How long should a Maytronics "Robot" last

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T

toofast

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May 9, 2013
995
North East Ohio
So frustrated, but figured I would get some feedback as maybe I have unrealistic expectations....or I brought the wrong Brand Robot.

I leave in NE, so pool season is 5 months. I am starting year 3 with my Nautius Robot. The day I bought it, it already needed a warranty repair around the power supply, and now 2 years later the same thing is happening again with the power supply.

I am not rich, so I am OCD about this cleaner, never stays in pool overnight. It is stored indoor climate controlled when not in use and all winter long, etc etc.

I use it about once a week for 5 months, so that means it has about 24 - 30 cleaning cycles on it, seems like that is nothing....if I do the math, I would be better off hiring someone to vacuum the old fashioned way.

Maytronics seems to think this is normal and I should purchase a new one :(

Anyways...what be your thoughts ?
 
Well... I figure it should die at about the 2 year 1 day mark.. just enough to get it out of warranty. Just like every car dies at 36,001 miles. Now the serious side.. I to had a power supply die within the first week of ownership. They replaced it and I haven't had an issue since. I have about 20 days left on my warranty, so if something is going to break, I hope it does it pretty soon. Unlike you, I leave my cleaner in the pool for a couple days at a time, so I can run a couple cycles inbetween basket cleanings. I really don't take any extra care other than rinsing it off when I rinse the basket. So far I probably have a 150 or more cycles run and it still just chugs along.

It in the short run.. get one of those GFCI testers (looks like a little plug) to make sure you have a proper ground at the outlet where you plug in the robot. The power supply electronics are very temperamental when it comes to power surges, brown outs, lightning strikes.. etc.
 
Where I am in NY, we usually see 7-10 years depending on use with one or two repairs in the $200 range in that lifetime.

Personally, I think Maytronics switching to the solid state power supplies was a bad move. They just aren't anywhere near as durable as the old analog ones, and they can't be opened for repair like previous models.
 
Thanks guys.....guess I will see if we can get her repaired. Seems like it should have lasted longer....

And yep the plug is correct, my father in law is a electrician and he makes sure I test every outlet....it passed with flying colors...well 2 yellows anyways :)
Guess next robot I will get should have a different style power supply.
 
toofast said:
So frustrated, but figured I would get some feedback as maybe I have unrealistic expectations....or I brought the wrong Brand Robot.

I leave in NE, so pool season is 5 months. I am starting year 3 with my Nautius Robot. The day I bought it, it already needed a warranty repair around the power supply, and now 2 years later the same thing is happening again with the power supply.

I am not rich, so I am OCD about this cleaner, never stays in pool overnight. It is stored indoor climate controlled when not in use and all winter long, etc etc.

I use it about once a week for 5 months, so that means it has about 24 - 30 cleaning cycles on it, seems like that is nothing....if I do the math, I would be better off hiring someone to vacuum the old fashioned way.

Maytronics seems to think this is normal and I should purchase a new one :(

Anyways...what be your thoughts ?
Click to expand...

My original 15 year old Dolphin Diagnostic still works, although I had to go through 2 power supplies (the old ones were notoriously flawed). My current S300 is going strong after 3 years. I babied it in years 1 and 2 then I got lazy and kept it in for longer stretches. Plastic has faded somewhat but works like it did on day 1.
 
thebombardier said:
Where I am in NY, we usually see 7-10 years depending on use with one or two repairs in the $200 range in that lifetime.

Personally, I think Maytronics switching to the solid state power supplies was a bad move. They just aren't anywhere near as durable as the old analog ones, and they can't be opened for repair like previous models.
Click to expand...

Do you mean they are using switching power supplies vs Linear?

The older Linear supplies have inherent transient voltage suppression in the fact that it has a transformer at the beginning which has poor high frequency response. They are simple, big, heavy and inefficient.
If the power supplies go bad, would surges be the main cause? GFCI breakers are might trip on a lightning strike nearby but won't block the initial electronics killing surge that can take out power supplies.
What sucks for me (I do industrial Kiosks at Car Washes) is that some many UL standards I have to adhere to have restricted what I put in my products for surge suppression. We often have to recommend separate surge suppression.
Breaker panel MOVs are great, but don't last forever. If anyone gets one, get one that has an indicator light which shows when its working or not.
 
Melnic said:
Do you mean they are using switching power supplies vs Linear?

The older Linear supplies have inherent transient voltage suppression in the fact that it has a transformer at the beginning which has poor high frequency response. They are simple, big, heavy and inefficient.
If the power supplies go bad, would surges be the main cause? GFCI breakers are might trip on a lightning strike nearby but won't block the initial electronics killing surge that can take out power supplies.
What sucks for me (I do industrial Kiosks at Car Washes) is that some many UL standards I have to adhere to have restricted what I put in my products for surge suppression. We often have to recommend separate surge suppression.
Breaker panel MOVs are great, but don't last forever. If anyone gets one, get one that has an indicator light which shows when its working or not.
Click to expand...

I'm not a electrical engineer by any stretch of the imagination, I've just taken an electrical principles course in college and know enough to not get myself killed. But the older Dolphin power supplies were relatively simple and easily serviced. It was a 2.5A circuit breaker switch or a normal DPDT switch with a 2.5A fuse, a 120V/24V step down transformer, a plain printed PCB with capacitors and any other add on circuitry to it if needed like remote control or timer functions, then a bridge diode which goes out to the socket. I haven't even tried cutting open a newer power supply because it's not worth my time but what I've been able so see by taking off the socket and peeking in it's just one big PCB in there, all solid state. Beyond my knowledge.
 
thebombardier said:
I'm not a electrical engineer by any stretch of the imagination, I've just taken an electrical principles course in college and know enough to not get myself killed. But the older Dolphin power supplies were relatively simple and easily serviced. It was a 2.5A circuit breaker switch or a normal DPDT switch with a 2.5A fuse, a 120V/24V step down transformer, a plain printed PCB with capacitors and any other add on circuitry to it if needed like remote control or timer functions, then a bridge diode which goes out to the socket. I haven't even tried cutting open a newer power supply because it's not worth my time but what I've been able so see by taking off the socket and peeking in it's just one big PCB in there, all solid state. Beyond my knowledge.
Click to expand...

(yes, I"m sort of going off topic)
Yup, thats a linear power supply. I would fully expect them to go switcher cause under many circumstances, they are less expensive, smaller, 2x more efficient and lighter.
You won't see them many audio equipment though or low noise applications.
If you have power supply issues, definitely need more surge suppression for a pool panel. I know many here urge suppressors with VS pumps, likely for the same reason.
 
My Dolphin Nautilus is 5 years old with original power supply and I've not had a single issue with it at all. Still going strong.

I took a on the telephone survey with a market research guy about robots in general - not brand specific - a couple years ago and one of the questions he asked, was, "what do you consider a good value?" My answer was no trouble for 3 years and prorate the price over that period of time, so about 20$ or so a month would be a good value to me.

I would say now going on 5 years, at a price of 600 ish $, I am very happy with my investment in the Nautilus and have recommended it to many folks.
I would not be unhappy if it died tonight, but I hope it just keeps on ticking, and ticking and ticking. Just like my 20 some-odd year old Timex watch.

I hate to hear y'all have been having such problems.
 
My Maytronics Supreme M4 is 5 years old and has been left outside every summer, left in the water overnight many times, and it still works great, no problems at all. I am giving it a rehab this summer with new tracks, rollers, climbing rollers, etc. Hope it lasts another few years.
 

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My Dolphin M500 had to have the power supply replaced at year 2. Fortunately I have a 3 year warranty. Hopefully this one will last a bit longer. I do leave mine out on it’s caddy all season long, except if I know we’re getting a cold snap or high winds/rain.
 
Long time listener, first time caller.

Just wanted to add one more data point to the thread. My first pool bot was a DX3 that lasted 2 1/2 years running two cycles per day, every day, and was left in the pool 24/7 except when cleaning the filter panels.

It's interesting to read about the 5+ year life cycles many are experiencing with proper care. I know I'm harder on my equipment than most.
 
Kind of disheartening to read all of this. I just got my first Dolphin in late April. Opened the pool early May, robot ran great for two weekends, but now won't move. At least it is still under warranty, but reading about these touchy power supplies has me worried.
 
Pauls234 said:
Kind of disheartening to read all of this. I just got my first Dolphin in late April. Opened the pool early May, robot ran great for two weekends, but now won't move. At least it is still under warranty, but reading about these touchy power supplies has me worried.
Click to expand...

You have to consider how many thousands of Robots are sold and only a select few people are running to a message board to report it. I would never gauge the quality of a product based on negative posts on the internet. Some people seek out the internet to report when they have been wronged, and the majority of people don't. Most people that are happy with something, may tell a friend or a neighbor, but then just move on with life. Guess who's voice gets amplified and blown out of proportion the most?
 
Actually there seems to be far more people that rave about their dolphin than complain about it on this forum, so if I was basing my comments on those anecdotal observations I would probably be saying the opposite.

It was the commentary on the seemingly finicky design of the power supplies by those with working experience that has me concerned. That plus mine dying on its 4th cycle.
 
I understand your concern with the power supply... heck, I started this thread and had one fail in the first few cycles as well. Almost two years and it has been easy sailing with no issues. My comments above were based on being part of 20 or more forums over the past 20 years, mostly car related. The F-150 forum is worst of the bunch. People complain about everything and if all you did were search on google for a similar problem, you would think that every truck has the same issues. Most quoted "I can't believe such and such doesn't work on my $60 K truck".
 

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