I have a Watertech Blue Pearl robot pool cleaner that constantly gets stuck on the steps. I will not reverse itself. I have made sure that entire power hose is in the water and even removed the pool ladder to make sure that the power cable will not get caught. When I reversed the handle (per the manual), the cleaner will run all along the walls of the pool at the water surface. I have no clue how to cure this problem. It used to work just fine and do an amazing job of cleaning everything. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Robot keeps getting stuck on the steps
- Thread starter stillrunning
- Start date
Welcome to the forum. 
Pool steps and pool robots do not get along. I tried 3 robots that all failed to maneuver the steps. I now have a Dolphin Premier that is completely bamboozled by the steps as well but it doesn't get stuck for long. The way it is programmed, it (ina minute or so) finally finds a way to get back down into the pool.
If your steps are not too big horizontally, you might consider putting up a barricade so the steps simply become another wall surface. That's an annoying fix, but you cannot leave a stuck robot unattended.....it will eat a hole in your liner or quickly wear out it's drive treads if you have gunite.
Pool steps and pool robots do not get along. I tried 3 robots that all failed to maneuver the steps. I now have a Dolphin Premier that is completely bamboozled by the steps as well but it doesn't get stuck for long. The way it is programmed, it (ina minute or so) finally finds a way to get back down into the pool.
If your steps are not too big horizontally, you might consider putting up a barricade so the steps simply become another wall surface. That's an annoying fix, but you cannot leave a stuck robot unattended.....it will eat a hole in your liner or quickly wear out it's drive treads if you have gunite.
stillrunning said:
It sounds like something is broken. The blue pearl is very similar to the blue diamond. They will reverse direction during routine cleaning, and will also reverse if they seem to be stuck. Short of getting stuck in a sharp corner where the treads are completely off the surface, it should not get stuck.
I ended up making this awful looking PVC barricade that goes over my steps. I haul the thing out everytime I clean now. It seems to work with that in place. I was past my warranty period by a few weeks and was told that the average repair cost was around $250. My PVC barricade was $20. Not a good solution, but it's a solution. I appreciate your help.