Let's Count the Broken RIOs
- Thread starter tyesmithND
- Start date
NewMariner
Reef Tank Aficionado
Just a question...and not trying to flame ya'll but after one rio meltdown what happens? Do you go out and buy another Rio? Alot of you have said that you have had like 5-6 Rios fry on you. I dont know whos more ignorant the designers or the ones who keep buying them after they fry. Again, Im not tryin to flame...just curious as to those of you that have had multiple rios fry on you why you went out and bought another rio to replace it? One pump frys on me and pollutes my tank Im going with a different manufacturer. Now if one just stops for some reason but doesnt foul my tank then I might get another one dependant upon how long I had the first one.
:eek1: Rio - 0 of 2. One rio (600) is over seven years old running 24/7/365
Hagen - 1 of 4. Two of these are over 5 years old 24/7/365. The one that failed was several years old and was a hold over from my fresh water days.
Don't do much maintenance on them, just if they don't appear to be running properly or once every 12 to 18 months. The rio on the Aquafuge quit once because the grate filled with algae - cleaned the grate and impeller - off it ran. Still running strong.
I did inherit a rio with a used BakPak that was dead. But, I don't think that one counts as I do not know what the former owner did to it.
Maybe you guys fiddle with them to much
Hagen - 1 of 4. Two of these are over 5 years old 24/7/365. The one that failed was several years old and was a hold over from my fresh water days.
Don't do much maintenance on them, just if they don't appear to be running properly or once every 12 to 18 months. The rio on the Aquafuge quit once because the grate filled with algae - cleaned the grate and impeller - off it ran. Still running strong.
I did inherit a rio with a used BakPak that was dead. But, I don't think that one counts as I do not know what the former owner did to it.
Maybe you guys fiddle with them to much
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I have replaced 1 Rio 800 in the last 2 years...I have 1-2500 over year old and works great 1-800 works great but the suction cups erode fast and the pump doesnt stay on the glass 1-400 perfect, and 1-600 works fine....they are a little noisy and do need to be banged every so often to restart but THE REAL ISSUE is the suction cups decompose rapidly rendering the pumps a pain just dangling there in my tank. Doesnt ANYONE else have this issue too???
icebear
Premium Member
bump
this subject seems to be coming up again and i have a Rio 2100 that is still in the box....was waiting to hook up the sump when the house move is complete...not sure if i should just unload the thing somewhere, cut my cash loss and get something else. ?
did want to note that local my LFS has 3 of the 3800s (i think its that number, they are all one of the bigger ones) and they have all been running 24/7/365 for about 4 years now, maybe more...and they have all restarted themselves during power outages, at least the powerouts that happend while i was on the job due to thunderstorms or ice.
this subject seems to be coming up again and i have a Rio 2100 that is still in the box....was waiting to hook up the sump when the house move is complete...not sure if i should just unload the thing somewhere, cut my cash loss and get something else. ?
did want to note that local my LFS has 3 of the 3800s (i think its that number, they are all one of the bigger ones) and they have all been running 24/7/365 for about 4 years now, maybe more...and they have all restarted themselves during power outages, at least the powerouts that happend while i was on the job due to thunderstorms or ice.
Is RIO trying to pull a fast one?
Is RIO trying to pull a fast one?
I picked this up at the LFS the other day...dead ringer for a RIO but nowhere is there anything that says RIO. The only difference is that this one has a sponge pre-filter in the intake chamber. And the plastic is a blue color instead of grey.
The parts list is about the same as a RIO as well.
This model "Surge 6000" says it will do 600GPH with a 4 ft head.
Is it me or does it look like RIO is trying the same song and dance with a new band leader?
Is RIO trying to pull a fast one?
I picked this up at the LFS the other day...dead ringer for a RIO but nowhere is there anything that says RIO. The only difference is that this one has a sponge pre-filter in the intake chamber. And the plastic is a blue color instead of grey.
The parts list is about the same as a RIO as well.
This model "Surge 6000" says it will do 600GPH with a 4 ft head.
Is it me or does it look like RIO is trying the same song and dance with a new band leader?
I own 3, 2 are dead
The second one exploded yesterday, smoke, fire, and nasty smell. Thank goodness it was NOT in my reef. I plan to take #3 out of my reef. New Maxis are on there way here as I write. I tried to call the company in California, the person that answered the phone did not know enough English to handle the call.
The second one exploded yesterday, smoke, fire, and nasty smell. Thank goodness it was NOT in my reef. I plan to take #3 out of my reef. New Maxis are on there way here as I write. I tried to call the company in California, the person that answered the phone did not know enough English to handle the call.
DrMilhouse
New member
NewMariner said:
I agree with this. It's kind of like "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." It doesn't make sense to keep buying one. I don't have time to add up all the numbers here, but just in skimming this thread, it's pretty obvious. Don't Buy Rios! Simple as that. If your LFS has no alternative to offer you, you're at the wrong LFS. If you don't have a choice in LFS, get online and order somewhere else.
Sorry to bring up an old thread but this is really something that people should see. This should actually be posted up in the newbie's section. Anyone know of any serious shock (like heart stopping go to the hospital kind of shock) that has been received from a RIO?
Oh yeah, add one more to the tally for me. With electrocution! :eek2:
Anyone know the best way to go about forcing a manufacturer to pull their head outta their behinds and stop making a dangerous product like this?
Oh, I have one solution... STOP BUYING FROM THEM! but I'm sure there's other ways too.
DrMilhouse
New member
FWIW, I did do a quick count on this and it's approx 163 (I may have missed a few or counted a couple twice, that's just a close approximation).
Of those 19 involved electrical shock as well as 8 which involved toxicity issues in the tank with a possible cause for complete tank wipe out.
Okay, so of the thousands of RIOs which have been sold, 163 isn't too bad... BUT, that's only for those of us who spoke up. I'm certain that the number could safely be quadroupled or more because of people who didn't feel like contributing and those who aren't even aware of rc.com to begin with.
Lots of people have been shocked, this is a potential safety hazard to say the least. BOYCOTT!
Of those 19 involved electrical shock as well as 8 which involved toxicity issues in the tank with a possible cause for complete tank wipe out.
Okay, so of the thousands of RIOs which have been sold, 163 isn't too bad... BUT, that's only for those of us who spoke up. I'm certain that the number could safely be quadroupled or more because of people who didn't feel like contributing and those who aren't even aware of rc.com to begin with.
Lots of people have been shocked, this is a potential safety hazard to say the least. BOYCOTT!
melev
Well-known member
One comment has come up a couple of times is why are we buying them?
Hmm. I bought a used CPR Bakpak with the Rio600. After a short while, that pump lost its pinache for making bubbles, so I bought a replacement. Seems logical.... it came with one, so replace it with the same, right? The next one worked okay, but I'd been reading threads about using a MaxiJet instead. Everyone said you'd need the venturi kit, but of the five LFS in my area, NONE had it! So I rigged my own.
In the meantime, I fixed the original one, and cleaned up the second one. And they went into the garage.
The only other time I purposely bought a Rio was when I was mail ordering from Jeff's Exotic Fish. After talking with them for a while on the phone, I decided to buy the Rio 2500 for doing water changes. That way I could pump the water into the tank instead of lifting a 5gal bucket over 5' high to refill my tank. Now remember, it is only for water changes. It runs for maybe 10 mins to mix the water, and 1 min to refill the tank. Then I rinse it out and put it in a nice safe spot in the garage. Within a few months, it wouldn't start unless I hit the side of it. Go figure. I did talk to Jeff while he was here at MACNA, and he told me he'd let me exchange it, but I never followed up on it. After all, hitting a Rio can be a great stress reducer.
The other ways I get Rios is when I buy stuff from others. My 55g came with a Rio2100 (which sounds like the most dangerous one of the line, according to these posts), and a Rio800 on a Remora I just picked up. That little 800 didn't restart after my GCFI tripped, and I had to hit it to get it to start. As soon as it got near the skimmer again, it wouldn't work. After getting it to work, squirting saltwater in my eyes and then into my PC ligthing that was on, the GCFI tripped again.
Got everything dried off, hit the Rio again and got the skimmer going. Lights worked, all is well again.
But I don't go out of my way to buy Rio. If anything, I seem to magnetically draw them to me! :lol:
On the other hand, Penguins (2) have worked for years, but do have problems restarting after a water change. They seem to suffer from an airpocket issue. Maxijets are excellent. Mag drives are excellent, and affordable. And then I've got a few of the one with the occillating outlet that only works for the first few days, that fall off the glass and move the substrate to the other side of the tank. Those are junk too.
Hmm. I bought a used CPR Bakpak with the Rio600. After a short while, that pump lost its pinache for making bubbles, so I bought a replacement. Seems logical.... it came with one, so replace it with the same, right? The next one worked okay, but I'd been reading threads about using a MaxiJet instead. Everyone said you'd need the venturi kit, but of the five LFS in my area, NONE had it! So I rigged my own.
In the meantime, I fixed the original one, and cleaned up the second one. And they went into the garage.
The only other time I purposely bought a Rio was when I was mail ordering from Jeff's Exotic Fish. After talking with them for a while on the phone, I decided to buy the Rio 2500 for doing water changes. That way I could pump the water into the tank instead of lifting a 5gal bucket over 5' high to refill my tank. Now remember, it is only for water changes. It runs for maybe 10 mins to mix the water, and 1 min to refill the tank. Then I rinse it out and put it in a nice safe spot in the garage. Within a few months, it wouldn't start unless I hit the side of it. Go figure. I did talk to Jeff while he was here at MACNA, and he told me he'd let me exchange it, but I never followed up on it. After all, hitting a Rio can be a great stress reducer.
The other ways I get Rios is when I buy stuff from others. My 55g came with a Rio2100 (which sounds like the most dangerous one of the line, according to these posts), and a Rio800 on a Remora I just picked up. That little 800 didn't restart after my GCFI tripped, and I had to hit it to get it to start. As soon as it got near the skimmer again, it wouldn't work. After getting it to work, squirting saltwater in my eyes and then into my PC ligthing that was on, the GCFI tripped again.
Got everything dried off, hit the Rio again and got the skimmer going. Lights worked, all is well again.But I don't go out of my way to buy Rio. If anything, I seem to magnetically draw them to me! :lol:
On the other hand, Penguins (2) have worked for years, but do have problems restarting after a water change. They seem to suffer from an airpocket issue. Maxijets are excellent. Mag drives are excellent, and affordable. And then I've got a few of the one with the occillating outlet that only works for the first few days, that fall off the glass and move the substrate to the other side of the tank. Those are junk too.
csanchez77
New member
Never thought I would see this one again.
I bought 4 at one time (not knowing any better at the time) and I bought a CPR bakpak (came with a 5th one).
The CPR was the first one to go, so I replaced it with the same thing. As the other ones started to go, I got suspicous. Started replacing them one by one with Maxijets.
It was not until I came to this board that I pulled them out of the tank.
I bought 4 at one time (not knowing any better at the time) and I bought a CPR bakpak (came with a 5th one).
The CPR was the first one to go, so I replaced it with the same thing. As the other ones started to go, I got suspicous. Started replacing them one by one with Maxijets.
It was not until I came to this board that I pulled them out of the tank.
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