numberonenole said:
I've been watching your story with Wanda with interest because mine is getting stubborn and I've only worked her about 7 times. She doesn't do the left turn only like yours, she just likes one side of the pool best. I've burned my arms leaning over the pool dragging her over to the dirty side, only to have her go right back to her home base. She's driving me crazy! I didn't think I needed to tear her apart and check inside since she is so new, but I did watch the videos. I'm nervous about doing open heart surgery, especially since she is so new. Did you find it hard? Did it take a long time? Thanks for sharing your story!
If you found the same videos where the guy spends like 13 segments to talk about maintenance and taking apart a Wanda Whale - then - his video was EXCELLENT. So, no it wasn't hard to take her all apart - pretty much how the videos described it. I probably took about two hours total but I was going really slow and taking breaks along the way. I took her out of the pool and performed surgey the next afternoon to wait until most of the water has drained out. I'm fairly brave about these kind of things (especially after watching the videos). It wasn't hard. I figured she was already broke and unless I broke a part off or lost pieces, I couldn't do any worse. I would figure out a better way to remember which screws went into which holes since some are really short and some are long and it got a bit confusing at that point. Oh, and at the point where he says "everything kinda falls out" - that's so true! So, go slow and maybe keep Wanda over a table so the parts do fall too far! HA!
Now, if you don't have the "only one way problem" but the only one side of the pool problem ... maybe check her feet (are they worn evenly?) You could maybe test by switching her shoes from the front to back and right to left side. I had tried that and it didn't make a difference but now realize that her shoes were worn pretty evenly.
Can you TWIST (gently) the gear to the right or left? I was UNABLE to do this when I started with my "only going to the right" and think there may have been a tiny hard plant shell stuck in a gear but I don't know for sure because it came out at the point where EVERYTHING sort of falls out of her body.
If it's fairly new - is it still under warranty? They'd probably make you send it to HAYWARD and then if you've dismantled it ... that probably voids the warranty.
Maybe it's like someone else who mentioned the PODS (those rocker things) but they are more expensive than shoes. When I went to the pool store to buy the new shoes ... I saw a Wanda on display and I moved her pods to see what NO PLAY means and brand new moved the same as mine, so I figured it was the shoes.
In the mean time ... not the best answer but maybe you could invest in a pool hook to put on your brush pole (or make your own) so you don't have get your arms burned dragging her about.
Good luck!
dpool
