Rio Powerhead Warning

[Jon_Hewett_85]

agreed...deff. one for the archives

 

[reefing in LA]

Congrats to JennM who successfully answered my little trivia question. You are deemed the smart one. Happy Reefing!!!!

 

[yznhmr]

I have also heard that rio 600 and smaller dont have these problems, only the bigger ones.. from my LFS..

 

[yznhmr]

not that i believe every thing i hear , but this LFS owner is a friend of mine.. www.marine-connection.com

anyone know where a good place to get MJ power heads on line is?

 

[Newreefkeeper]

I am running a Rio 1700 for my skimmer. Any bad stories on this model?

I replaced my Rio 4100 few months ago, because of the unbearable noise. I am not sure if I should do the same to the Rio 1700.

 

[Tremelle]

Yznhmr, I got my Maxijets from PremiumAquatics.com. I paid right at $88 for 4 MJ 1200s. The bad thing is they arrived the day after my Rio 1100 died. I had already decided to take out the Rio 1100, 1400, and 2 600s that I have. Premium Aquatics was fast and I had heard good things about them on this board.

 

[Tremelle]

^

 

[sawcjack00]

If I'm not mistaken it was a Rio 2100 that caused the meltdown at Chernobyl, and also the fall of the Roman Empire

I've removed my Rio 2100 from my 55 FO and now use it to mix salt for water changes

 

[ADS]

I read the RIO horror stories before but continued to use a 2100 to drive my skimmer-until last night. I blew a circut and checked the sump only to find the pump burned out-no oil leak noted and all inhabitants fine. Now have my Mag 9.5 running the skimmer. The RIO was 18 months old.

 

[MattM]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Newreefkeeper:
<STRONG>I am running a Rio 1700 for my skimmer. Any bad stories on this model?</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I haven't personally heard about any 1700 meltdowns. The case is a similar size to the 2100, but the coil must be smaller, which would provide for a thicker epoxy depth over the coil.

We have decided to phase out all of the larger Rio pumps we now carry. We will continue to stock the 600 and 800, primarily as replacements for CPR skimmers, but we will be dropping the 1700, 2100, 2500, and 3100 and stocking the equivalent-size Mag Drives instead.

We are arranging to get the Remora and Remora Pro skimmers from our supplier without the pumps. We will be recommending the Maxi-Jet 1200 for the Remora and a small Mag-Drive for the Remora Pro.

I doubt we'll put Taam out of business though.

 

[dawgfish]

Used a Rio 2500 and 2100 for almost 2 yrs and never a problem, and btw i have never cleaned the inside...maybe im just luckly

 

[Greg Hiller]

Matt,

Good for you!! And thanks for the great set of posts above. I think you've put the Rio debate to rest. RIP

- Greg Hiller

 

[Doughboy]

I read all the rio stories on this and other boards. Two months ago I changes to maxijets. Now I feel safer and it's much quieter.

 

[JohnD]

MattM,

Kudos to you for your research and also for your business decision on not carrying Rios.

 

[stilmas]

Sorry to bring this post back, but......Rio isn't a bad pump, not the 600 and 800's anyway. I have 2 600's and an 800 that have been running non stop for over 5 years! I clean them regularly and not one has failed. I did go through 3 Maxijets in 5 years though. IMO Rio blows them away!

 

[dragon0121]

Well I went through two of the RIO 600's in less than a year. Get to where they won't restart. Pieces of crap, simple as that! And since mine were inside of a surface skimmer box they were an absolute pain in the arse to get running. JUNK JUNK JUNK

 

[MATTT]

I have a rio/600. When I took it apart to clean, I notice that the metal stem that hold the impeller and the round magnet was rusted near the tip. When I said rusted, I mean it has chunk of rust next to a small rubber cap. When I took the small rubber cap of the metal tip, the rust almost eat up the whole tip. I have the rio/600 for about five months. I clean my power head every month or so. Does that ever happen to your rio/600.

Mattt.

 

[Dewman]

Her name is Rio, and she dances on the sand...

I am new to this board,in fact, new to the salt aquarium experience. But last week, someone sold me a skimmer powered by a Rio 600 and while I was watching it, it quit not more than 10 hours after I plugged it in. I know a little about tinkering so I took it apart and noticed the armature was not centered in the magnetic field because it was seated in two rubber stoppers and one end of the armature had come out allowing it to slip sideways.
I re-adjusted it and plugged it in. It has been running fine ever since. I will be watching it though.

 

[M.E.Milz]

Although I use external Iwaki pumps on two of my tanks, the third tank still uses Rio 2500 internal pumps for the returns. I have never had a problem with these pumps......, until the other day

I came home to find the tank water had turned yellow/greenish. Upon closer inspection, I notice that one of the Rio's had stopped, and was hot to the touch. It appeared that at least some of the epoxy had leached into the water.

Fortunately, none of the fish (trigger, spiny box, corris wrasse, salfin dottyback) and the couple of soft corals (star & button polyps) were impacted.

In any event, I removed whatever was in the water by adding a water clarifier to coagulate the junk, and then removing it with a 100 micron filter pad, along with some carbon. The water was clear within 12 hours.

 

[Roach]

I have been usig Rio's for years without any problems at all. Of course I have many of the smaller pumps for circulation. But I also have a 2100 that has been running steady for some time now. Anyway thanks for the heads up and I'm sorry to hear about your loss.