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01-10-2006, 09:38 AM
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#1
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Little Fishy
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Portland
Posts: 147
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RIO powerheads / Any good???
Anyone using RIO 600 powerheads? Just curious because I have heard that they run hot and seize up alot. I like the fact that they some with come good fittings for nano tanks. Thanks
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01-10-2006, 09:47 AM
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#2
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BIG SMELLY MOD
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Livingston Parish, Denham Springs, Louisiana
Posts: 16,920
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You will get a debate on the rio's, I have heard that they short out in the tank, I use them only for Water movement when making up water.
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Vince aka VINNIE
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01-10-2006, 09:51 AM
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#3
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Rockin-Roll Mod
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Coal Valley Illinois
Posts: 5,397
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RIO has done a revamp on there pumps and they work very well now they had a history of locking up and leaking oil, the new design is completley different, but if your going to order one make shure you ask for a new one, there still might be some old style ones out there,
Brent.
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01-10-2006, 09:54 AM
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#4
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BIG SMELLY MOD
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Livingston Parish, Denham Springs, Louisiana
Posts: 16,920
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Good Info Brent, I know I was staying away from them.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Brent Cone
RIO has done a revamp on there pumps and they work very well now they had a history of locking up and leaking oil, the new design is completley different, but if your going to order one make shure you ask for a new one, there still might be some old style ones out there,
Brent.
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Vince aka VINNIE
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01-10-2006, 10:05 AM
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#5
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Tang Lover
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Rockville, MD
Posts: 7,284
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by VWD
You will get a debate on the rio's, I have heard that they short out in the tank, I use them only for Water movement when making up water.
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EXACTLY the same answer from me!
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01-10-2006, 11:17 AM
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#6
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Super Moderator
Join Date: Jan 1999
Location: Southern Oregon, Way West of Dimples ;)
Posts: 22,074
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anyone have a link to info on the redesign?
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The heroism of the losing side rarely gets remembered
but we were all husbands and fathers, sons and bros
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01-10-2006, 11:31 AM
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#7
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Should I reef again?
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Garnerville, NY
Posts: 1,605
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I have yet to have one last more than 6 months. That goes the same for the Seio's.
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01-10-2006, 01:30 PM
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#8
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Little fish in a big pond
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Canton, GA USA
Posts: 5,890
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Just to clarify a bit of 'misinformation'...
I don't know about the revamp, but on the older powerheads, problems seemed to occur with the models 1700 and up. Other than harmless failures, I've not seen or heard of issues with the smaller models (400/600).
The big ones don't leak oil. Rather, they seize, the copper windings overheat and melt the epoxy that encases the unit to keep it watertight. The epoxy then gets disbursed in the tank, causing a smelly, gooey and often fatal mess. I've seen this firsthand 3 times. An old thread of mine here called "Another Rio Meltdown" had photos of this but while you may find the thread in a search, I don't think the photos are good anymore.
There's no oil in a Rio, to my knowledge. The problem was overheating and epoxy melting. As I stated before this problem seemed to be limited to larger models.
I'm not a fan of Rio, period, but I'd assess the smaller ones as "safe". I still prefer and recommend Maxi Jets though. For nano tanks, Aquarium Systems also makes Mini-Jets and smaller still, Micro Jets. I'd go with those instead, IMO.
Jenn
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Member of the "J" Crowd & the BRW Crowd!
LFS Owner: Imagine Ocean
Just keep skimming, just keep skimming, just keep skimming, skimming skimming! What do we do? We skim, skim, skim!
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01-10-2006, 02:15 PM
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#9
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Rockin-Roll Mod
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Coal Valley Illinois
Posts: 5,397
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Doug1
anyone have a link to info on the redesign?
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I talked to one of the tecs at tam, he would send me some info on the so called revamp, ill keep ya posted
Brent. 
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01-10-2006, 02:33 PM
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#10
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Professor Chaos
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Arkham Asylum
Posts: 9,754
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Besides the problem's that jenn mentioned i just don't care for the design. they didn't make them easy to work with when it comes to hooking up tubing. plus every time i have tried to start ANY of them i have had to poke the freakin wheel to get it to start. I say go with a different brand.
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I mix twinkies and ding dongs all the time, in Europe they call it a Dinky -- Homer Simpson
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01-10-2006, 02:46 PM
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#11
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Rockin-Roll Mod
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Coal Valley Illinois
Posts: 5,397
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I must of got lucky, never had a problem but i used the bigger ones, the pumps i had the biggest problems with are the maxi jets coils crack, & every time there is a power surge or outage they stick 
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01-10-2006, 09:10 PM
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#12
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Plankton
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: N.FL
Posts: 35
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Rio 600
I had a RIO 600 on my in- sump skimmer. One day while I was doing a W/C, I heard a pop, and smoke started boiling out of my cabinet. I immediately threw the main switch and opened the doors. The skimmer looked like a chimney. It was the RIO 600. I bought a new one and it seems to be doing fine so far.
I also had another one that just quit working. I do clean my PH's and pumps about every 3 months in vinegar and hot water.
Teakie
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Split 01/26/06
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