Aqua Critter - repair or buy new one

[simonmason]

I have one of the yellow critters - perhaps 10 years old. I have maintained the exterior of the unit - new shoes last year, just put new flaps on the bottom this year. But the unit this year makes a bee line for the wall and then stops. Normally it would shimmy around and then go cruising again. Water pressure is excellent.

I noticed that when I twist the round opening at the top where the hose connects it takes some effort to turn it - more than I would think the water pressure driving a turbine would provide. So I am thinking that the gearbox or something inside is not moving as well as it could. This is all hypothetical based on googling - also there are a series of videos when someone explains how to take the whole thing apart and put it back together again - useful if it weren't for the fact that it is VHS quality and he doesn't say anything about what part when failing causes what problem.

So, first question. Should I be able to twist the round connector at the top easily? If so then it definitely appears that the critter can't turn easily and therefore replacing the gearbox might solve this?

A new unit is $200 so a gearbox would be a prudent move, not to mention much better on landfills. Thanks.

 

[simonmason]

I went ahead and took the unit apart. As far as I can tell the gearbox is bad. The video guy says you should be able to blow on it and it rotates. Mine is not moving at all and I can’t twist it by hand. So I am going to try replacing this part. Everything else seems to be moving fine so fingers crossed this is the part I need.