DX3 won't climb. Just sits on bottom and spins.

[PoolStored]

Dolphin DX3. Pool closed, just wanted to get leaves and oddly, lots of earthworms. It went around a bunch and boy did I get a sackfull. However, I noticed that it tended to go headlong into the wall and just sit there spinning.

Tracks are old, but the foam donuts, that I think are used for traction (tracks don't really touch the bottom?) are brand new. Liner is BRAND new. Water is about 47 degrees.

Thoughts?
Cold water? (just wait until it warms up).
Replace the tracks? (old hard rubber can't grip, especially with cold water, replace them).
New Liner? (Not sure if there is anything I can do about that).
Dead Dolphin (it generally worked, I got a bag full after I got it to "go around."

Do you agree that I should replace the tracks? or is this a behavior you see when a dolphin is dying? Or Dolphin is fine and I just need to wait for water temp to rise to use it?

What is your experience? THANKS!

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Mine (5 year old S300i) starting having similar issues with sluggish motion, poor thrust turning, etc. It finally starting throwing all sorts of weird “out of water” errors and then would just stop moving. I replaced all the rubber components (tracks, brushes, etc) and even got a set of spring cleaning mesh panels in an attempt to add less head loss to the water pump. But, it’s basically dead.

When my new suction cleaner arrives, I’ll be using that to clean the pool and then I’ll do a post-mortem on my robot. My hypothesis is that the water pump motor inside the motor assembly is probably shot. It’s a less than $50 electric motor component inside of a $450 motor assembly, but Dolphin does not supply those individual sub components for fixes. You’re forced to buy the entire motor assembly.

My guess is your robot is on its way to a watery grave …