Zodiac /Barracuda MX6 recently started getting stuck

[Seawall07]

I have a Zodiac / Barracuda Mx6 that is roughly 3 years old. It is connected via a dedicated line (not through the skimmer) on a Jandy variable pool pump with a Hayward DE filter. It's a ~17000 gallon pool. I do have solar heat, but it is disabled. Typically with the solar disabled, I run the pump at the lowest speed and everything works fine for the most part.

Recently, I had my paver pool deck washed, new sand installed at the joints, and sealed. For the most part, the water was clear within about a day of the pump running, which is when I noticed that my cleaner was stuck. Looking at the pool, I could see there was a good bit of paver sand that had been dropped into the pool and that likely caused a jam in the cleaner. I could spin the propeller at the bottom, but it was not a smooth motion. I checked in the service door and nothing obvious was stuck - so I dove deeper.

After checking YouTube, it seemed like it was probably time to change the drive motor assembly and inboard bearings. At the same time, I noticed that a few of my hoses had developed leaks, so I replaced those as well. The treads weren't in terrible shape, but I replaced them anyway. I was thinking the pool cleaner should be turbo charged after all that maintenance - but instead, it just keeps getting stuck any time it encounters a bit of sand. When it does, I turn the propeller by hand in the direction indicated, until it starts to spin freely again. Then it will go for a fair of time, but again get stuck as soon as it starts to pull up sand. I have backwashed the filter several times and added an appropriate amount of DE media.

I am now running the variable pump at its top RPM, but the same behavior keeps happening. I also don't feel like the motion of the cleaner is entirely smooth (though it certainly improved after replacing the bearings and motor assembly). Just a couple of questions for the forum, if I may...

1. Aside from the parts I replaced, are there other wear items I should be concerned with? The vacuum is about 3 years old and this is the first time its ever really had a problem of any kind. And I'm pretty sure its had sand in it before.

3. Is it OK to even be attempting to clean up the sand with the cleaner? If not, how would you recommend getting rid of the excess sand? I was thinking I could just disconnect the hose, dive down and try to scoop up as much as possible with the hose... but that seems like it might be pretty challenging.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

 

[needsajet]

Welcome to TFP! Good to have you here

First I would open the trap door over the dedicated suction inlet, maybe prop it open somehow or have someone hold it open. If propping it open, do not do that with anything that could get sucked in and cause a blockage. Also do not block it open if there's any swimmers in the water. Then start the pump and make sure there's plenty of suction. This should also scour out any sand that might be laying in the pipe or accumulated at fittings. If there's no or little suction, there may be something blocking that line.

I would vacuum up the sand with a manual vacuum attached to your brush pole. That is provided you have a hose for it and a vacuum plate for the skimmer. It sounds like the sand is too much for the suction cleaner all at once. That MX6 can handle a bit of sand but not a huge amount. Yes, you could do it swimming around as well - kinda sounds like fun - at least for a while.

I don't know if you can get a conventional vacuum that will attach to the MX6 hose, but if so, that would be an option. They look like this:

Aussie Gold Flexible Vacuum Head

Great Prices, Great Products your Australian Online Pool Shop

aussiepoolparts.com.au

 

[Seawall07]

Sorry I didn't reply sooner, but thanks for the guidance. I did end up manually vacuuming out the sand. Then I meticulously disassembled the entire cleaner and swept away all traces of sand and put it back together again. I also pulled out the propeller assembly and found a bit of metal that shouldn't be there wedged somewhere in the assembly. I first thought maybe it became dislodged, but there is just nowhere for this thing to actually be... once I reassembled, it went back to working normally. No problems with it getting stuck and it seems to work as good as new now.

 

[needsajet]

Great news thank you for circling back.

One that went bad on me had an odd-shaped bit of wood, small, not much more than a large finger or toe nail clipping, caught in such a way as to impede movement of the water paddles intermittently. Once removed all was well. Pried out with a baby screwdriver. All good ever since.