Polaris P825 PROBLEMS!!

[Homejar]

Hey all,

I am having difficulty with my Polaris P825 robotic vacuum. It is about 2 years old, and it moves just fine....when it chooses to. I haven't been able to isolate the cause of the problem yet but let me describe the scene:

I clean the filter basket, soap & water...spotless
I reassemble the unit and put into the pool. Let out all the air bubbles. Drop the unit to the bottom of the pool gently.
Plug in the cord to the terminal, and then the terminal to the wall.
I stretch out the cord to make sure it isn't tangled and the vacuum can move around freely.

Then one of the following happens everytime:
1) The vacuum runs for a solid 1 minute and goes up a wall, gets stuck at the top, falls awkwardly, reverses, and after a few paces...stops [ERROR FLASH 1]
2) The valuum doesnt run at all [ERROR FLASH 1]

If i reset the terminal...9 times out of 10 it will just immediate [ERROR FLASH 1]
If i use my brush pole to push the unit around in the water, then reset the terminal, 4 times out of 10 it will resume for a few seconds, and then [ERROR FLASH 1], the rest of the time it just [ERROR FLASH 1]

This has been so frustrating, especially since I've taken it to Leslie's about 4 times maybe more. They go like this
Trip 1 [3-5 Days] - "We did diagnostics and nothing seems wrong, try again at home"
Trip 2 [3-4 Weeks] - "We will use the warranty to replace the motor head...we need to order the parts and install...probably a few weeks"
Take home recently fixed unit! Yay! SAME ISSUE
Trip 3 [3-5 Days] - "We did diagnostics and nothing seems wrong, try again at home, what was your name again?"
Trip 4 [3-4 Weeks] - "We will use the warranty to replace the motor head...we need to order the parts and install...probably a few weeks"


PLEASE HELP. I dont want to have to buy another vacuum if i can avoid it. The motor components seem to be functional but the computer doesnt want to run for some reason. I don't mind tinkering with it if anyone has any suggestions on what to look for. So frustrating that Leslie's still sells this model for >$900

 

[thebombardier]

I'll bet money there's a short in the cable somewhere. Likely right at the unit or right at the plug, but it could honestly be anywhere. Any time I get random stop/starts in the shop I always check for shorts in the cable. It's typically hard to diagnose if the unit will not run for an extended period of time out of water or you can have some sort of indicator of power flowing through the cable (like Dolphin has a special tool that's just basically an LED light on a stick) but you'l likely find there's a spot in the cable where if you bend it one way the unit will turn on and if you bend it the other way the unit turns off.

 

[Homejar]

I'll bet money there's a short in the cable somewhere. Likely right at the unit or right at the plug, but it could honestly be anywhere. Any time I get random stop/starts in the shop I always check for shorts in the cable. It's typically hard to diagnose if the unit will not run for an extended period of time out of water or you can have some sort of indicator of power flowing through the cable (like Dolphin has a special tool that's just basically an LED light on a stick) but you'l likely find there's a spot in the cable where if you bend it one way the unit will turn on and if you bend it the other way the unit turns off.

Thanks for the input thebombardier! I will try and analyze the cord tonight when i get a chance. One thing though is it never seems to lose power, so maybe the short is on the vacuum unit and not necessarily between the terimnal and the wall? I think if it was on that end it would simply turn off instead of the error light?

Also, i tried running it without the vacuum attached and it got the exact same error and timing of the error...so it does seem like there very well could be an issue on the wire between the vacuum and the computer terminal.