sHoCkEd

[SouthernReefer]

wow! today, found out that i have some really strong current flowing thru my tank nothing like having a tingle racing up and down my arm so i got out the fluke 87 dmm, and found 92vac surging. unplugged 1 of 3 rio 1400 pumps, voltage dropped by 25v. unplugged 2 of 3 pumps, voltage drops by 28. unplug all 3 rio pumps, and i have 4.5v remaining on the dmm. only 2 mag pumps, and a rio 90 remaining. guess which pump i suspect is leaking electrical current back into the tank 2 of the rio 1400's are only 2 months old.
all my electrical sockets are gcfi, and didn't trip (they test fine). but, my grounding rod wasn't making contact with the water.... (my error)

i'll never purchase rio pumps again, and never accept any product that has them attached.

[Casey]

Cant say I havent warned people about them **** Rios!
Be careful

[tdwyatt]

Jeeze, what will it take to get folks to drop the use of these pumps??? and how do they stay on the market? I can't tell you the multitudes of potential (and real) disasters I have seen posts for Rio failures and shorts, going back as far as the old Aqualink threads and the (good old) AOL SIGs...

I guess that supply and demand chart based on price reaches infinite Demand once the price begins to approach Zero...

[SouthernReefer]

the ground probe is submerged again. i now have 100mv reading on my dmm. i see the need now to invest in a safer pump.
the question is..... will i see a difference on my electricity bill now?

[Rick O]

Why do vendors continue to sell these death machines?

[Patman]

I had a rio melt in my sump when we were gone for 24hrs....came back to a toxic, oil/plastic smell......oil slick in my sump. Thank god the circuit breaker tripped. It was the return pump, so the slime stayed in the sump...mostly.....what a mess.....could have burned down the house.

When I started, everyone said, "DON'T BUY RIO"....but I did it to save money. NEVER AGAIN....if you can't afford a mag or some other brand......then don't buy a pump. Rio's are horrible.

For those who say "I've had a rio for XX years and I've never had a problem..." Well buddy, hate to say it, but just wait, cause it's not IF it's WHEN..

Pat

[tdwyatt]

Originally posted by Rick O
Why do vendors continue to sell these death machines?

Well, there is that unethical consideratiion that this will generate new sales when the aquarists house burns down, but I am sure that even THAT is a bit to Machavalian for most LFS's (No Jenn, I am not speaking about the good shops... )

[Doug1]

Why do they still make and sell them, same reason anything else is made and sold. Consider it the Pinto of pumps, Ford didn't do much till they were sued. Most of us that reef on the internet have heard the horror stories, judging by the number of repeats, alot of people think "It wont happen to me" But then the Net Reefers are mayby 10% of the marine hobby, so that leaves a lot of people unaware of the potential problem.
Glad to see that you found and dealt with the problem before it got outta hand. I wish everyone would get a multimeter and check there system out for stray voltage and the like.
Perhaps some one could post a thread detailing the procedure in detail and what to look for, saftey considerations etc.
Given the potential lethality of electricity and saltwater I think this ia a good thing to do, and worth archiving

[kram138]

Know what's really funny? Every fishshop I go into, I check what kind of pumps and powerheads they use on their display tanks. Out of the eight that I visit on a weekly basis, seven use Rio pumps and powerheads in their display tanks. And you wonder why people buy them?

[Doug1]

Yah they sell alot of them, and granted not everyone will melt down and cause a tank crash, but that's no consolation to someone who has a tank crash due to pump failure. Figure out what you have invested then ask yourself is it worth it to save a few bucks

[Toadfish]

I had a rio 2100 on a frag tank as a return...I was out of town and while my wife was tending to the tank she was shocked. She unplugged the pump and sure enough it was the culprit. I had rio this and rio that that the LFS had suggested before I found this board. When I got back I removed all that was rio and feel a whole lot better from a worry perspective, but not in the pocket book.

[Imaexpat2]

Well big guy, I use Rios mainly cuase thats whats available. Havent had a problem yet...but I really hate suprises!!!

What should I be using for 4 Rio 600, 2 Rio 400 and 1 Rio 2100? If Rio's suck that bad and are that unrealiable I want them out of my tank and I dont want to buy another one. Unfortunately now I got to find a number of replacements. I am open for suggestions, please enlighten me, before I have a "suprise". Thanks !!!

[tdwyatt]

expat, Maxijets if you're into powerheads, Supreme Mags for the larger submersibles, and either Dolphin or Little Giants or Iwaki pumps for large externals. Many of our sponsors have these excellent long lasting pumps. They all have thermal protection that prevents the shorting events that occur with the Rio pumps (as they do NOT have these protective circuitry).

I very seldom will make equipment recommendations, but this is an extrordinary set of circumstances, and I would love to see this manufacturer of defective pumps be removed from the market altogether.

[cyberchef]

Originally posted by tdwyatt
expat, Maxijets if you're into powerheads, Supreme Mags for the larger submersibles, and either Dolphin or Little Giants or Iwasaki pumps for large externals.

Umm, TOM... Why would you put a light bulb on a tank as a return pump??? I think he means Iwaki, which are very good pumps...

[tdwyatt]

hey, at least you can see what is burning up then with the Rio pumps. Iwasaki was edited to Iwaki...