Dolphin Active 30i and acorns make my life miserable

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SamsIam

SamsIam

Bronze Supporter
May 28, 2016
399
Arlington, TX
I have battled this a couple of years now. Neighbor has an Oak tree that extends over my pool. I had it trimmed back as much as I can but the squirrels sit in the top and drop acorn bits and small acorns in my pool. I cannot sit out there all day with my slingshot or air rifle to keep them at bay. So the result is often my Dolphin does a good job of picking them up but a horrible job of getting them into the basket. They tend to end up in the housing and eventually get into the impeller causing a jam shutting the sweep down. I have tried a few things to overcome this but nothing has seemed to work. I used a part of a screen from a window screen to try to cover the impeller area but I have not gotten the right setup yet.

Anyone else have this kind of problem and if so have you found a solution? I realize a manual sweep will do it but this is a constant issue for me during this time of the year. It is hard for me to get a complete cycle out of it from this issue.

Thanks
 
That is a good question and I am not sure. Everything appears to fit right. I have always seemed to have small things like this get out of the basket. I wish I knew. I will look closer but I don't see how it happens.
 
I don't know how the Dolphin compares to my old Aquabot, but when I open our pool after being closed all winter, there are times when there is plenty of debris. Dirt, leaves, a mouse or 2, etc. Sometimes when I remove the bot to clean out the bag, I find debris outside of the bag. I'm assuming the disturbance from the suction or bot moving around stirs up the debris and that might be the cause. If you have an abundance of material, especially smaller stuff, maybe that's why?
 
GSD_fanatic said:
I don't know how the Dolphin compares to my old Aquabot, but when I open our pool after being closed all winter, there are times when there is plenty of debris. Dirt, leaves, a mouse or 2, etc. Sometimes when I remove the bot to clean out the bag, I find debris outside of the bag. I'm assuming the disturbance from the suction or bot moving around stirs up the debris and that might be the cause. If you have an abundance of material, especially smaller stuff, maybe that's why?
Click to expand...
Thanks. My pool stays cleaned all year. Most of the debris is from the dam squirrels above - acorns
 
Just re read your op and missed something. If the pieces are large enough to jam the impeller, forget what I said. I was thinking about small stuff and it finds a way to get in the robot housing. Like driving through a dust storm in Phoenix.
 

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so i took the cover off and looking under the lid, the basket is clearly sealed. i guess i need to figure out the exact flow of water. does it come in from the side vents or is it somehow sucked in from the basket hole? the latter seems more likely but also the top cover gets full of acorns too which have to make it past the impeller to get lodge in there.
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The water comes in through the bottom of the filter basket, though the filters, then into the pump chamber. It is then directed either through the top vents or a side vent depending on what the robot is doing.
 
yea it is pretty tight. i just took it off to look closer. it is only the second time i have removed it. looking at this i really thing that back area must be where it is coming in. there is no way it can get out of the basket into the housing after inspecting it. it is all solid and i can see that the "seal" forms when the lid is down. it is the only other way it could come in aside from the side vents and i don't see that happening either. i'd see all kinds of trash flowing up the sides of the unit when cleaning. i am going to try and see if i can fashion a screen to test out my theory. it might not hold but i hopefully can get one cleaning in with it to make a determination.
 
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You can see the rubber brush through the open slots so the brush kicks it in. I wonder if you're not missing some kind of grill there cuz this should be happening to others too. Maybe another Dolphin 30i owner can compare what you have......
 
you might be right. it just dawned on me as i read your post about 2yrs ago ;) something fell off. it got put on the side of pool and before i remembered to address it, my bullmastiff got hold of it. you know how that ends. of course i am sure this is when all my troubles started. i will see if i can get a replacement.
thanks! - good catch
 
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