Dolphin Nautilus CC Plus stopping - Have not seen this one before!

[PoolBoy631]

Hello. Starting a new thread as I have read every single thing I can find and have not seen any issue which mimics what I am experiencing. I have a Dolphin Nautilus CC Plus, a few years old. Was working fine until this year. I put the cleaner in the pool and it starts and runs just fine for a few minutes and then it stops. Sounds typical, but it gets more interesting.

I have been through all the other topics (checked impeller, took it apart, testing cable, checked the swivel, took apart treads, etc.). What is unique about what I am experiencing is that it will run for 2.5 minutes every time and then stop on the first wall it attempts to climb after 2.5 minutes. If it is on a wall when it reaches 2.5 minutes, is stops and drops to bottom immediately. Prior to 2.5 minutes it runs perfectly, climbs walls, etc. I have timed it dozens of times and it stops at 2.5 minutes every time.

I ran the power supply independently from the robot and it turns on and does not turn off at 2.5 minutes, so I presume it is something in the robot that is shutting it down.

I have not taken apart the motor assembly yet to inspect bearings, brushes, etc. but was hoping for some helpful guidance before going the next step if folks have seen this behavior before.

UPDATE: I took apart the entire cleaner today and did not notice anything out of the ordinary. When putting it back together, I tested the robot at each step of the way.

The robot will run continuously if the blue cover is not on the robot! If I add the cover back on the robot, it stops every time. Please help. There is nothing in the cover that I can tell that will prevent the robot from running other than potentially impacting the water flow somehow. I even added weight to the robot with the cover off and it ran fine.

Thanks

 

[Texas Splash]

Good morning and welcome to TFP! I'm afraid I don't have a good answer for your situation. Figured it was time to welcome you and try to give this question some visibility. Maybe another Dolphin owner can give you some ideas. Thanks for posting and enjoy the forum.

 

[PoolBoy631]

Good morning and welcome to TFP! I'm afraid I don't have a good answer for your situation. Figured it was time to welcome you and try to give this question some visibility. Maybe another Dolphin owner can give you some ideas. Thanks for posting and enjoy the forum.

Thank you! So far, not luck. I have been on the phone with local dealers that have no idea on what this could be and they suggested contracting Maytronics. Did the chat on the maytronics website which did not lead anywhere and I am still trying to get through to a person at Maytronics. waited 30 minutes today with no one picking up.

 

[ir6ub9]

Please check your motor gear drive. It is what makes the movement. These things wear down. You need part 9983142 more than likey.

 

[ecblount]

Hi Poolboy631, were you able to find any answers to your issue, I am having the same problem (or close to it), although mine runs about 10 minutes and stops. If I unplug the swivel cable from the power supply and plug it back in, it will start back up (for another 10 minutes). The power supply doesn't shut off, just the robot. Interesting that mine is also about three years old. I keep getting pushed to change out the cable, but I can't figure out how that would be the issue, and its a little expensive to try as a test ($180).

 

[ride525]

I'm having the same problem. In mine, actually the screw holding the motor gear drive was loose. I dropped the screw and can't find it. I will put back together with different M3 screw and report back.

 

[ride525]

I put in what I consider a temporary screw, a M3 that cut to close the correct length, it has a pan head and it not stainless steel. But the Doheny Advantage is working like new. I have some stainless steel screws coming from Amazon on Sunday. I think I will try a small amount of Loctite on the threads. New stainless M3 flat head 10mm screws work perfect. A bit of Loctite and robot is working great.

 

[bob.lehardy]

Trying to troubleshoot my Dolphin CC Plus. Just replaced the blue cable, tracks, and rollers, but it is still not moving. Someone mentioned (above) about the white plastic gear...where is that located? Inside the motor box, I'm guessing? Anyone can provide tips for accessing. I can see four deep recessed screws that look like they hold the box inside bot...after that, how do I get in?

 

[Ollie18]

Checking to see if anyone has gotten an answer to this mysterious stopping of the Dolphin...? My runs about 5-10 minutes and then stops. Sometimes it will run a full cycle and sometimes it just stops. The unit is 2.5 years old and never had any issues. seeking information on this issue??

 

[Gladius Nova]

Interested in the fix for this also since the Dolphin CC is the one I have my eye on for our future pool build.

 

[wobarg80]

I'm jumping on the band wagon here, hoping someone has found a solution. @ecblount I have almost the exact same issue as you: robot is 3.5 years old, runs for 5-10 minutes and just stops completely. No errors, power supply is still on, no idea. Someone suggested trying a schedule setting on the power supply but that didn't work.

 

[bsenright]

I started having this same problem recently. as some have mentioned, if you can tilt the unit a bit while under water, some bubbles will come out and it will start back up. so I don't think this is a cord issue. it seems if air gets in a certain location and throws it off balance just a little, it will stop. I am going to figure this thing out one way or the other and will post here

 

[Chief2505]

I will have to check my unit out. I recently had the liner replaced and they put a new main drain cover on. Since then, my unit is getting stuck on the drain every time I have ran it! But now I am wondering if it is not just turning off like others have experienced! I will have to watch it run today to see. I do not know how old mine is, I had to send mine in last year for warranty repair and I received a different reman unit back.

 

[dgutch]

Mine stops right before it climbs the wall.

 

[Telehead]

I am having the same issue but with the Triton Model, which is about the same. I have tried everything and still works for a few minutes and then stops. The only thing I have not tried is a new motor and if I am going to spend that much, I'll just get a new robot.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Intermittent runs and stops are almost always a motor assembly issue. The electronics inside the motor assembly are the brains of the unit and when it senses even the slightest over current in the drive motor or the impeller motor, it will shutdown the robot. The motor needs to be pulled out and opened up. If water has gotten inside the unit that is typically from a bad seal and the unit is probably trashed. If the carbon brushes are worn out, then they can sometimes be rebuilt but not without a lot of work. If the drive motor has gone bad, the only spares for those are sold online at eBay by an overseas seller in Israel. They are typically scavenged parts from old robots.

Generally speaking, once the motor assembly goes bad, it is not financially sensible to try to fix it. You simply trash the robot and buy a new one. That’s how these cleaners are designed.

 

[Orion7319]

Intermittent runs and stops are almost always a motor assembly issue. The electronics inside the motor assembly are the brains of the unit and when it senses even the slightest over current in the drive motor or the impeller motor, it will shutdown the robot. The motor needs to be pulled out and opened up. If water has gotten inside the unit that is typically from a bad seal and the unit is probably trashed. If the carbon brushes are worn out, then they can sometimes be rebuilt but not without a lot of work. If the drive motor has gone bad, the only spares for those are sold online at eBay by an overseas seller in Israel. They are typically scavenged parts from old robots.

Generally speaking, once the motor assembly goes bad, it is not financially sensible to try to fix it. You simply trash the robot and buy a new one. That’s how these cleaners are designed.

Mine was doing that once and it was the power supply, which Dolphin replaced under warranty. Mine is dead at the moment and I think it’s the cable. Ordered one on Amazon so I can return it if it doesn’t fix it.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Mine was doing that once and it was the power supply, which Dolphin replaced under warranty. Mine is dead at the moment and I think it’s the cable. Ordered one on Amazon so I can return it if it doesn’t fix it.

A power supply or cable failure is certainly preferable to the motor assembly -

Cable (non-swivel) ~ $100
Cable (swivel) ~$199
Power supply ~$250
Motor assembly ~$500

Sadly, the most frequently failed component is the motor assembly. Maytronics does not sell the internal parts to the motor so even if you can isolate what’s wrong, it’s nearly impossible to fix. It makes no sense to buy a motor assembly when the cost is more than half of what a new unit goes for. Power supplies don’t fail that often because they are fairly simple - switched mode AC/DC power supply and some simple Bluetooth/WiFi hardware. As long as the power supply isn’t fried by some electrical surge or left out in the rain (they are “water resistant” not water proof), they will typically outlive the robot. Cables usually get damaged accidentally or they age and wear out causing shorts. The swivel cables have the most issues because the rotational connector can easily go bad. Many on here with swivels have to service them annually to keep them working properly. Even then, they sometimes just have to be replaced.

 

[Orion7319]

A power supply or cable failure is certainly preferable to the motor assembly -

Cable (non-swivel) ~ $100
Cable (swivel) ~$199
Power supply ~$250
Motor assembly ~$500

Sadly, the most frequently failed component is the motor assembly. Maytronics does not sell the internal parts to the motor so even if you can isolate what’s wrong, it’s nearly impossible to fix. It makes no sense to buy a motor assembly when the cost is more than half of what a new unit goes for. Power supplies don’t fail that often because they are fairly simple - switched mode AC/DC power supply and some simple Bluetooth/WiFi hardware. As long as the power supply isn’t fried by some electrical surge or left out in the rain (they are “water resistant” not water proof), they will typically outlive the robot. Cables usually get damaged accidentally or they age and wear out causing shorts. The swivel cables have the most issues because the rotational connector can easily go bad. Many on here with swivels have to service them annually to keep them working properly. Even then, they sometimes just have to be replaced.

I found an aftermarket cable for it for $130.00. It was running fine and then just quit. The outer jacket of the cable has started to disintegrate where it enters the robot. I can jiggle the cable sometimes and get it to start. I took the cable out and did a continuity test on it with my multimeter and continuity was cutting in and out. So I know the cable is bad, just don’t know if that might have shorted something out or caused additional damage. My wife went ahead and ordered an Aiper S1 from Amazon which should arrive today. Based on the reviews it may or may not work in my pool, but it’s worth a shot. If not it will go right back to Amazon and I’ll try something else. For a battery powered robot it was cheap enough to buy. Ideally, I can get the Dolphin running again and run it every now and then, as it has the fine pleated filters the S1 lacks and use the S1 in Eco mode to do a quick clean every other day without taking out my two bettas out of the pool.

 

[TCardenas]

Not sure if it is directly related, but my Dolphin S200 had a motor issue months ago. It would start fine (blue light flashing) move back and forth then shut off. In the pool, out of the pool, made no difference. I took it all the way apart and couldn't find anything obvious. I popped the tabs on the motor housing to look inside for water - everything was dry. There was some sort of silica-type pack in there too - all dry.

I ended up springing for a new motor unit from Amazon. It was about 1/2 the cost of replacing with a similar Dolphin model. Once I swapped out the motor unit, it is back working normally.