Brand new Triton problems.

[Gomp]

Just opened the box this evening. I’m not impressed with its scrubbing, although I thought that would be its strong suit, but I’ll live with that.
I’ll even be willing to live with the cord tangling,( I wish there were a swivel).
The killer is that it can’t deal with my steps. It failed and stopped running 5 times in the first hour.
It makes it up the first and second step, once in the air and against the third step, it thinks it’s scrubbing the tiles (I believe), when it times out and tries to reverse (with the rear jet pushing it up against the step), it is unable to back away. Then it stops and sits there.
Have any of you run into this? I’m afraid I’m stuck with this thing.

 

[kimkats]

If you just opened it you should be able to return it.

Are there any kinds of adjustments you can make? Maybe make it where it does not climb the steps at all. That way all you have to brush are the steps every once in a while.

 

[duraleigh]

Welcome to the forum

I would take Kim's advice and try to make it ignore the steps. Lots and lots of Robots claim they can do steps.....FEW, IF ANY, really can do them well.

A 1 minute brush of the steps and then run the robot is painless and will relieve your frustration.

 

[Gomp]

The problem is that my steps run the entire length of my 20’ short side. I wish it would ignore the steps altogether, but it finds them too easy to climb, fails to go anywhere, then stops.
Ive sent some short video clips in to the seller. He claims Maytronics would be interested to see what’s occurring. Maybe there’s a programming solution.
If I get a resolution, I’ll pass it on.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Where did you purchase this robot from? If it’s brand new it should be under warranty. Steps shouldn’t matter (it might climb them or it might not, very few robots can adequately climb and clean steps) but the bot should not be shutting down. That points to a motor or power supply issue which is covered under normal warranty repairs. The service center has a probe that will instantly diagnose where the problem is (motor, cable or power supply).

 

[Gomp]

Poolpartz has sent in a request for RMA and replacement for a new unit after watching videos of it failing. They say it shouldn’t be able to climb the steps in the first place, but it does. 20-30 minutes has been the longest runtime before freaking out on the steps.
They suggest I go for a floor only bot, but I feel like I’ll be working more than when I used the Polaris and booster setup.
I'll have to see how Maytronics respond now.
I was between this Triton and AquaBot breeze IQ when I found the rebate that made the Triton too good to pass up. Hope I didn’t make a mistake.
The solar breeze has been wonderful though. There’s always that.

 

[Meadow]

@Gomp...are you referring to the Maytronics Dolphin Triton as shown in the below link? How can there not be a swivel cable? Mind sharing a picture of your Triton?
https://www.poolzoom.com/dolphin-tr...MIju6J_pLy2QIVyFx-Ch2gwQZKEAYYASABEgJWDfD_BwE

Our 3 yr old Triton is exactly what's depicted in the above link. Easily able to climb 3 steps high leading to the sun shelf, scrubs the waterline tile and run a 3 hours complete cycle unless manually interrupted.
My only concern is that, it leaves behind black marks when ever the black side panels bump or rub against the wall of our new white plaster. Maytronics has no say about it, except maybe regrets for using the black plastic side panels.

Anyway, no doubt your warranty will take care of the issues you're having with but not your valuable time. Good luck!

 

[Gomp]

It’s the new Dolphin Triton with PowerStream. It doesn’t come with a swivel b/c Maytronics believes it’s programming can prevent tangled. Watching it for a while, it appears to make equal number of “wheelie” turns in either direction. In theory that could work, but one turn attempt may produce no turn at all, while the next turns a total 360 degrees. Split motors on two treads would work better.
The word from Maytronics is that it is working as it should and this issue is resolved. I should have believed the warnings from people who’ve said their customer service is horrible. Fortunately, the guy at Pool Partz I’m working with is trying to help me come up with a solution.
About the machine, I’ve noticed that when it backs up to the steps with the short end of tread, it’s unable to climb it. Going forward, the tracks are taller in the front, making it easier to crest the steps.
I have the theory that I need to trade out for a machine with a shorter height approach. (Older Nautilus plus, edge, or back to AquaBot breeze IQ).
Im very disappointed in Maytronics response. I was encouraged with there desire to study the vid clips I’d sent of the machine failures. Guess they didn’t want to take a loss or figure out a way around it.

- - - Updated - - -

https://www.poolpartz.com/dolphin-triton-power-stream

link to the model I bought.

 

[thebombardier]

I'm not 100% sure of the Triton's programming specifically, but all Dolphins monitor resistance on the pump motor. If the resistance drops because it is sucking air, it will think it's out of water and stop to avoid running dry and overheating. The only way to solve your issue is to somehow prevent it from climbing the stairs in the first place. Assuming it's the same as the S200/Active20, which it appears to be, it should be programmed the climb the walls. So it seems this specific unit may not be best suited to your pool. IF you're looking for reliability, stick with Dolphin, and pick a basin/floor only cleaner.

 

[Gomp]

It wouldn’t climb the step backwards, but it would go vertical on walls while backwards. I agree that the shutdown process is due to its inability to back away from the step once it’s already on top, but I believe the tall front tread bots are what I need to avoid. I’m just now noticing that none of the commercial versions have tall front treads. Wish I’d realized that earlier.
Unfortunately, I read this site very much before my purchase, and I drank the Maytronics kool aid.
The main sellIng point for me was the double speed turning brush up front. That’s active brushing compared to just rolling over algae as most robots do. It didn’t amount to anything. I thought the algae was just tenacious, but a quick touch with my brush and it was gone. Very disappointing machine.
Best thing may be to go to the “Discovery, Triton, S200” Page and look for a buyer.

 

[needsajet]

Sorry to hear. I have an equivalent down here, but haven't seen it stuck on the ledge.

To get by, you could drop it in from the far end, and then just give it enough cord so it can't hang itself.

 

[thebombardier]

It wouldn’t climb the step backwards, but it would go vertical on walls while backwards. I agree that the shutdown process is due to its inability to back away from the step once it’s already on top, but I believe the tall front tread bots are what I need to avoid. I’m just now noticing that none of the commercial versions have tall front treads. Wish I’d realized that earlier.
Unfortunately, I read this site very much before my purchase, and I drank the Maytronics kool aid.
The main sellIng point for me was the double speed turning brush up front. That’s active brushing compared to just rolling over algae as most robots do. It didn’t amount to anything. I thought the algae was just tenacious, but a quick touch with my brush and it was gone. Very disappointing machine.
Best thing may be to go to the “Discovery, Triton, S200” Page and look for a buyer.

I run into it in my store where unfortunately a robot just can't handle every single pool we drop it in and a customer may need to swap out for a different model. Like I said you may be better off with a unit you can program to not climb the walls.

Also interesting you bring up commercial machines, most of them aren't even programmed to climb walls. It's a completely pointless feature when the robot has other methods of navigating the pool. The leaves and junk you want the vacuum to pick up aren't on the walls, they're on the floor.

 

[bmoreswim]

It also goes back to discussions of how effective is a robot’s brushing of the walls versus a human brushing them. Clearly more force can be applied by a person. But often times the discussion heads back to the robot being automatic and the human not brushing as much as they should or would like to. So a robot is “better” because it does something to the walls versus little or nothing.

For me, if I had to have a robot that would only do the floors, I’d still have one hands down. My pressure side cleaner was poor, and of course that was floor only - or really partial floor only - and substandard at that.

 

[Gomp]

Tried shortening the power cord to keep it from touching the steps and that worked,unfortunately it looked like a potential cord break in the future. I’m sending the Triton back while I evaluate the next 3 choices.
Aquabot breeze IQ, Hayward TigerShark, and Dolphin Nautilus Plus.
Breeze-I like what I’ve read about it online. Very few faults.
Hayward- a brand that has great customer service and warranty.
Dolphin- this one is well regarded, doesn’t have such a steep approach Angle as the Triton, but unfortunately comes with poor Maytronics customer service.
I’d love to hear opinions from people who have had any of these.
By the way, Joe from Poolpartz has been awesome to work with. He’s taking the Triton back in spite of Maytronics claims that there’s nothing wrong with it.

 

[thebombardier]

The Breeze's pump motor will probably die in 3-5 years, it costs $450. Basically all you need to know about Aquatron units.

The Tigersharks more or less run until they don't. The wheel bearings explode at like 4 years and require a full drive overhaul at that point. Also somewhat expensive but the Tigershark's motor is pretty bulletproof.

Not much experience with the Nautilus Plus specifically but it's Dolphin's older more proven machine architecture. Haven't come across any issues with the M200 (the BMO counterpart to the Nautilus Plus). And like you said, not as big of a roller so it may not give you issues climbing steps.

 

[Gomp]

Thanks for the input, Bombardier. That’s the kind of info I’m looking for. After exhaustive research, it seems they’re all being built a bit more cheaply less reliably.
A lot of lemons from each manufacturer.

 

[Gomp]

Bombardier- Question, through this process, Maytronics suggested I might want a heavier machine and suggested M-400. When I looked into it I noticed that the new Triton is roughly 20 lbs, while the old one is 47lbs. Being a technician, where do you see that they could cut 27 lbs from a machine? In my mind, I see lots of quality metal parts being replaced with plastic on new models. Perhaps the motors and bearings are lighter duty? I’m currently leaning toward older designs for this reason.
(If you could see the video of my Triton failing on the steps, you notice that it’s floating with no contact with any surface. Weight could be the answer. Does the new Triton have floats that can be removed to help this issue?)

 

[thebombardier]

Bombardier- Question, through this process, Maytronics suggested I might want a heavier machine and suggested M-400. When I looked into it I noticed that the new Triton is roughly 20 lbs, while the old one is 47lbs. Being a technician, where do you see that they could cut 27 lbs from a machine? In my mind, I see lots of quality metal parts being replaced with plastic on new models. Perhaps the motors and bearings are lighter duty? I’m currently leaning toward older designs for this reason.
(If you could see the video of my Triton failing on the steps, you notice that it’s floating with no contact with any surface. Weight could be the answer. Does the new Triton have floats that can be removed to help this issue?)

Different chassis designs for the most part. The motor boxes themselves are about the same weight between the two.

The old Triton uses the older style track system that has a track and 5 somewhat large ball bearing per side to drive/guide/tension the track. The new Triton only has 2 smaller bearings per side, and the track is not driving the unit, a gear system is, so the track is a lot lighter duty as well. The gears are made of what I assume is either UHMWPE or Delrin, both pretty lightweight plastics.

The wheel tubes and brushes are smaller on the Triton, there are less screws on the Triton, and the cable is thinner as well. Ditching the handle gets rid of some weight as well. Also if you're talking about ship weight believe it or not even the new power supply for the Triton is lighter than the old one. And the overall chassis have less parts and less plastic to it.

The M400 is a much heavier unit because it uses the same track style as the old Triton. Also, it has two drive motors and a pump motor. The new Triton has one drive motor, one pump motor, and an actuator motor to change where the water vents out. That actuator motor doesn't have to be as heavy duty as the motor moving the machine, therefore it can be a lot lighter. As far as weight, the Triton is almost a 2 motor machine.

 

[Gomp]

Just placed an order for a Dolphin Nautilus Plus CC. Review will follow as soon as I see how it handles my steps.

 

[needsajet]

So is this fair to say?

At least in one case, the re-designed Triton with rear water outlet has stranded the cleaner regularly on a ledge, rendering it a 'bottom only' choice. The new design is lighter than the original Triton.