Heres my thread of life expectancy tips!
Working on these cleaners for 7 years now I can safely say I’ve seen It all. From dog hair fur balls causing clogged impellers to tangled chords that could be used as a new technique of knot making and power supplies are loaded with water. I wanted to make this as I want to provide some accurate information on topics I’ve seen on this group.
Topic 1: THE INFAMOUS TANGLING CORD. This issue is really a symptom of bigger issue. The biggest piece of advice I can give anyone is TAKE THE CLEANER OUT when its not being used. Now the famous argument I see constantly is well it made for a pool it meant to be in the pool. Yes, but is it made to sit in chlorine all the time? Chlorine eats at everything. The more your cleaner sits in the chlorinated pool (yes salt systems still have this effect) the higher the chance you will run into issues with the TANGLING cord and further possible issues. I asked Maytronics about the tangling cord and they said it from being left in the chlorinated pool and not ever being rolled up neatly. Some people have mentioned a weird sticky build up on their cords. That’s the cord literally breaking down from the chlorine. Take it out when its not used. For the people who need to have it in DAILY Use this happy medium of take it out for the day you shock the pool and the day after. That’s when the most damage is done. ONTO THE NEXT ISSUE
Topic 2: “My robot moves for 5 minutes and then stopes working” OR “My robot runs for 20 minutes and then stops working”! Here is some background. We get almost ALL of our warranty claim issues in APRIL / MAY (when people opening their pools up and often have dirty pools). And it’s usually this complaint. So, we have it shipped to our shop or the customer brings it in. I would say 80% of the time its from the impeller being so filled up with Crud that the motor will run for a few minutes and then stop. THIS IS MEANT TO HAPPEN so the motor doesn’t kill itself from pushing through all the clogged debris and burning out. Twice in one day I had two customers call me. I told them check the impeller They BOTH said “MY POOL IS SPOTLESS HOW CAN YOU SAY ITS FROM THE IMPELLAR BEING CLOGGED” BOTH customers checked. Turns out both have dogs that swim in the pool. Both customers said that the impeller was filled with hair. The one guy even said “there’s a whole other dog in here!” ……… So yes, your pool might be clean from leaves and dirt but if you have a furry friend or long hair. This is something you want to check monthly. There are tons of YouTube videos on how to do it. This is connected to topic 3 in a big way
Topic 3: Spring cleaning. Pool cleaners are made to clean your pool! That’s why people buy them. I would say they are more for weekly maintenance to KEEP your pool clean. Spring cleaning is often a big cause of problems like the clogged impeller mentioned above which is often fixable by you the owner or could lead to more severe Motor issues. There are people out their who will throw it in a SWAMP of a pool. LEAVES, TWIGS, DIRT. As well as putting it in the same time they do all the chemical work for the spring opening. For everyone I help I suggest this to avoid issues. If you’re looking at your pool and you see piles of leaves bunched up in the corners or on the bottom of the ramp in the deep end and you know you could easily get that with a few swings of the net on pole then DO THAT. Don’t think your cleaner with take all that at once. It won’t. They are not miracle workers. They won’t substitute a human being when it comes to the spring-cleaning aspect of owning a pool. Weekly maintenance? SURE. Spring cleaning? Not so much and if you do…. Expect a shorter lifespan of the robot. Also, I recommend brushing all your walls manually when you open up. Algae on the walls of your pool causes it to be quite slippery. This makes it hard for the cleaner to climb the walls.
Topic 4: Power supply care. Power supplies are not water proof. They might be water resistant but not water proof. So, when the heavens open up one day and its downpours no wonder why your power supply isn’t working……………… I suggest either cover it or you could get a big Ziplock bag and make a makeshift poncho for it.
Topic 5: Taking it out of the pool. BE GENTLE when you pull on the cord to fish the unit out. And I would also grab it as soon as you can while its in the water. You do not want all the robots weight straining that cord especially the detangler. The 2nd most popular issue we get from owners of dolphin is the detangler getting water in it, there for FRYING that electrical connection. If your symptom is of a robot not working while the power supply turns on and there are ABSOLUTELY no signs of life from the robot AT ALL. Then unscrew the detangler and check for water damage. This problem arises from yanking on the cord too much and also can be from being in the pool to much as once again chlorine eats at everything slowly. My suggestion is either be gentle or if you have a WIFI model then use the manual drive option and drive it up the wall so you can grab it.
I can’t thing of anything else off the top of my head I’ve seen cleaners that are a year old come back looking 10 years old and I’ve seen 10-year-old cleaners come back looking like 1 year old. Its really is about how you take care of them. If you do 5 to 7 years if not more is VERY possible.
