basically overnight)?

 

[Cantusaurus]

I may not have explained it well, but the power cord/extender had water seep in where the plug of the heater connects.
So yeah there was just a bit of steam and fizzling, but it came out of where the heater was connected. The wall outlet was not affected. None of the other equipment was affected either.

 

[blaxsun]

Honestly, heaters are cheap (especially Eheim). I think you’re better off replacing it and keeping the (“watered”) one for something like heating up saltwater for a water change when you can keep an eye on it.

For $20 I wouldn’t take the risk. But that’s just my $0.02.

 

[Cantusaurus]

Honestly, heaters are cheap (especially Eheim). I think you’re better off replacing it and keeping the (“watered”) one for something like heating up saltwater for a water change when you can keep an eye on it. Or chuck it...

That's true. Would you recommend going with another Eheim? or a different (better) one?
And that's a good idea that it can be utilized for other purposes.
I may just use it for a couple days until I decide/get a new heater.
I am also going to improve my cabling and power cord placement to ensure this does not happen again.

 

[blaxsun]

The Jagers are absolute workhorses. Fluval m-series is another one I’ve used. Cobalt also makes a good product (albeit a lot more expensive). I use an Inkbird with two inanimate titanium rods, but it’s also for a 200-gallon setup. If you can mount the power bar up (command strips work great) and give yourself room for a drip arc on the cords.

 

[Cantusaurus]

The Jagers are absolute workhorses. Fluval m-series is another one I’ve used. Cobalt also makes a good product (albeit a lot more expensive). I use an Inkbird with two inanimate titanium rods, but it’s also for a 200-gallon setup. If you can mount the power bar up (command strips work great) and give yourself room for a drip arc on the cords.

Thanks! Yeah, I definitely like Jagers. I never had an issue and it's pretty sturdy when I was a little more careless with it when I was newer.
I don't know too much on Fluval heaters (even though I have a fluval tank).
I have heard great things about Cobalt, but they do seem pricey.