Ariel Update/Addendum
The week before last, Ariel started acting up. She was going around in circles. One paddle-wheel would turn one way and the other the opposite.
Having the advantage of living about 5 miles from Solar Breeze, I took my Ariel down for a check up.
Paul (the owner) was great and immediately knew what the issue was.
He just cleaned the two optical sensors on the front, powered her up and both wheels then turned in the same direction.
Just as an example of the great Solar Breeze customer service. He had me fill out a work order form and then sent me on my way with the old Ariel and a brand new (in the box) Ariel. He said if she starts acting up again, just unbox and keep the new one and bring the old one back.
Well I waited for about a week and I had no more problems, so this morning I returned the new Ariel back to Solar Breeze.
The way that Ariel works is when one or both of the optical sensors detects an obstruction (i.e. side of the pool), the processor will command one of the paddle-wheels to turn the opposite direction which causes Ariel to back up and turn in a circle until the obstacle is no longer detected. Then both paddle-wheels will again turn in the same direction and away she goes in a straight course.
Paul stated that anytime that Ariel starts turning in circles, it usually means that something is obstructing one or both optical sensors. If this happens, just wipe off the optical sensors with a clean soft cloth or you can use a couple of drops of Windex on a soft cloth and clean the optical sensors. In most cases, this will solve the issue.
r.
