I hate my robot - dirt problem

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EmilyOTR

EmilyOTR

Bronze Supporter
Feb 15, 2017
764
Ferndale, MI
Pool Size
15000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Ok I've posted this before - and no one seems to have experienced this but when I pull my Dolphin S200 out of the pool it releases a bunch of dirt. I hate it. My pool is clean today but I put the robot in to pick up the dirt IT RELEASED yesterday. not that that will help. anyway, Last year I texted marina pools and sent her photos and she told me to buy some replacement parts, did that, didn't fix it. I took it too my local pool store, and he had no idea. I finally decide to check the maytronics FAQ and this is what it says. If I have to remove it UPSIDE down, then I'm releasing all the water it's holding onto my deck? How is that reasonable? this makes me want to go back to my Polaris 280 but I've never had good luck with my booster pump and that's a lot. plus the 280 isn't a lot cheaper than the 799 I paid for my S200.

When I remove my Dolphin from the pool, dirty water and debris escapes back to the water​

When you remove your Dolphin from the water, gently pull it towards you using the cable. When it reaches the edge, remove it with the handle, never lift the robot out of the water by the cable.
Tilt the robot while placing it on the edge of the pool, and let the water drain out. If debris is still falling back into the water, try removing the robot from the water upside down.
 
How full is it when you remove it? My Polaris is pulled out on end which makes the opening at the top of the filter canister and nothing is able to escape. If it is very full a bit might seep out but never enough to worry about. Is there a "fine" filter cartridge available?
 
PoolGate said:
How full is it when you remove it? My Polaris is pulled out on end which makes the opening at the top of the filter canister and nothing is able to escape. If it is very full a bit might seep out but never enough to worry about. Is there a "fine" filter cartridge available?
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not very full. do you mean with debris? Or water? There's a lot of water in it. I have switched to the ultra fine panels but that doesn't help anything.
 
EmilyOTR said:
not very full. do you mean with debris? Or water? There's a lot of water in it. I have switched to the ultra fine panels but that doesn't help anything.
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Debris yes. Where is the opening of the canister? Have you tried taking it out with that facing up? That is how the Polaris works.
 
PoolGate said:
Debris yes. Where is the opening of the canister? Have you tried taking it out with that facing up? That is how the Polaris works.
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it's on the bottom, so yes that is what the FAQ is saying, take it out upside down. I'll have to try but it seems like water will spill all over my deck if I do that. well wait, isn't the opening for all cleaners on the bottom, how else would it pick up debris from the bottom of the pool? Am I misunderstanding?
 
EmilyOTR said:
it's on the bottom, so yes that is what the FAQ is saying, take it out upside down. I'll have to try but it seems like water will spill all over my deck if I do that. well wait, isn't the opening for all cleaners on the bottom, how else would it pick up debris from the bottom of the pool? Am I misunderstanding?
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The Polaris is taken out of the water so the front of the robot is facing up. this puts the debris opening up and facing towards the person. Nothing can come out at that angle. Plus, the motor runs until it is out of the water. That probably further helps it to keep debris in the canister. I am not sure how your Dolphin's canister is oriented. But that's an expensive robot to have this type of design flaw.

1745763563081.png
 
PoolGate said:
The Polaris is taken out of the water so the front of the robot is facing up. this puts the debris opening up and facing towards the person. Nothing can come out at that angle. Plus, the motor runs until it is out of the water. That probably further helps it to keep debris in the canister. I am not sure how your Dolphin's canister is oriented. But that's an expensive robot to have this type of design flaw.

View attachment 640945
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the dolphin canister opening is at the top. you pull it out from the back top, so yes it's up, the issue I have is the stuff coming out the bottom with all the water that drains out. because it has an opening at the bottom too obviously.
 
Emily,

Does your Dolphin's filter basket have a "sock" at the point were water comes into the robot.. It is not an actual sock, but a cloth bag that is open on both ends.. ??

Did you replace the flap, on the inside of the robot's shell?? At the bottom back, under the basket..

Did it used to work fine and it is now bad, or has it always done this??

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Jimrahbe said:
Emily,

Does your Dolphin's filter basket have a "sock" at the point were water comes into the robot.. It is not an actual sock, but a cloth bag that is open on both ends.. ??

Did you replace the flap, on the inside of the robot's shell?? At the bottom back, under the basket..

Did it used to work fine and it is now bad, or has it always done this??

Thanks,

Jim R.
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I replaced the rapid drain flap and the non return flap last year. it didn't help. I think it used to work fine, but it's been an issue for so long I'm not sure anymore.
 
sounds like the non return flap isn't working properly. When you open the basket, is there any debris in the opening of that flap that would prevent it from closing?
is the rapid drain flap working?
maybe post some videos of what is happening when you remove the robot from the pool and some pictures of the basket when you open it up.
 

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Emily,

Is this a real problem, or is this an Emily problem.. :mrgreen:

I suspect that a little dirty water always goes goes back into the pool.. In my case it just quickly disperses into the water and I can't see it..

After you remove the robot are you saying that there are things you can see floating in the pool? Or it is more of a dirty colored water for few seconds?

I don't think anything is going to be perfect.

Just trying to understand the actual problem.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Jimrahbe said:
Emily,

Is this a real problem, or is this an Emily problem.. :mrgreen:

I suspect that a little dirty water always goes goes back into the pool.. In my case it just quickly disperses into the water and I can't see it..

After you remove the robot are you saying that there are things you can see floating in the pool? Or it is more of a dirty colored water for few seconds?

I don't think anything is going to be perfect.

Just trying to understand the actual problem.

Thanks,

Jim R.
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Quite a bit of debris falls into the pool. like I have a perfectly clean pool except where I took out the robot. it's not dirty water, it's actual debris that was picked up.
 
Emily,

I just can't understand why your robot has the problem, but most other owners don't have the problem, or just don't notice the problem... :scratch:

Is that little cloth bag at the water entrance to the filter, full of debris when you take the robot out of the pool? Depending on the time of the year, mine can get full of junk and keeps the basket from filling up..

Are the springs that are under the basket still there? I have no idea, what they even do, but just grasping at straws. :mrgreen:

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Jimrahbe said:
Emily,

I just can't understand why your robot has the problem, but most other owners don't have the problem, or just don't notice the problem... :scratch:

Is that little cloth bag at the water entrance to the filter, full of debris when you take the robot out of the pool? Depending on the time of the year, mine can get full of junk and keeps the basket from filling up..

Are the springs that are under the basket still there? I have no idea, what they even do, but just grasping at straws. :mrgreen:

Thanks,

Jim R.
Click to expand...
So I tried what the maytronics website said and took it out upside down and that was terrible - TONS of debris came out. even more. I took a video but the sun is shining today and the water is sparkling, you can't see anything but sparkle on the video. it was so bad I put it back in to pick it up. I'll try to take some videos or pictures another less sunny time. there's a lot of that in April in Michigan.
 
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Jimrahbe said:
Emily,

I just can't understand why your robot has the problem, but most other owners don't have the problem, or just don't notice the problem... :scratch:

Is that little cloth bag at the water entrance to the filter, full of debris when you take the robot out of the pool? Depending on the time of the year, mine can get full of junk and keeps the basket from filling up..

Are the springs that are under the basket still there? I have no idea, what they even do, but just grasping at straws. :mrgreen:

Thanks,

Jim R.
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I don't believe the little cloth bag is full of debris. I'll check it once I get this out today. The springs should still be there. I'll look for that too.
 
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I have the s400, and even at a newer condition, when you lift the bot out of water, there will still be some debris that falls out. The filter will be filled with dirt and silts, and water is still in the basket when I remove it from the robot. There's still debris in the robot itself. The fan always have pine needle or some stringy fiber from the palms tree, and that's a PITA to clean out due to the design.

So, yes, there will be debris that fall out. I would say that about 5-10 percent of what it sucks up, it falls out when you take the bot out of the water. Sucks. That's just the design of it. Good or bad, you decide.
 
Is your black non return bag torn? Depending on what type and how much debris gets picked up, some debris can get lodged in the non return bag and fall back into the pool. My best advice is that when you remove the robot from the pool, lift it out at a 45 degree angle swiftly and immediately set it on the deck to drain. Yes you will get water on the deck and yes any debris lodged in the non return bag that didn’t end up in the canister will fall on the deck. It’s a lesser of two evils than have it drop back into the pool.
 
Lake Placid said:
Is your black non return bag torn? Depending on what type and how much debris gets picked up, some debris can get lodged in the non return bag and fall back into the pool. My best advice is that when you remove the robot from the pool, lift it out at a 45 degree angle swiftly and immediately set it on the deck to drain. Yes you will get water on the deck and yes any debris lodged in the non return bag that didn’t end up in the canister will fall on the deck. It’s a lesser of two evils than have it drop back into the pool.
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no it's not torn, I replaced it last year to see if that would help. and yes if I quickly remove it from the pool and don't let it drain it's a lot better but then the deck is all wet. I guess that's not a huge issue unless I'm getting ready for a party. I was also thinking of getting a Pool blaster cordless vac to get the junk my robot disperses every time.

PGQ24 said:
I have the s400, and even at a newer condition, when you lift the bot out of water, there will still be some debris that falls out. The filter will be filled with dirt and silts, and water is still in the basket when I remove it from the robot. There's still debris in the robot itself. The fan always have pine needle or some stringy fiber from the palms tree, and that's a PITA to clean out due to the design.

So, yes, there will be debris that fall out. I would say that about 5-10 percent of what it sucks up, it falls out when you take the bot out of the water. Sucks. That's just the design of it. Good or bad, you decide.
Click to expand...
You are the first person to say this happens too although maybe others think I'm over reacting, I think it's a lot to come out in a perfectly clean pool.
 
When you remove the robot do you keep it level? This should help, the water drains slower out of the robot but doesn't release the debris. I put one side of the track on the coping while it drains. You need to lift it out from both ends and try to keep it level as best as you can.

When you pull these robots out by the handle only, it tilts them too much and lets too much of the debris flow out.
 
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ping said:
When you remove the robot do you keep it level? This should help, the water drains slower out of the robot but doesn't release the debris. I put one side of the track on the coping while it drains. You need to lift it out from both ends and try to keep it level as best as you can.

When you pull these robots out by the handle only, it tilts them too much and lets too much of the debris flow out.
Click to expand...
I'll try this!!
 

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