Rio Pumps, yes or no??

rickh

rickh

New member
I am thinking of replacing the MJ1200 with a Rio 1400 on my Remora skimmer. The Mag 5 is probably too big. Somewhere I recall horror stories about Rio pumps catching fire of something. What do think??
R
 
I think you are referring to when they seize up they leak oil into the tank. I personally use one in my fo tank but would never advise using one in a reef.
 
Please use the RC search function later on in the evening and search for the dozens upon dozens of tanks, etc. that have been wiped out because of the faulty Rio pumps. No other has such a poor success rate.
 
You could always use the Mag 3.5, the Pro version of the Remora uses this pump and it should work well for your remora if you need more power.
 
Rio pumps do not contain any oil, and I have never had a problem with one in over 12 years. Everyone better throw out their Seios too, they are Taam products. They were the most commonly used pumps for years, so if someone had a problem with a pump it was probably a Rio, hence the bad rap. The dog breed responsible for the most bites is the Golden Retriever, not because they are a bad breed, the odds are against them simply because everyone has one.
 
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Rio pumps

Rio pumps

Over the years I've probably used 6 Rios and never had a problem. Cleaning them every other month helps with their operation. I once modded a Bak-Pak with a MJ1200 and got minimal skimmate,so I modded that out with a Rio 800 and it produced good skimmate. The MJ1200 needs a different Impeller to realy produce good micro bubbles in my opinion.
 
For a couple dollars more you can get a pump that doesn't have problems seems like cheap insurance to me. As far as seio goes, yes they are the same parent company, but built totally different. I wouldn't even screw around with it considering how much is spent on every other aspect of this hobby. If you can't get the search function to work go to the home page and on the left side you will see "search rc" which always helps me find what I'm looking for.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9936372#post9936372 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by smatter
Rio pumps do not contain any oil, and I have never had a problem with one in over 12 years. Everyone better throw out their Seios too, they are Taam products. They were the most commonly used pumps for years, so if someone had a problem with a pump it was probably a Rio, hence the bad rap. The dog breed responsible for the most bites is the Golden Retriever, not because they are a bad breed, the odds are against them simply because everyone has one.
Click to expand...

I use one of the newer ul listed pumps, it still is junk. You need to realize the pump has nuked a lot of tanks over the years. The pump does contain oils. When the pump overheats it causes it to leach out of the plastics. Many unfortunate people have lost their tank this way. If in doubt, do a search, you will find plenty of examples. Wish I had spent the extra $$ on a mag or ehiem.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9936372#post9936372 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by smatter
Rio pumps do not contain any oil, and I have never had a problem with one in over 12 years. Everyone better throw out their Seios too, they are Taam products. They were the most commonly used pumps for years, so if someone had a problem with a pump it was probably a Rio, hence the bad rap. ...
Click to expand...

My experience with Rio pumps includes one that leaked voltage into the tank (a 400 I think) and one which does not start reliably after power loss (Hyperflo 2100 [Edit: it is the 12HF, not the 2100. I mix salt with it now.]). Those were my only two Rio pumps. Perhaps I'm just unlucky, but I have yet to have a problem with Aquaclear or Maxijet pumps, and I have probably owned more than 2 dozen of these pumps.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9936372#post9936372 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by smatter
Rio pumps do not contain any oil, and I have never had a problem with one in over 12 years. Everyone better throw out their Seios too, they are Taam products. They were the most commonly used pumps for years, so if someone had a problem with a pump it was probably a Rio, hence the bad rap. The dog breed responsible for the most bites is the Golden Retriever, not because they are a bad breed, the odds are against them simply because everyone has one.
Click to expand...

You are right AND wrong at the same time :)

You are right in that Rio pumps are no longer made with oil filled motor chamber. However for a while the Rio pumps WERE infact made with oil and DID cause a lot of problems when the pumps go out in people's tanks.

Commonly used doesn't equate to anything in this instance. Maxijets are just as well known and widely used and yet you would be hard pressed to find anyone with anything bad to say about them.

As far as SEIOs go... Yeah well... They're not that great to begin with.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9939127#post9939127 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jmp998
supposedly the new ones are better
Click to expand...

My 17HF (the new style) doesn't ever restart on power off, you have to plug it in 4-10 times to get it going in the right direction. What it did from the day it came out of the box.


The little one on my rio nano skimmer is ok though, its external though so i'm not to worried about it nuking my tank like with any of the other non-ul listed styles.
 
I've been running a 17HF and 21HF for two years now, nonstop and not had any problems. I think that their older pumps had an issue and they now have a bad reputation because of one model line of pumps that aren't made anymore. I'd say if you can't afford the better pump then go with the rio, I know that locally I can buy three rio's for the price of one MAG.
 
I guess I have just been lucky with the literally hundreds of them I have used in my own as well as clients tanks since the early 90s.
I am not saying they are the best pumps out there, there are certainly better ones now, and I don't use them in my tanks anymore. They had their time.
The Seio pump is not made totally differently, it is the exact same motor.
The most commonly used equates to everything in this instance, if we are talking about past experiences with Rio pumps, as they were the most commonly used pumps for many years. Simple stats.
 
I have used a couple of them over the years, I had never had any issues or problems. They are used only as spares now, as I said I never had any trouble but there are lots of horror stories on RC about them.
 
tkeracer619
Before you make claims that Rio have Oil you better be sure. As far I know all pumps are made the same. Eheim, maxi jet, Rio ect.
Copper coil, epoxy filled and a magnetic rotor and as for searching pumps for problems you can search any pump manufacture and find negitive feed back.
I have used Rio for years without any problems.
 
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