Let's Count the Broken RIOs

Jamesurq said:
I ran a rio 800 on my skimmer for about 2 years. Then one day it just stopped working. So I replaced it. About a year later, the new one shorted out and tripped the GFCI - while the tank was left unattended for 3 days...

COMPLETE LOSS...
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Are you saying that you lost the whole tank because your skimmer wasn't running for 3 days?
 
melev said:
Unfortunatley Melev, that could happen with your current pumps. I have had both 2100 and 2500 rnning for a long time with no problems. I also live in florida and the power outages are a major nuisance. It hasnt bothered this pumps at all from flicker to brown outs.



Exactly. If you have a 2100 or 2500, you have a ticking time bomb in your hands. Listen, I've read enough horror stories both here and on rec.aquaria.marine.reefs that I don't have to wait to see it happen to my tank. I only use those Rio pumps to mix my saltwater. If it explodes and nukes in that resevoir, I'm only out 55g of saltwater. If it was in my system, I'd be out all of my livestock.

Use it where it won't cause harm, or toss it.
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kass03 said:
I had 1 rio blow up in my 150 gal. and there was black gunk all over the tank. Surprisingly nothing died.
I also had a mag 7 burn up but it just stopped working.

kass
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Thats my piont-- mags break too. Don't be fooled into thinking that all pumps are everlasting. Its like anything else you buy, take care of it and it will last. I personally dont leave my tank for more than 6-8 hours. When I just went to vegas, a family member stayed at the house to tend to my tanks.
 
Jamesurq said:
I ran a rio 800 on my skimmer for about 2 years. Then one day it just stopped working. So I replaced it. About a year later, the new one shorted out and tripped the GFCI - while the tank was left unattended for 3 days...

COMPLETE LOSS...

I've had 4 maxijets that I bought at the same time as the FIRST rio that have basically pumped 24 hours a day for most of those 4 years - and they're still fine...

NEVER AGAIN. I'd love to get a seio - but I won't, out of fear.
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SEPERATE BREAKER FOR MAIN PUMP AND POWERHEADS.

My best advice. A different one for the lights too.
 
69vette said:
Are you saying that you lost the whole tank because your skimmer wasn't running for 3 days?
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Power went out - therefore, lighting and circulation went out.

Ehydo said:
SEPERATE BREAKER FOR MAIN PUMP AND POWERHEADS.

My best advice. A different one for the lights too.
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Yeah - hindsight. The system was set up temporarily at someone elses house. The new system is on 4 circuits.

1 for main circulation
1 for lighting
1 for closed loop
1 for everything else (reactor/autotopoff/heaters, etc)
 
I just read this entire thread, currently running two 2100+'s on small submerged closed loops, only for about two weeks now. A couple of people asked about whether or not the ones that burned were UL listed or not...mine are, and I was wondering if that makes a difference.

Either way, I am QUITE spooked right now.
 
Older Rio pump had some issues with the power cord being able to pull away from the housing if it was handled roughly. That is probably the source of the burned up pump stories. The newer pumps supposedly have the cord more firmly attatched to prevent that.
 
Three years ago I threw away the last of 8........count them 8 Rio 1700's - 2100's. I spent a lot of money switching to Magdrives and Maxijets. Not one failure in the past 3 years. Not one out of 7 magdrives and many maxijets. And I run the Maxijets on 1/2 hour interval timers.

I just bought 2 Seio's simply because I don't have the time to DIY a maxijet stream, and I don't have the stomach to pay for Tunze's. I was hoping I didn't buy an old Rio In a Seio shell.

Well, for me these motors haven't changed a bit. If you stop them for any reason at all; maintenance, move the plug, move the pump, etc. They will not restart on their own. I have to pull it out of the water and shake it. When it wouldn't restart the first time, and I made the mistake of starting to pull it out of the water before unplugging it, It made quite a mess when it restarted as soon as it came out of the water.

Same poor quality product with a fancy impeller.

Once bitten, twice a fool I guess.

I could never, in good conscience recommend a Rio product to anyone on the basis of reliability. For me they've been as close to a complete failure as you can get. And with the number of failures I incurred, you can't call it an isolated instance. Just poor quality.
 
You know i got jumped all over when i post on here that Joe's Juice was worthless becuase it doesn't kill them and that they spread everywhere and the problem becomes worse. people told me that it could cause people to stop buying the product. I have used RIO in the past my roomate has used RIO in the past. they have never dead melted cought fire never not once. but i have had two other pump fail on me and bought RIO to replace them. Still running
 
Not all Rio's had problems. I think it was the 1700, 2100 and 2500's. I have a half dozen smaller ones that have been working perfectly for close to 10 years.
 
I should have clarified my post. As 69vette correctly stated, the problems wre specific to the larger models. the 600's and smaller were more reliable.

Nao10, maybe you can clarify which pumps failed and which rios you've been using. FWIW, I tried JJ also. It worked OK on aptasia, but Majanos come right back. I've had the same success rate using Kalk. RC is all about sharing your experiences. Good and bad. I bought Seios even with the nightmare I had with the larger Rio's. You'll find that Seio's have something of a mixed track record too. Do other pumps fail? Sure they do. But not at the rate the bigger Rio's did, and nobody from Taam would step up to the problem.
 
The new one's say, "Oil free epoxy" Did the old one's have that? I'm asking because I could care less if they suddenly just turn off, I just don't want a melt down with deadly black crap all over my tank.

I've decided to replace mine when I get caught up a bit, they'll just have to do for another month or so.
 
I recently replaced all of my Rio's (2500, 2100 and 180 I think they were) with Mag Drive pumps. But I did hear from some disgruntled mag drive owners (past owners) as well, but so far I have had much better luck with mine.
 
I had a Rio 800 burn up in my small tank in the middle of the night. I woke up thinking my house was on fire and to find a tank full of oil and death. There were dead pods and worms everywhere. Luckily I did not have any fish and only just a few corals in the tank. I hate Rio equipment and encourage everyone to stay away from it. Even if they have fixed the issues with the old pumps oil leakage, they still are much less reliable than maxijets.
 
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