A Horror Story

[Caribbean Jake]

Horror Story

By; Caribbean Jake

 

Recap/Summary:  For those who don’t like stories here is a recap; Be aware RIO equipment quality and performance.

 

For several years we have heard of quality issues with RIO equipment especially on their power head and sump pump units, and for several years some of us have give for granted the quality and performance of our RIO units.  We give for granted until something happens to us and this is my horror story.

 

This is a 125G long set up reef system equipped with various power heads of different brands together with a CPR sump pump equipped with a RIO 2500.  The equipments is less than 14 month old and all are cleaned and inspected at least twice a year ever since the system was set up.  The thermostats together with the pump are installed in the sump pump to keep esthetics in the tank, perhaps a consideration we all should look at one day.  The RIO 2500 pumps water into the tank from beneath the tank through a 3/8” O/D flexible tubing at a distance of 5’ and has failed to work once before when it stopped circulating water into the tank.  The RIO 2500 was looked at, cleaned and inspected and after reinstalling the propeller it started working again without hesitation, so what was wrong or what went wrong?, we don’t know.  Several weeks later (yesterday) we detect by smelling a familiar electric odor, the same odor we are all familiar with when an electrical apparatus fails to perform and basically burns out.  To our surprise the RIO2500 stopped working again, and allows us to mention that we have not experience power failure in the last three years so power issue or electrical surges could not be used as an excuse, also all electrical parts are connected to a surge suppressor equipped with slow blow fuse.  The RIO 2500 was emitting the electrical burnt odor and failed to pump water from the sump pump into the tank.  Water that is cycle through the thermostat and Refugio before it is pumped back into the tank.  To make matters worst the main tank is not equipped with a thermostat inside the main tank and since the water was not being pumped from the sump pump and Refugio into the tank the temperature in the main tank lowered to 62 degrees F.  We have three spare thermostats and they were installed in the main tank to slowly raise the temperature to 78 degrees F and stabilize the reef system.

 

Perhaps someone has experienced similar issues with RIO equipment, and perhaps not, but the experience has taught us that thermostats may or may not be at the sump pump if you ever experience a similar event, and the rumor that RIO equipment have quality problem issues is in fact more than a rumor and you should be careful when selecting your equipment for your next tank.

 

Good luck

Caribbean Jake

[dbartco]

Many of us have had a similar experiences with those powerheads. Mine exploded showering my corals with black soot/ash. No losses, but vowed never to use again. Contacting customer service or  support through the LFS to the manufacturer was futile.  Yet for some reason, inexperience leads us to buy them until things like this happen, then we learn.

 

BREAK THE CYCLE! Newbies avoid!

[Jarosh]

In the light of this event what would be a recommended "brand" of powerhead to use for a sump / refug set-up?

 

Paul

[HowardofNOVA]

Paul,

IMO, Maxi-jets are one of best PH for flow in the tank.

For main pumps, MAG's & Japanese Version of the IWAKI's are excellent pumps!

I'm sure there are others, but since I've been in this hobby, these 3 run head and shoulders above the rest!

Howard

[ReefMon]

I'll second Maxi Jets and Mag's are great for submersible use.   Please don't try running an Iwaki under water!  :p

 

I too had a RIO 2500 explode on me, fortunately it was in my mixing vat, but it made quite the stinking mess!

 

The old RIO's were not UL listed, and did not have thermal protection. Without thermal protection if the pump jams, the motor keeps on trying to turn it until the pump catches on fire.

 

From what I hear, the new RIO Hyperflow pumps are UL listed and have a thermal cut off.

 

I did run a couple of their SEO pumps, (cheep knock-off of the Tunze Streams) they seemed fine other than the fact a standard wavemaker will cause the impellers to self destruct....

[Guest D33rex]

Definately, I would not dream of using anything but a mag-drive for any important pumping.  Especially for inter-tank pumping.

[Guest naso]

I agree, stay away from RIO, mine caught on fire and shocked my entire tank a few months ago, killing my naso tang, 3 cleaner shrimp, chromis, butterfly and some of my corals, The house stunk for a few days along with my rock, I wish I would have known better. Good luck.

[HowardofNOVA]

I almost had a horror story last night, I was doing my regular water change and noticed the water in the bucket was cloudy, Being Ignorant, I went ahead and with the process, not paying attention to why the water was still cloudy after 3 days in the bucket (I use MEI Salt which is cloudy when you first mix it up).

I drained 5g out of the sump and when I added the new mix to the sump, it immediately clouded up everything. So much to the point that I was fearful, that eveything was about to crash. Needless to say, this morning everything was fine, but was scared to death there for a while!

Not sure of the pump, will investigate again which one I was using, but believe it may have been the culprit, possibly in it's early stages of being burned up?

Howard

[steveoutlaw]

I am still a newbie but have to give my .02.  :D

I've been using the Hagan Aquaclear powerheads for about 8 months and they run as smooth as a baby's butt.  I also have a maxijet 1200 on my Aqua C and it has performed flawlessly.  I'm getting ready to hook up my sump and got a mag1200 for the return pump because I've heard nothing but good about those.

[ErikS]

And on the other side of the fence - I've been using a RIO (forget the number, small one) as the topoff pump for 3 years. It's run dry more times than I can count (for 8+ hours too) & never had a problem. Of course a failure only means 5 gal of water wasted - doubt I'd run one in a vital area (I have a hyperflow that I'm too chicken to install).

 

And still on the wrong side of the fence - You couldn't give me a Mag pump, at least the RIOs run for more than a few minutes at a time. I have a Mag 7 that stops more than it starts, combine that with the cheap covers & the fact that Danner WAY overrates the pump (they're rated w/ a 1.5" discharge - yeah....that's close to that 1/2" on the housing).

 

You want a strong & effecient submersible look at the OceanRunner line (Aqua Medic) - 3 years & never a failed start. Just be warned, you'll need a dolly to carry the pump around - they're massive.

[quazi]

My Rio caught fire too.  Luckly my tank was OK.  Never use a Rio, it is just that simple.

[fishface]

Hi All:

Here an important 2 cents about this. The Rio's are known for failing (so I'm repeating a common tale) and that smell is the coil in the motor heating up and melting. The coil is encased in an epoxy, and once it melts through the epoxy, the COPPER will then be exposed and contaminate your TANK. No joke, and everyone knows how Marine beings handle being exposed to copper. Most things go within a day or two.

Besides, if you can smell it, realize that the water has first absorbed some of the particles of either the epoxy, or worse, copper, so you are the last in the chain to know.

When it happened to me, the guy in Vienna recommended a partial water change and run carbon to pull out contaminants. I was lucky, and nothing died so I caught it  in time.

I'd suggest to you that anyone is better off replace a pump for $80- $120 than to risk killing everying in their ecosystem that they've been nurturing and growing. A couple of posts here have been close calls. A search on the web will reveal some heavy losses.

Good luck.