Dolphin S300i Review

[rking3]

I am brushing the steps and two built in benches as well. It does climb on all the sections but it is not performing a spotless cleaning on them.

I am also using the caddy heavily and storing it on the caddy in the garage, the caddy definitely helps.

I also agree with getting the warranty and going through brick and mortar. The warranty was huge for me, as I mentioned I found it for $1k without warranty but did not go that route. So getting it from my local authorized dealer for $1150 was a must.

Matt,
I only have the "i" version, but I love the it! I used a side suction "Poolvergnuegen" before and the 300i is so much better. The extra warranty is nice. Not sure what the 2 level filter is on the 300, but the 300i comes with a multi layer filter to catch both large and small debris. For me the caddy was a must as I don't leave the robot in the pool because Maytronics says not to and it's ugly to me to constantly see it in there. Btw, I think $1200 is a good price for a local sale. I paid more, but I wanted a local Maytronics registered brick and mortar establishment in case a warranty issue arose. Whatever version you decide to get, you'll love it, guaranteed! You'll wish you got it earlier.

Edit: I still brush my steps and spa as the robot won't get those areas, but have stopped brushing the floor and walls. The robot has really cut down my pool maintenance time as the suction side cleaner wouldn't climb the walls well.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Well, just called around to a few shops and found the closest one near me does sell the 300i for about $1149 + tax. They also do service in house so no need to ship it out if needed. I'm pretty psyched about it because I'm planning to pull the trigger this week on it. Looks like my Kreepy Krawly is going to get a nice long nap in the deckbox soon....

 

[rking3]

Congratulations. getting it narrowed down to one with all of these options is tough.

It might be good to wait a week. Maytronics keeps releasing new youtube videos of this years lineup, the last update was the S50. Not sure if they have anything else planned for release but if they update the rest of the S series it could help you get a cheaper price on the inventory of the current S300i.
Or convince you to buy a different model, the M series now has bluetooth too.

Good luck

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Congratulations. getting it narrowed down to one with all of these options is tough.

It might be good to wait a week. Maytronics keeps releasing new youtube videos of this years lineup, the last update was the S50. Not sure if they have anything else planned for release but if they update the rest of the S series it could help you get a cheaper price on the inventory of the current S300i.
Or convince you to buy a different model, the M series now has bluetooth too.

Good luck

Well, I'm waiting on Uncle Sam to give me my money back, so there's that.

Yes, the sales guy on the phone was checking his pricing matrix since he only stocks S300's not S300i and he told me the M-series now have the BT options. But he did think that the S series was better for most pools and he relayed a few customer stories he had about folks with M-series that tried out his loaner S-series models and felt the cleaning was exactly the same. Given that my pool is on the smaller side of spectrum (38' x 18' & 15k gallons), the S300i should be more than enough to cover it all. Plus I like the sleek design of the S-series, just looks better to me.

Anyway, when I go in, I'll be sure to have the guy check on what's the "latest & greatest" to see if I should wait. He was a really nice fellow and not in any rush to hard-sell me anything and he was very forthcoming with his thoughts on the longevity of the Dolphin's compared to other cleaners. It says a lot when the sales guy is confident enough to give you all the pros and cons and avoids the whole "this thing is the best invention since sliced bread..." nonsense...

 

[LarryInSanDiego]

I recently bought a refurbished s300i. It worked great the first couple of weeks and then I hadn't used it for about a month or so. Anyway, I went to fire up the bot this rnorning, and it went forward about a foot, did a reverse wheelie, and the blue light on the bot stopped. It repeated this same thing when I turned the power back on several times. It never did this before. Any suggestions what I may have done wrong? Thanks in advance.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Is it still under warranty? Did you buy it local or online? Sounds like it might be a bad motor assembly. These units only have three major components - power supply, cable, and motor assembly. A local shop could quickly diagnose which one it is (they have a specialized wand tester) but some local shops refuse to work on robots they did not sell to you. If it’s under warranty, then you should contact the seller for warranty service.

 

[LarryInSanDiego]

Yes, it is, a full year. I did buy it online fromI'd hate to pack and ship the whole shebang up if it's something I could easily fix here. Any tech manuals available?

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Yes, it is, a full year. I did buy it online fromI'd hate to pack and ship the whole shebang up if it's something I could easily fix here. Any tech manuals available?

You can’t fix them. The components are monolithic units that I don’t even think a homeowner has access to. You should call up the vendor you bought it from and get a warranty claim issued ASAP. They may even cover shipping costs.

 

[jgarden]

You can’t fix them. The components are monolithic units that I don’t even think a homeowner has access to. You should call up the vendor you bought it from and get a warranty claim issued ASAP. They may even cover shipping costs.

What do you mean by monolithic unit? Are parts available to consumers if a repair is needed outside of the warranty period?

 

[ping]

This online site, Maytronics Dolphin Robotic Pool Cleaner Replacement Parts and Cleaners | Marina Pool Spa & Patio, has many parts available for many cleaners.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

What do you mean by monolithic unit? Are parts available to consumers if a repair is needed outside of the warranty period?

I meant that you can’t open up the motor or power supply and replace or repair their internal parts. If the motor is the problem, then the entire motor gets taken out and replaced. If the power supply fails, you simply get a new power supply. You don’t take the sub-components apart and fix them.