Poof! there went another Rio 2500...

[Ed Hahn]

I was mixing salt last night for a water change. I added my RO water. I put salt in Bucket with RO water. I put my Rio 2500 in the bucket to allow it to mix my water for a while. I got about 10 steps away from the bucket and I heard a loud Pop. I had heard that POP before. I quickly unplugged my Rio 2500. There were pieces of small plastic all over in the bucket. Thats how quick it happened! I dumped my water/salt mix in the bucket. I could smell the burn smell for a long time in my garage. The sound of a Rio going some where....did not get me this time!

 

[NeilsReef]

Rios, I use a 3100 for mixing my water and so far I haven't had to kick start it much. My Rio 2100 has to be smacked against something to start it, it is such fun. I am sure the day will come when I to Ed will here the loud pop, and smell the burn of the Rio pump. Until that day, lol.

 

[Witfull]

i have experienced that wonderful event....unfortunately it was in my sump at 11pm or so.....i was up late doing and emergency water change..thanks Rio! one good thing,,ill never have it happen again...i had a few Rios in stockpile,,,into the trash they went!

 

[reeffan]

I have simillar experience with the Rio's in the past. They tend to overheat and sometimes need to be jump start (bang-it to a wall or kick it before it works =).

reeffan

 

[jazznreef]

yea, i've had my share of crapola rios in just about every size. it took me a couple years to figure out they aren't worth the plastic molds they make them in. they either fry out or die well before they should. i'll never put one in my tank again.

 

[RockyHeap]

Just to keep a balanced un-biased thread going........

I've run RIO pumps for years and years, and like many many other people, have never had any nuclear melt down or blown up pumps.

I've run at least 2-3 Rio 2100's, 3-4 Rio 2500's and 1-2 Rio 3100's.

In that same time sure I've lost a few impellers, but I've had AquaClear and Penquin powerheads fail too.

Just for a change I tried and am real impressed with the Mag 18 pump I use for a beckett skimmer.

I've had much more problems with failed heaters sticking on (off all manufacturers and price ranges) than I ever have had with a Rio pump.

Just my 3 cents worth.

 

[Ed Hahn]

Hey Rocky,
I have used Rios since 1991. Sometimes when thier time is up they go up in a Bang. They have shocked the shit out of me a few times. That is the reason I want to go with external pumps. I hope you have a poly filter and charcoal in case this happens to you. I just do not want this to happen to you or anyone else. I am one of the many that have been shocked, watched them melt, or pop inside water and leave plastic, oil like film on surface, copper fragments inside a environment that is sensitive to copper. Again, for safety sake I hope you do have a poly filter for emergency back up. I actually watched mushrooms, and toadstool leathers, yellow leathers all shrink when this happened. Its kinda horrific. I also watched SPS slime big time when this happened. I watched a branching hammer slime from this also. I would think if a coral goes on the defense there is something irritating it. Thanks to being lucky, I have not lost a coral from this yet.

Good Luck!
Ed

 

[big t]

They have shocked the shit out of me a few times

LOL, that is why I have never owned or ever will own a rio. I prefer to pay a little extra for a quality pump such as Mag, or Iwaki.

 

[northstaraquatics]

Hey Rocky,
Do you need some spare impellers? I won't ever need them again after 2 cooked 2100's. I could even send you the last burnt 2100 so you could see the brown goo sizzle out around the power cord - just don't reach in the water. But seriously I saved the impellors and you could have them - one was fairly new I think.

Jon

 

[RockyHeap]

Yeah they've shocked me a few times too, but I've also got stray current from heaters and other submerged electronics.

I'm not pro, nor against Rios, they do get bashed all the time, yet others seem to have fine "luck" or success from them.

There are always two sides to any story.

 

[reeffan]

I agree with BIG T on this one. I rather pay a little extra to just avoid getting shocked. I've been using MAG PUMPS and IWAKI's and to me, they work really well.

reeffan

LOL, that is why I have never owned or ever will own a rio. I prefer to pay a little extra for a quality pump such as Mag, or Iwaki.

 

[szidls]

Blame it on Rio...........Again!

After another 20 min bout of beating the crap out of Colleen's Rio 2100. It has been declared deceased. She is on her way to the LFS to find a return pump for her hex tank. I will give it some small bit of credit. It's worked without a problem for almost 2 years. Just in the last coupple of months has it started the slow death routine of needing to be beaten to run.
Scott

 

[kevinpo]

I've been keeping salwater tanks since 1985 and owned maybe 20 Rio brand pumps. No other brand of equipment I've owned has had such a consistant failure rate. I refuse to carry them at my store for that reason.

My .02
Kevin

 

[northstaraquatics]

I was mistaken - It was the Rio 2500 i have impellors left over. If nobody here wants them, I'll post it over on equip sale. There are only a few people that seem to even bother with these anymore or are in need of electro-shock therapy.

Jon

 

[jazznreef]

do everyone a favor and throw them away

 

[northstaraquatics]

There's a good reason I have 2 extra impellors(and you should too). I had a Rio 2500 that sucked up some snails or sand, shredding the impellor. So I broke down and bought a replacement impellor, then the darn thing burns up. So I figure I've got this brand new impellor and go buy a new Rio 2500. To make a short story long, I have 2 impellors and no Rio 2500.
Maybe they just don't take well to being submerged then drying out. Boy there sure seem to be a lot of new Rio's on the market these days...

LOL,
Jon

 

[northstaraquatics]

Jazznreef - PM your address - I have a free gift for you - Complete in original packaging.

Jon

 

[aaparkr]

I bought an AquaC Remora Pro skimmer with a Rio (something, maybe 1800?) and heard all sorts of bad things about the pump, so I replaced it with a Mag3 and now use the Rio as the pump on my refill system where it has worked flawlessly for several years.... for 15 minutes a week. Don't know how it would be doing on the skimmer, but I wanted to contribute something positive.

Tony