Let's Count the Broken RIOs
- Thread starter tyesmithND
- Start date
angelfishlover
New member
But the funny thing, seio's come from the same company that makes rio's. But so far no problems with a seio 820. Never had a rio and i guess I am lucky to find out this way other than the hard way.
londonloco
New member
16 pages later and this thread is still going? My 2cents..I have used rios for years. 5-6 years ago I had 15 tanks going w/cichlids and fry grow out tanks. I must have had 10 rios going at once. NOT ONE FAILED. I took a 3 year break from the hobby, about a year ago I got back in. Bought 2 rio powerheads. They lasted 3 months..luckily they just stopped working, no fire....I now have mag drives and maxi jets...no problem with them yet....
FloridaFishMan
New member
I have a rio 2100 running my sump. After reading this thread it is kind of scary. I never thought a company could produce something so crappy and get away with it. I have been running mine for 4months now with no problems. If it is a newer pump does that mean it does not have the oil that leaks into the tank if it burns up? I think I am going to be getting a mag drive shortly.
Chris
Chris
coralnut99
New member
Floridafish, I don't think anyone who's contributed to this thread can say with any level of certainty that your rio will or won't fail, and if so, when. If you want some advice, I would have a magdrive ready. But that should hold true for any pump really. With these organisms being as fragile as they are, the last thing you want to do is lose any time to placing an order, or even driving to a lfs that may or may not have what you need.
Reading through this thread, and I'm certain it's not the only ant-rio thread RC's ever seen, it would seem the overwhelming experience has been negative with the larger rios, of which yours is one. The claim has been made that Rio has fixed their problems, but I and several others can attest to the Seios being problematic too. The Seios are just the new larger rios with a fancy impeller. So my advice would be to simply have a spare magdrive handy and get as much out of you rio as you can get.
Reading through this thread, and I'm certain it's not the only ant-rio thread RC's ever seen, it would seem the overwhelming experience has been negative with the larger rios, of which yours is one. The claim has been made that Rio has fixed their problems, but I and several others can attest to the Seios being problematic too. The Seios are just the new larger rios with a fancy impeller. So my advice would be to simply have a spare magdrive handy and get as much out of you rio as you can get.
Travis L. Stevens
New member
This is such a long thread. Is there an actual official count?
The Grim Reefer
Ready for some NOBALL!!!
Anyone claiming a Seio powerhead and Rio pumps are the same design must not have seen both. I think the larger Seio's so far have a good track record. the 820's seem to be the one's with the most trouble restarting from what I've read in the threads.
I actually use a Rio Hyperflow on my skimmer. I had one on my return from the sump and a power flash caused it to lock up. It was on for better than six hours before I caught it. No heat or any other problems caused by that at all. I get too many power flashes like that to chance a Rio or any other pump that is prone to locking up like that for a return so I will stick to mag drives. For a skimmer the Hyperflow is great and if it happens to lock up it isn't a huge deal. My Tunze Stream 6060 has the same problem with power outtages but when that baby locks up you know it, hell of a knocking noise.
I actually use a Rio Hyperflow on my skimmer. I had one on my return from the sump and a power flash caused it to lock up. It was on for better than six hours before I caught it. No heat or any other problems caused by that at all. I get too many power flashes like that to chance a Rio or any other pump that is prone to locking up like that for a return so I will stick to mag drives. For a skimmer the Hyperflow is great and if it happens to lock up it isn't a huge deal. My Tunze Stream 6060 has the same problem with power outtages but when that baby locks up you know it, hell of a knocking noise.
llamart
New member
1 Rio, 1 metdown. On my old 45g cube 2 years ago. Came home from work and everything was toast. I am still angry about this because I will never be able to replace the hellfire anemone that I had.
Most motors will eventually fail, and I receintly had a eheim go. The problem that I see with Rio's is the amount of tanks that get wasted when they do fail. I have never heard of maxi's or eheim wasting tanks (but I'm sure a small percentage have happened). The only reason my LFS carries them is they sell CPR Backpacks (thats why I had mine). The more threads that appear like this, the more the consumer should respond by not using the product.
We must rise up brothers and unite to take the Rio Man down!
Most motors will eventually fail, and I receintly had a eheim go. The problem that I see with Rio's is the amount of tanks that get wasted when they do fail. I have never heard of maxi's or eheim wasting tanks (but I'm sure a small percentage have happened). The only reason my LFS carries them is they sell CPR Backpacks (thats why I had mine). The more threads that appear like this, the more the consumer should respond by not using the product.
We must rise up brothers and unite to take the Rio Man down!
I gave my friend a relatively new Rio 2100 (I gave him mine because his was having problems, go figure), he had used the pump for his main return pump (for about 2 months, and the pump maybe had 6 months of total usage).
To make a long story short: He went on vacation/hunting trip and the pump burned where it connected into the surge protector (that didn't protect, and the breakers didn't trip?). Thankfully his wife showed back up to the house which was filed with smoke, called the Fire Dept., they came out and took care of the problem.
After the fire:
His fish were dead or about to die.
His sump cracked & burned due to the heat.
His heater had some fun too once the sump was empty.
All of the electrictal cords to every piece of equipment had the plug burned, but it most defineately started at the Rio (as per the F.D.).
The carpet is defineately not new anymore.
A new odor was in the air, smoke.
The fire was caught before the integrity of the stand was compromised, got to love Natural Woodcrafters.
Anyway, thankfully I still have a friend and he still has a house!
I have also had 2 Rios go out on my own, and I got shocked by one of them.
A total of 4 Rios down, got to love them, LOL. I have since decided to put my money elsewhere.
Here is a Rio Joke for you: What do you get when one puts Rios on a Wavemaker?????
TROUBLE!!!!!
To make a long story short: He went on vacation/hunting trip and the pump burned where it connected into the surge protector (that didn't protect, and the breakers didn't trip?). Thankfully his wife showed back up to the house which was filed with smoke, called the Fire Dept., they came out and took care of the problem.
After the fire:
His fish were dead or about to die.
His sump cracked & burned due to the heat.
His heater had some fun too once the sump was empty.
All of the electrictal cords to every piece of equipment had the plug burned, but it most defineately started at the Rio (as per the F.D.).
The carpet is defineately not new anymore.
A new odor was in the air, smoke.
The fire was caught before the integrity of the stand was compromised, got to love Natural Woodcrafters.
Anyway, thankfully I still have a friend and he still has a house!
I have also had 2 Rios go out on my own, and I got shocked by one of them.
A total of 4 Rios down, got to love them, LOL. I have since decided to put my money elsewhere.
Here is a Rio Joke for you: What do you get when one puts Rios on a Wavemaker?????
TROUBLE!!!!!
coralnut99
New member
I think this is a thread that has no end in sight. Yet Rios and Seios are still available almost everywhere. The stories in this thread about rios starting fires make me feel extremely fortunate that they only caused me a bunch of puddles on my basement floor and cost me a few bucks to replace.
So here's my question: As in the cases where these things have gone up in a blaze of glory, has anyone seriously taken their case to TAAM, and asked them what the heck is up with their products? My experience with them goes back a few years now, and just ended in a string of a half dozen or so dead 1700's and 2100's. I never got a response to emails. If they had caused a fire, I think I would've gone knocking on their door.
So here's my question: As in the cases where these things have gone up in a blaze of glory, has anyone seriously taken their case to TAAM, and asked them what the heck is up with their products? My experience with them goes back a few years now, and just ended in a string of a half dozen or so dead 1700's and 2100's. I never got a response to emails. If they had caused a fire, I think I would've gone knocking on their door.
I can't believe this company has not been sued as of yet!! with all the fires and mishaps because of this pump you think someone would have at least looked into some type of action. I have been using Rios mostly but as they quit I will be replacing them just for the fact that their is so many issues with this manufacture and this pump. Thanks to all for sharing
I'm thinking that by putting an electrical appliance in a tank full of water, you are probably relieving the manufacturer of any responsibility. I could definitely be wrong, but I don't think you've got much chance at a successful law suit.
What really scares me about this thread is the number of people that post here saying that they've had no problems, and plan to continue using these pumps, or worse, the people that fully realize the potential yet will use the RIOs they have until such time as they quit and/or melt down catastrophically.
What really scares me about this thread is the number of people that post here saying that they've had no problems, and plan to continue using these pumps, or worse, the people that fully realize the potential yet will use the RIOs they have until such time as they quit and/or melt down catastrophically.
coralnut99
New member
I'm no attorney, but I've been faced with enough "contractual language" over the years, that I would bet they have pretty clear language in their literature limiting their liability to the value of their product. Most manufacturers and contractors will hide behind a "consequential damages" statement of some sort if the product fails or their services do the same. The only way they can be held legally accountable is if it can be determined that they've knowingly manufactured and distributed a dangerous product and ignored the facts. Maybe an attorney here on RC or someone with a legal background can verify my thinking here.
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