Howdy Laura. Please clarify: when you mentioned plugging the battery power cord to the wall, I assume you meant the battery charger? The battery power cord have two ends. One end goes to the Li-Ion battery pack inside the pool cleaner unit and the other end goes to the floating pod. this cord internally has 4 wires (Red/Black/Yellow/White). In the pod there is a hexagonal circuit board with 3 relays that control the power-up sequence/charging/pool motor. The board has a 3-wire connection to the charger (Red/Black/White) that correspond to the 3-pin pod round connector. This connector then connects to the charger with via a cable. The charger has an On/Off touch switch (blue LEDs) and an AC power cord to 110VAC wall plug. Currently, I have just replaced one of that relay (RT44012) and connect everything back up. Everything looked and work normal now. The battery is charging, so i don't yet know if the new relay fixed everything or just a connect/disconnect that brought all back. Stay tuned.
Cordless M5 Liberty
- Thread starter lka674
- Start date
Yes...I did mean the charger. I had to unscrew the A/C power cord completely off from the charging station. When I removed it, there was corrosion and rust both inside the a/c cord receptacle on the charging station and all over the end of the a/c cord that attaches there itself. When I cleaned this all up, it started charging again fine...but if I go out of sequence of how to begin or end a charging cycle with the actual cleaner, it has once given me the "no connection" alert too....so I don't really know what the root cause of my issue was. Yes....I will stay tuned. If replacing something on the circuit board works for you I will know to try that next time!
Charging (orange LED) when I went to bed last night. This morning it was fully charged (green LED). I then power the charger off, disconnect the charging cable (not the AC cable), press the pod power button, AND, nothing happened (no pod flashing LEDs as expected). Reconnect everything, press charger power button, AND, charger LEDs cycles and then stopped at "No Connection".
I then disconnect the 4-pin connector from the battery pack cable to the pod, plug it back in, and as I pushed the pod On switch I get the normal green and red LEDs flashing followed by a blinking blue LED every few seconds. So I am still trying to figure out what is going on.
I then disconnect the 4-pin connector from the battery pack cable to the pod, plug it back in, and as I pushed the pod On switch I get the normal green and red LEDs flashing followed by a blinking blue LED every few seconds. So I am still trying to figure out what is going on.
Could the l-ion battery inside the cleaner itself be starting to go bad ya think? Weird!
After fully charging the battery today, it will not turn on. I then disconnect and reconnect the 4-pin connector inside the pod. The unit the worked normal. I can turn on or off at will. Placed the cleaner in the pool and it cleaned the pool for a complete cycle then it shuts off on its own.
Took it out of the pool, turn the pod switch on, it worked. Turn it off then on again and it still works. So then with pod powered off I put it in the caddy, connect the charging cable, plug the charger to the wall, turn on the charger, got a few red/green flashing LEDs on the pod and then it began charging. So we'll see how it behaves tomorrow. The DIFFERENCE from previous attempts are that I did not physically switch it on/off after the auto clean shuts down by itself. This time I did.
Ignore all of the above. There is something wrong in the pod circuit board or it was designed incorrectly. Somehow, although the voltages coming out of the battery inside the cleaner are OK, the pod will somehow refuse to turn on. Connections are fine, but the voltages entering the pod circuit board is not always being passed to the On/Off switch and ditto with battery state/presence to the charger connector.
Took it out of the pool, turn the pod switch on, it worked. Turn it off then on again and it still works. So then with pod powered off I put it in the caddy, connect the charging cable, plug the charger to the wall, turn on the charger, got a few red/green flashing LEDs on the pod and then it began charging. So we'll see how it behaves tomorrow. The DIFFERENCE from previous attempts are that I did not physically switch it on/off after the auto clean shuts down by itself. This time I did.
Ignore all of the above. There is something wrong in the pod circuit board or it was designed incorrectly. Somehow, although the voltages coming out of the battery inside the cleaner are OK, the pod will somehow refuse to turn on. Connections are fine, but the voltages entering the pod circuit board is not always being passed to the On/Off switch and ditto with battery state/presence to the charger connector.
BobbyR
0
BobbyR said:
I'm not quite ready to concede on that. Maytronics did not offer to fix it for a fee yet, and if they do I wonder how much they would
charge considering that their list price for the Liberty is about $2500.
Good news. It seemed that Maytronics has changed their mind and perhaps decided to honor the warranty to fix whatever problem I have with this unit. The Director of Training sent me an email requesting info (SN and mailing address) and then will give me an RMA so their Master Technicians can look at the problem.
BobbyR
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That's great news.
One question, perhaps a dumb one but here it is: How do you get the Liberty out of the pool when it's finished? I have an M4 and I just pull it to the surface with the cord. But, with no cord how do you retrieve it?
One question, perhaps a dumb one but here it is: How do you get the Liberty out of the pool when it's finished? I have an M4 and I just pull it to the surface with the cord. But, with no cord how do you retrieve it?
BobbyR said:
It actually does have a cord. It goes to a float on the surface. So you still do pull the robot to the surface with the cord.
mpnret said:
As mpnet posted, the Liberty has a floating pod on a 6' blue cord (just like your wired M4) connected to the cleaner. This pod also contain the chip/circuitry/antenna that respond to the remote control unit. The pod comes with a charging plug cap so water does not get to the contact pins. The charging connector itself is waterproof, but the 3 pins are exposed, so the cap keeps the contact pins dry.
The Liberty comes with a short pole and hook, so that you can reach over and hook the floating pod if the cleaner did not return to its original location where you initially drop it in (it is supposed to do that). So, once you get a hold of the pod, pull the cleaner close to you while it is still under water, then grab the handle of the cleaner, and lift it out of the water.
I actually don't have one of these to measure but are you sure about the 6' cord length? Sounds like the float would be underwater at the deep end of a lot of pools or the robot would be lifted off the bottom by the float.cmdrdata said:
mpnret said:
Sorry, you're right, it is probably longer. I just glibly wrote 6' because my pool is 6' deep and I know that there is slack there, so perhaps it is longer. The manual did say that I can order a longer cord, if needed.
An update: I sent my LIBerty to Maytronics after they approved an RMA. The first week it got there nothing happened as they were in the mids of a week long inventory. I waited another week, and turned out they misplaced it in their warehouse but managed to find it. So 3 weeks later it was fixed and sent back to me.
Today I charged it and put it the water. Worked perfectly and collected all the leaves/debris that were in the water. I had to empty the filter pack half way through as it was full of leaves. At the end of the cycle, I retrieve it from the pool, hook it up to the charger and it worked just fine. Hooray.
Today I charged it and put it the water. Worked perfectly and collected all the leaves/debris that were in the water. I had to empty the filter pack half way through as it was full of leaves. At the end of the cycle, I retrieve it from the pool, hook it up to the charger and it worked just fine. Hooray.
This thread is very interesting and perhaps is leading to a great product after a little time in the marketplace.
My reason for posting is that throughout this thread, pool size is being ignored or, at least, unmentioned. You can't do that when you are considering an autovac.
"This cleaner works fantastic" is not a careful analysis.
"This cleaner works fantastic in my particular pool" will help everyone understand the importance of the capacity of a cleaner.....don't overlook it.
I have a large, debris prone pool (43k) and my dolphin premier takes about five hours (sometimes daily) to keep the pool really clean. Obviously the battery operated cleaner would be completely inappropriate for my pool but makes sense for OP's 11k pool.
When you are learning and shopping for vacs, you must take the "cleaning power" of the vac as perhaps your foremost consideration and size your auto-vac accordingly.
My reason for posting is that throughout this thread, pool size is being ignored or, at least, unmentioned. You can't do that when you are considering an autovac.
"This cleaner works fantastic" is not a careful analysis.
"This cleaner works fantastic in my particular pool" will help everyone understand the importance of the capacity of a cleaner.....don't overlook it.
I have a large, debris prone pool (43k) and my dolphin premier takes about five hours (sometimes daily) to keep the pool really clean. Obviously the battery operated cleaner would be completely inappropriate for my pool but makes sense for OP's 11k pool.
When you are learning and shopping for vacs, you must take the "cleaning power" of the vac as perhaps your foremost consideration and size your auto-vac accordingly.
Just a tip, I believe the OP said they leave the cleaner out of the pool covered by a tarp. I really wouldn't recommend that as it will still heat up in the sun. I'd suggest storing it inside if possible. I went through repair after repair on my blue diamond and it seems it was because I was taking it out of the pool and storing it on my deck. I put a towel over it to keep it out of direct sun and still the motors, the power supply etc would just go one after the other. Now I just leave the cleaner in the pool, its been in there well over a year now and I take the power supply in the house when not using it.
robl45 said:
So you mean you are leaving the cordless M5 Liberty in the pool non stop? I would LOVE to do that...but the manual specifically says it should not be kept in the pool or extended periods of time. It also says it should not be kept in water temps below something in the 50 degree arena I believe....and our water temp stays between about 36 and 54 during the winter months depending on the weather. I've been lazy a few times to where it's stayed in there a few days....but that's about it. I usually store it under our covered pool equipment deck and keep a tarp over it as well (despite the covered deck) just in case we have wind and rain.
I'd LOVE to leave the heavy thing in the water and just keep the power supply stored indoors if I knew that was ok to do despite the user's guide. Did you speak with someone in service that advised it was ok? Please let me know!
Thanks!!!!
Laura
No I have a blue diamond cleaner. I don't know about leaving the battery operated one in the pool, just wanted to state that a tarp will likely not protect it well. You want to keep it indoors ideally and away from the sun.
lka674 said:
Don;t waste your money on Maytronics Dolpin M5 Liberty. It is way too expensive and unreliable. When it worked, it is great and cleaned the pool well, but, it is also fairly heavy to put and remove from the pool. It is NOT designed to stay in the pool all the time.
If you are determined to get it, I'll sell it to you mine for a third of their list price as is. I bought my M5 Liberty late last summer from the internet, brand new. Worked for 2-3 cycles then it developed amnesia and would not charge unless I disconnect and reconnect the circuit board inside the pod. That evidently reset the system. Initially Maytronics refuse to honor the warranty even though it was bought new. They refer to a small print warranty clause on internet purchase via the internet on their website, but later they decided to honor it. It cost me $80 to ship it and got it back 3 weeks later. I used it a couple of time before my pool closure for the winter. A couple of weeks ago I re-opened my pool and after charging the battery fully. It worked exactly one time and it developed amnesia again as before. I re-opened the pod and discovered that the 4-pin contacts for the circuit board have green stuff copper oxidation and there is water INSIDE the pod. Cleaned it up and it worked for another cycle, but then again I got water inside the pod which was supposed to be waterproof. This time, Maytronics says no because I opened the pod. Cleaning the pins works but without effective way of sealing the water entering the pod it keeps developing amnesia. I finally managed to use tie wraps to seal the rubber to plastic strain relief and that stops the water entry completely. But now I think some other corrosion yet to be found has developed. I can charge, turn it on, etc, but the unit is not powering up when turned on. I am giving up on this unit and will now sell it.
If you are determined to get it, I'll sell it to you mine for a third of their list price as is. I bought my M5 Liberty late last summer from the internet, brand new. Worked for 2-3 cycles then it developed amnesia and would not charge unless I disconnect and reconnect the circuit board inside the pod. That evidently reset the system. Initially Maytronics refuse to honor the warranty even though it was bought new. They refer to a small print warranty clause on internet purchase via the internet on their website, but later they decided to honor it. It cost me $80 to ship it and got it back 3 weeks later. I used it a couple of time before my pool closure for the winter. A couple of weeks ago I re-opened my pool and after charging the battery fully. It worked exactly one time and it developed amnesia again as before. I re-opened the pod and discovered that the 4-pin contacts for the circuit board have green stuff copper oxidation and there is water INSIDE the pod. Cleaned it up and it worked for another cycle, but then again I got water inside the pod which was supposed to be waterproof. This time, Maytronics says no because I opened the pod. Cleaning the pins works but without effective way of sealing the water entering the pod it keeps developing amnesia. I finally managed to use tie wraps to seal the rubber to plastic strain relief and that stops the water entry completely. But now I think some other corrosion yet to be found has developed. I can charge, turn it on, etc, but the unit is not powering up when turned on. I am giving up on this unit and will now sell it.