Let's Count the Broken RIOs

[Mr. 6]

hey guys, does anyone know where the RIO web page is? I tried looking it up on google but couldn't find it.

I want to write a letter to them telling them they are losing customers and I was gonna paste the link to this thread.

I was also gonna suggest that they send each one of us a pump to make up for our troubles .

If you find the page feel free to do this too!

[vester_72]

Lost an 1100 - only used for 2 weeks.

[Sallylightfoot]

Originally posted by kevlouie
What about the little ones? I have 2, a 400 and a 600 that have been running for 7+ years. The big ones are crap.

Nope! Mine was a 600 I believe. Came with my AquaC. Still CRAP!!!!!!!!!

[Sallylightfoot]

Oh, and you say it has been running for 7+ years, have you ever unpluged it or lost power???

[reefann]

I had a 2100 burn up in my 210 sump. It was not reef yet so I was safe, but no more rio for me.
JJ

[kevlouie]

Yeah they both made it through 2 moves, they freeze up every once and a while, but start working after cleaning them. never fried anything, don't see anything wrong with the little ones

[Diehl]

I have a 3100 on my Lifereef Skimmer and so far its working great. The only choise was the rio or the Mag 9.5, the only reason I went with the rio is that My Lifereef is HOB and it would'nt support the weight of the Mag. Is there another pump out there with the same GPH and is same shape or design that I can use instead before something happens?

[wrasse777]

lost 2 2500 rio'sin 2 years on same tank. mag drive all the way.

[The Aquarist]

Originally posted by Mr. 6
hey guys, does anyone know where the RIO web page is? I tried looking it up on google but couldn't find it.

I want to write a letter to them telling them they are losing customers and I was gonna paste the link to this thread.

I was also gonna suggest that they send each one of us a pump to make up for our troubles .

If you find the page feel free to do this too!

Here it is, but they don't answer emails. I've seen that complaint posted a few times.
http://www.riopump.com/

[The Aquarist]

P.S.

Even if they did send us free replacement pumps, there is no way I would ever put one of their pumps in my tank (or on anything in my house!) again!

[The Aquarist]

Originally posted by Diehl
I have a 3100 on my Lifereef Skimmer and so far its working great. The only choise was the rio or the Mag 9.5, the only reason I went with the rio is that My Lifereef is HOB and it would'nt support the weight of the Mag. Is there another pump out there with the same GPH and is same shape or design that I can use instead before something happens?

Not that I am aware of, but you could always arrange some kind of pump support behind the tank to secure the Mag.

[outprowllin]

ive been running the same rios for 4 + years now1-2700, 1-2100
1-600 and 1-400. all present and acounted for! o have had issues with rio impellers but have never changed as impeller. i have found that the little black end caps on the impeller seem to swell and stop the impeller from turm=ning in the removable intake cover. i removed the cap on that side of the impeller shaft and reassembled them ..ive never had a problem eith them since. i will say that ag fter 4 years of running them with iout the caps on one side the ho;e it sits in is getting oblonged. io guess i will replace them down the road alittle anyways. but id have no problem buying more rios. it was my understanding that the 2500 and 1700 models wer the problem pumps anyways...but thats just hear say on my part. it may have even been mentioned in this thread but i havent tead the whole thing yet......jaime

[The Aquarist]

outprowlin,

Someone has to be lucky. I guess it's you! You said you would buy more RIOs. When you do, give us an update after about 45 days.

[outprowllin]

i will happily update good bad or indifferart. i know people have had thier problems with the rios but ive been lucky i guess. i have friends who also have ben running the same ones (rios) for years. i will say that when one of mine stopped working, it got very hot. thats how i found the problem. tank temp had risen several degrees for no reason. i looked around and found the pump hot under water. thats the first one i found with the endcap on the impeller swelled up and causeing enough friction to actually stop the impeller. i removed the end cap so it would run temporarily till i could get to the store to buy a new one. but it never gave me any problems ever again. 4 years later i still use it.....what can i say.....im lucky i guess....i also have a little giant pump that has been in service for almost 11 years now and all ive ever had to do to that is, oil it every once and a while and clean the impeller and compartment every 3-4 months. oh yes and ive replaced the o ring seal several times...i probably just jinx that pump now...LOL.but...if i did ill put my 3100 on it till i buy a big pump!!!!!.....jaime

[jackson6745]

I have a rio 1700 that i use for water changes. I can't even get it to start unless i take the cover off and play around with the impeller

[the rock...beauty]

I have had three Rio's die on me. Before that the suction cups will stop sticking. I dot have a RIO 1700 as a return pump on one of my tanks and it seems to not start up again if unplugged or the power goes out. I have to open it up and mess with it to get it working again. I will never purchase them again.

[outprowllin]

Originally posted by jackson6745
I have a rio 1700 that i use for water changes. I can't even get it to start unless i take the cover off and play around with the impeller

try doing as i said in my previous post. remove the black end cap on the end on the impeller where it goes into the intake cover. if that doesnt work put it back on and remove the other one that will probaly make it work every time......jaime

[The Aquarist]

I'm surprised by the negative RIO suction cups comment. Maybe it's an issue with the smaller ones, but my favorite thing about the 2100s and the 2500s was the suction cups! I kept them and all removeable parts as I threw the pumps away. At least I still got SOMETHING for my money!

7 RIOs in the trash over the years. I've got a lot of suction cups! I'm even using some 2100 suction cups to hold a Quiet One 4000 to the side of a 220 gallon tank. It came with rubber feet and designed as a submersible/external pump, but with the suction cups and a DIY pre pump screen to keep small fish out, this is the most powerful powerhead I have ever seen! The other RIO parts come in handy for DIY projects.

[BigBird]

2 Dead Rios

One of these was a 2500 that was in my r/o water container used only occasionally for circulation & to pump the water into the tank.

I never had a pump die until I bought a rio.

BigBird

[rhiggsbear]

"Rio - 0 of 2. One rio (600) is over seven years old running 24/7/365
Hagen - 1 of 4. Two of these are over 5 years old 24/7/365. The one that failed was several years old and was a hold over from my fresh water days.

Don't do much maintenance on them, just if they don't appear to be running properly or once every 12 to 18 months. The rio on the Aquafuge quit once because the grate filled with algae - cleaned the grate and impeller - off it ran. Still running strong.

I did inherit a rio with a used BakPak that was dead. But, I don't think that one counts as I do not know what the former owner did to it.

Maybe you guys fiddle with them to much "

That was on 10/08/02. Well guys, they are still pumping.

[The Aquarist]

http://www.riopump.com/ seems to be gone! I hope RIO doesn't change it's name and appearance and come back! I wasted a lot of money on their garbage. I'd hate to see other aquarium keepers have their reef experience affected by more of this undependable junk.

All of mine went in the trash! .. Even the ones that were still running! I cut my losses and got impressive Quiet One replacements. It's nice knowing I can put my hand in the tank without feeling voltage now! I can shut my replacement pumps and know they will come back on later too! I also haven't needed any new impellers for the new Quiet Ones I bought. My last RIO 2100 I had, needed an impeller very soon after I bought it and all the others needed at least one.

I know this wasn't everyone's RIO experience, but I'm far from the only one who had these problems.

[Runner]

My first and only RIO (a small one -- 160) just died on me after about 18 months of continuous service. I turned the power off the clean the cannister filter last week and, when I turned power back on 10 minutes later, the RIO would not start. Not too bad for a cheap pump. I am planning on trying to clean it out and use it for my mixing bucket. I have since replaced it with a Powersweep 214 (which people also seem to whine about). With Powersweep, though, you can easily open it up and clean it out. Annecdotes say that it keeps sweeping if you actually clean it. I reckon I'll find out for sure soon.

[chetscc]

I have too many RIO pumps to count them all and I have noticed that the RIO 1100 and up run great if never shut off, however, if you unplug them then plug them in they will not start again.

I love the Rio 800 model and under if run constantly and not on a wavemaker.

Never have had any pump fail.
I own:
1-Rio 1700
1-RIO 50
1-RIO 800
1-RIO 180
2-RIO 400
1-powersweep
2-shark undergravel filter powerheads
1-Hagen aquaclear402
1-Mag 24
1-Mag 2.5
1-not sure of brand name at the moment

[phishy4]

My rio just broke on my precision marine skimmer but luckily I had another old rio that I took parts off of and I fixed it. The tiny flanges on the impeller rubbed down and the propeller was not catching right.

[rhiggsbear]

Mine are still runnnnnnnnniiiiiiiiiggggggggggggggggg. Lets see, must be nearly 8 years. Think it is time to clean it yet?