Dolphin Premier M5 - 4th Season Refurb

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I think if your Robot rubbed the liner and made holes, there would be wear evidence of some kind. The only possible way around this I can see, is if there were something underneath, poking the liner. Like a large piece of grit, or a tiny bit of gravel. Something like that. Now, it's only one pool, but my friend with an M5 has vinyl, and his has never caused any issues.

So, to me, it seems if you had a lot of holes cause by what you describe, there would be some other wear evidence too.
 
Thanks for the info. This is my first pool and I always felt that the floor of the pool was real gritty and had a lot of little tiny bumps. When the pool company came out to change it, they said it was not normal that it was like that, but I'm not sure what caused it. The previous owner was very mean to everyone that worked on the house so they may have done a bad job just to get back at him. Who knows. It was hard for me to see wear evidence because the liner was faded, but I really did not see anything abnormal and the guys that put it in did not see anything. I just hated to have changed it out after 6 seasons, but it had a ton of little holes.
 
Yep, the floor of the pool is much smoother now. The pool guys redid a pool mix before they put the liner in.

I did order the parts. I had to call Maytronics to get some of the parts numbers. I looked at my Dolphin. The middle roller (clear one) has half of the "rolling pieces" missing. My foam climbing ring almost disintegrates in your hands. My tracks look like your old tracks and have worn traction on the sides. I went ahead and got 2 of the gray brushes and another filter set since mine were original. Spent about $250, but I think it was well worth it. Inyopools.com was charging me around $600 for the same order.

Appreciate all of your help and wisdom. Spending $250 to get this fixed is much more enticing than spending $1400 for a new one.
 
Indeed that's great to hear. Just curious why you had to call Maytronics. All that was in the Marina link I gave you. I ordered all mine from that page. Unreal that INYO wanted $600 for all that!! Ayeeee yaye yaye...:shock:
 
To remove the side covers, there are snap tabs holding it in place, located along the bottom edge, but first remove the four Phillips head #2 screws. After removing those, simply insert a small, flat (thin bladed) screwdriver into these and press the tab upward. You'll feel it release if you have upward tension on the end of the cover with your other hand. Once it releases, maintain the upward pressure, and move to the next one. Do this in succession until all are free, and then work your way around the entire cover until it pops free. These tabs on bottom are the only ones.

The opaque cover may seperate from the clear sprocket cover, but this is ok, amd easily snaps back in place. Really, this is it for the cover.

The main cover is a very precise and tight fit, so put it back with care, making sure all tabs are properly aligned.

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In this picture, you can see a piece that will fit into the end of the long tube. Use a larger flat blade screwdriver to ease it out. It acts as a flange to hold the rod in place, and once removed it makes it much easier to remove the brushes. A little pressure is then needed to remove the rod (actually a tube) from the "hooks" you see in the second picture.

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Great write up. I am on season 4 with an M4. Mine is still going a great job. But it is time to replace those foam rings and the original filters.
The last week I have noticed a small amount of styrofoam floating on the surface of my pool. I have been going nuts trying to figure out where it is coming from. Looking at your pictures make me wonder if it could be from the robot. Thanks Greg
 

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Gregd said:
Great write up. I am on season 4 with an M4. Mine is still going a great job. But it is time to replace those foam rings and the original filters.
The last week I have noticed a small amount of styrofoam floating on the surface of my pool. I have been going nuts trying to figure out where it is coming from. Looking at your pictures make me wonder if it could be from the robot. Thanks Greg
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Sure! My pleasure....and thanks for the kind words.

You need to pull the side panels off to see Greg. It's a long story, and I didn't include it but I had to replace two of mine during the refurb. I remember asking where it came from one weekend when I came home last summer. Styro beads everywhere! The family member helping me while away never fessed up, and I forgot all about it until I opened the cleaner for refurb.

Huh.....:scratch: that looks weird.....Ooohhhhh yeeeaaaa.... So THATS where all that came from! :shock:

After some lengthy discussion, I discovered more had happened while I was away than I was originally told. :rant:

Before my parts arrived, I tried running without one, and about half the remaining one. Needless to say, they are extremely important because they greatly affect the bouncy and balance of the unit. It is impossible for them to shift, as best I can tell...if they are replaced properly. If not, the main drive gear in the center will chew them up. Not having knowledge of this, anyone could miss it. You'll need to have them order these special order, as I got the last two he had on hand, and they don't normally stock them. I hope you'll update us on what you find.
 
Nice thread. The M series is fairly simple for DIYers compared to Dolphins of yore.

I would definitely replace those pullies (the bearings that attach to the drive motors). This inner ring touching the outer ring like in the pictures is a sign they need to be replaced.

As far as motor hours, I compare them to car miles. 1,000 hours on a motor is like 100,000 miles on a car. It's old, yes, but taken care of it will go way over that no problem. Most I've ever seen on a running unit was 5,600 hours on a commercial machine.
 
Patrick_B said:
Hey all, I recently did some refurb work on my Dolphin robot and thought I would share the info. I learned a few things talking with the Dealer Tech as well. I did this because I noticed some lack of performance on a couple of things that got my attention.
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Thanks for this! I just replaced my ultra fine filters, brushes, climbing rings and tracks because my Supreme M5 just wasn't cleaning well anymore. Bought it in 2014. I think The climbing rings were the main culprit as the new ones look and feel sooo much better.
 
Hi, I recently replaced the tracks and climbing rings on my M400 like Patrick chowed but my cleaner still isn’t climbing the walls. It tries but just can’t make it. We also just had a new liner installed so traction shouldn’t be a problem at all. Are there any other parts I should have replaced? Any ideas why it won’t climb? It’s driving me crazy.
 
Great post Patrick, thanks! My robot is only a year old but I'm sure I'll be looking at this in a few years.

Chris
 
pookiesunshine said:
Mine improved over time after replacing climbing rings; how long has it been since you replaced them? Did you check the styrofoam pieces to be sure intact?
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I replaced them yesterday as well as the tracks and then put it in the pool. I did check the styrofoam pieces and they looked good. I did see some really small pieces floating in the pool last night but I don't think it would be enough to cause problems.
 
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