I bought a Polaris 9300xi in July 2011 to clean my 16x32 vinyl-lined pool. I've used the cleaner every 2-3 days since then and it does a great job cleaning the pool. Near the end of August one of the wheels broke off where it attaches to the hub leaving about a 1 inch hole in the center of the wheel. I called Polaris and had to drop it off for repair at a service center about 45 min away. They had it for about 2 weeks. I used it for a few weeks after I got it back and this evening another wheel broke off (same thing - about a 1 inch hole lefy in the center of the wheel). I called Polaris and they are sending me another wheel which I will have to take to the service center for repair (they said if I repair it the warranty will be void). The representative said they have had this problem with some of the units. Has anyone else experienced this and has it happened more than once?

Don't know if I have a xi and don't think I do since it's a plaster pool, but I do have a 9300 and no problems with wheels yet. Used it about twice a week throughout 2011.

depending on how difficult it is, I would repair it myself and save the broken wheel, then if it breaks again, just put the broken wheel back on and no one will know you repaired it.

I can tell you right now that your warranty won't be voided if you attempt the replace the wheels yourself. If you are hesitant on doing this, by all means bring it in to a servicer, but we can provide instructions on how to replace the wheels. A lot of customers are located in remote areas and don't have any servicers for several miles and prefer to do it themselves (depends on the type of repair or replacement). See the attached file for instructions.

Hello callea,

I just happened to see your post about the 9300xi wheels breaking off. I just purchased one in mid april --- started using it in May. So far, the right back wheel broke off, I waited almost 2 weeks to receive the new one. Just replaced it myself (time consuming) and during the second use after installing the new right wheel, the left back wheel broke off. I was wondering if you are continuing to have problems with the wheels breaking off. What issues have you had since this post & what type of resolution? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thx


Ugh...

I highly recommend letting a pool store replace the wheel. Mine broke off in June , took 2 weeks to get the parts from Polaris!! No local pool store had them in stock ?? Thankfully Polaris sent 2 wheels because while I was repairing the broken one , the second one broke off ! Definitely a major design flaw on the wheels , the plastic is thin where the wheel hub is. I know I put it back correctly and followed the directions exactly, but it's just not working properly. Sure it's under warranty , do I send it back now and get it returned after my pool is closed for the season ??
I am so unhappy with this cleaner and am actually upset I bought the extended warranty because I would have rather put that money toward a different company's machine. My power supply broke last year and it took the pool store over a month and a half to get the replacement from Polaris . My neighbor bought one this summer on my recommendation ( before my problems started). He returned it after having issues as well.

I had the same problem. I have steps and one day last week I went out and one of the back wheels was lying on the bottom of the pool and it was hung up on the bottom step. Then with my usual style and grace, I dropped it and broke the other back wheel off as I was trying to balance everything to bring it into the house to try to fix it. having a heck of a time taking it apart right now. gonna try that pdf for disassembly

Same thing here. Wheel broke off and after inspection the other three have hairline cracks. Not too happy, I am picking up a cheap vacuum in the meantime as the pool is getting quite dirty.

J

Got the whole thing apart but can get the broken wheel stubs out the directions say you're supposed to use an allen wrench to depress a lcking mechanism to release them but i can figure out what they are talking about. Help please

Taftag,

The Polaris instructions leave a lot to be desired. You really dont need to take anything apart. All you need to do is use an allen key (or anything that will fit in those holes) and push while pulling from whats left of the wheels. I used a phillips screwdriver. I realized nothing had to be taken apart once I had taken it all apart, lol.

I spoke to Zodiac about my problem on September 6th, just today I got a box from them! ... It was the wrong part. I tried calling but the wait was 45 minutes, unbelievable. I left a message and of course no one called me, i had also sent an email this Monday and also no reply to this day.

Needless to say, I was extremely happy with this robot until I saw their customer support and how bad it is. Whenever I buy what I consider a high price item, the most important thing to me is their customer support. Zodiac/Polaris fails at customer support, they should have airfreighted the parts to me ... **** if I knew it was going to take this long I would have paid for the shipping.

As it is right now, I will send another email (probably pointless) and call again tomorrow. In the meantime I am buying a new pool cleaner from the pool cleaner shop. My pool is like a swamp thanks to Zodiac and their poor wheels/customer service.

J

How do I get access to the instructions? Both of my wheels broke off after 1 season. Trying to find instructions on replacement on the web.

The zodiac guys emailed them to me. Call their 1800 number and ask for that plus the parts. Sit tight and wait, I still bave not received my replacement parts.

J

Just replaced the second rear wheel in one week. As an engineer it is my duty to determine the root cause. It is clear that the design of the wheel hub is inadequate. It appears that the rear wheel is catching while falling down from the top of the wall and the excess lateral stress (90 degrees from the plane of rotation) snaps the hub at the weak point (bad design). However since does not seem to happen to everyone all the time there is a different root cause. Below are two for consideration and it may even be a combination of both:
1. My wheel failures so far have been with lower pool temperatures in the 50 degrees range. The plastic may have brittle characteristics at this temperature. This is the least like of the two.
2. My wheel failures have been when there are a lot of leaves in the pool. Last time was not the first run but the third run. Each time the basket was very full. The added weight of the full basket may provide the additional mass to make an impact with the wall on the way down sufficient to snap the hub. When the cleaner has a lower mass it will bounce off the wall unharmed.

I would be interested if anyone has a similar experience with the conditions when your failures occurred. Of course Zodiac/Polaris could fix this by adding just a little bit more plastic into the wheel. Maybe if we can provide a better explanation that "bad luck" then may see that there is a fix needed.

Mike

Lol, I am a mechanical engineer too but I just changed the **** things when they broke. Its obvious the plastic becomes brittle over time. Check your PH, it might contributing to the problem.
I just decided to change them once a year and be done with it.
Btw, mines broke when the pool temp was about 85-88.

J

I'm back. I fixed my own wheels last year, so proud of myself. opened the pool this week, plunked it in, it moved 3 feet and crapped out and the lights started flashing. I reset a few times and gave up for the day figuring I did something wrong. the trouble shooting says make sure the wheels move if this happens and they do. tried plunking it in a again today and it doesn't short out or flash lights, just doesn't move at all. anybody who fixed their own wheels have this as a follow-up problem. I'm torn about trying to get it professionally checked out or buying something else.