Dolphin Active 30 only runs backward. Anybody experience this?

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NeedCoffee

Active member
Dec 12, 2020
38
SoCal
Hi all,

I think my Active 30's behavior is somewhat akin to the below thread. The video by the OP looks just like mine. It starts up normally, but then will only move backward in increments of around a foot, then pauses for a moment. It repeats this cycle until it pushes itself against a wall. It stays there trying to move backward until the cycle ends. If I take manual control of it I can drive it in any direction with no issues. So I don't think it's an issue with the propulsion system and motor. It's a few months out of warranty and so Dolphin doesn't give a Crud. Very reluctant to buy another from them.

Anyone else had this issue and solved it?

Dolphin backing into walls and getting stuck.

It seems Captain Carl (my Active 30) has taken to backing up to walls and, well, staying there. I took a short video to demonstrate... Drunk Captain Carl Video He basically just tries to back through the wall for 15 minutes or so before finally getting himself out, at which point he just...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
NC,

I have several Dolphins of that style, and have never seen the problem in any of them.

I'd like to help, but can't think of anything that would cause it.

When it gets to the wall, does it climb up to the tile line??

If this were my robot, I would take it apart all the way down to taking the motor out and resetting it, and then make sure nothing is wrapped around the suction motor shaft.. You have to take the impeller off..

While I doubt this is going to fix anything, there is not much else you can do.

You might want to check out this review...

New EVO 614i Robot Pool Cleaner Review

About a month ago I needed a new robot pool cleaner and I contacted Margaret at Marina Pool and Spa. My initial goal was to buy another S200 "style" robot as I have been happy with them so far. Margaret suggested that I might want to look at a new line of robot cleaners that Marina is now...
www.google.com www.google.com

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Hi Jim,

Thanks, I'll check that review out. Hoping I don't have to drop a grand on a new robot at this juncture.

It will not climb the wall backward, but they aren't supposed to. I can drive it manually forward and get it to climb, no problem. But put it in automatic cleaning cycle and it will just do it's dumb backup sequence until it hits a wall. It feels like it's misreading a motion sensor or something. Or maybe there is some software bug. Would be great if there were a way to reflash the software.

All Dolphin would offer is the name of a local service shop. They will charge me $65 just to look at it, and probably tell me they can't fix it.
 
Over the weekend I took the robot apart to see if I could find anything obvious. I removed the motor unit but could not open it. In doing so I found a small stick stuck underneath the metal plate on the motor's top cover. Plugged it in and ran it that way. It went through its cycle and shortly after it timed out with a red circle around the controller's button. So evidently it was working as it was supposed to.

I reassembled it and placed the robot back into the water. It will now climb the wall backward just slightly, and it now reverses when it backs to a wall, though not all the time and it takes quite a while for it to recognize the wall.

What I think is happening: the robot senses the motion of climbing backward to trigger forward motion instead. And it's moving too slowly up the wall to recognize this. It won't climb high enough in other words. I'm beginning to think that a low flow rate of water, combined with poor traction from relatively worn tracks, could be the reason it can't climb high enough backward to trigger it to move forward instead.

To test that, I'll try to find the more coarse filter plates. I've never used them, but I'd expect water to pass through them easier. if that causes the robot to back up the wall with more gusto, then I guess I either need to just use those filters or maybe replace the motor.
 
NeedCoffee said:
Over the weekend I took the robot apart to see if I could find anything obvious. I removed the motor unit but could not open it. In doing so I found a small stick stuck underneath the metal plate on the motor's top cover. Plugged it in and ran it that way. It went through its cycle and shortly after it timed out with a red circle around the controller's button. So evidently it was working as it was supposed to.

I reassembled it and placed the robot back into the water. It will now climb the wall backward just slightly, and it now reverses when it backs to a wall, though not all the time and it takes quite a while for it to recognize the wall.

What I think is happening: the robot senses the motion of climbing backward to trigger forward motion instead. And it's moving too slowly up the wall to recognize this. It won't climb high enough in other words. I'm beginning to think that a low flow rate of water, combined with poor traction from relatively worn tracks, could be the reason it can't climb high enough backward to trigger it to move forward instead.

To test that, I'll try to find the more coarse filter plates. I've never used them, but I'd expect water to pass through them easier. if that causes the robot to back up the wall with more gusto, then I guess I either need to just use those filters or maybe replace the motor.
Click to expand...
Hi, did you any luck fixing this issue? My 30i is doing the same
 
Well, yes and no. The robot is working more-or-less as it should now. But I didn't do anything definitive to get it to work. I did use the coarse filters for several months, and with the robot working well enough, I put the fine filters back in to see if that would cause the problem to return. The problem never returned, so I've been using the fine filters ever since. And this is nice, because we have some fine silt and, I think, dead algae that the fine filter collects off the bottom.

The other thing I have been doing is what JimR suggested... give it some G-force stimulation. When I toss it in the pool I throw it hard enogh to land out in the middle and on its side or upside down. Does that work? Who knows, but since I've been doing that it seems to run OK.

All that said, I know that it still isn't 100% operating correctly. One thing it does now is it will run sideways along the wall, underwater. never did that before I started having problems. And it doesn't seem to move sideways along the waterline as aggressively as it did when new. But it's good enough that I'm not planning to replace it unless it regresses back to its old ways.
 

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Unfortunately, I'm in the same situation. Mine will roll backwards short distances or turn in reverse but never moves forward. This happens in the middle of the pool and is unrelated to the walls.

Really hoping someone has ideas to fix.
 
SilverSD said:
Unfortunately, I'm in the same situation. Mine will roll backwards short distances or turn in reverse but never moves forward. This happens in the middle of the pool and is unrelated to the walls.

Really hoping someone has ideas to fix.
Click to expand...
I sent mine in for repair the other week and they replaced the motor and power supply. Even though I was outside the 24 month window they still covered it under warranty (guess I got lucky)
 
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