My just-over-3-year-old (aka out of warranty) Dolphin m500 is having some issues.
The lights on the control unit behave like I'd expect them to- just turning it on, or cycling through the three programs, everything looks correct. But the cleaner won't move (that's not exactly true- every few times after an unplug/reset, he'll move a few inches then stop). Even after unplugging and resetting the control unit multiple times. Both filters (the winter/mesh ones, not the pleated filter ones) have been thoroughly cleaned. I brought out the remote, and can get him to drive backwards, forwards, and spin in both directions- but it's on the slower side and he veers when trying to go in a straight line, and now that I'm thinking about it, need to verify, but I think he slides in a downhill direction when he's not on absolutely flat floor). Which brings me to the next point- the impeller isn't turning. Or, if it is, it's not nearly what it usually is because there's absolutely no plume of water above him (I still need to hold him near the surface so I can visually inspect but my bet is it's not spinning at all). I thoroughly checked the impeller housing and there's nothing in the way. It spins by hand the way it always has.
Let's assume all the control electronics are working. I'm assuming there are three motors- one for each track, and the impeller motor. So maybe the impeller motor is shot. Maybe there's a safety mechanism that won't allow it to run if the impeller isn't spinning (which provides traction, especially going up a wall). If the motor itself isn't shot, maybe a connector in the cleaner came apart. I have yet to look up the pin diagram of the line that runs from the control unit to the cleaner, but I can't imagine each motor has it's own line. So I'm getting voltage to the cleaner as I should.
If we assume it is the controller, that's just not sending the correct signal, I need to take it in to be diagnosed. It's probably not a blown cap I can replace (although I'm not voiding a warranty by popping it open to check)
After discussing with myself, I'm going to take it in to be diagnosed (I've got a factory-approved reseller close by that I trust).
However, are there any other things I can check before doing that?
Thanks!
The lights on the control unit behave like I'd expect them to- just turning it on, or cycling through the three programs, everything looks correct. But the cleaner won't move (that's not exactly true- every few times after an unplug/reset, he'll move a few inches then stop). Even after unplugging and resetting the control unit multiple times. Both filters (the winter/mesh ones, not the pleated filter ones) have been thoroughly cleaned. I brought out the remote, and can get him to drive backwards, forwards, and spin in both directions- but it's on the slower side and he veers when trying to go in a straight line, and now that I'm thinking about it, need to verify, but I think he slides in a downhill direction when he's not on absolutely flat floor). Which brings me to the next point- the impeller isn't turning. Or, if it is, it's not nearly what it usually is because there's absolutely no plume of water above him (I still need to hold him near the surface so I can visually inspect but my bet is it's not spinning at all). I thoroughly checked the impeller housing and there's nothing in the way. It spins by hand the way it always has.
Let's assume all the control electronics are working. I'm assuming there are three motors- one for each track, and the impeller motor. So maybe the impeller motor is shot. Maybe there's a safety mechanism that won't allow it to run if the impeller isn't spinning (which provides traction, especially going up a wall). If the motor itself isn't shot, maybe a connector in the cleaner came apart. I have yet to look up the pin diagram of the line that runs from the control unit to the cleaner, but I can't imagine each motor has it's own line. So I'm getting voltage to the cleaner as I should.
If we assume it is the controller, that's just not sending the correct signal, I need to take it in to be diagnosed. It's probably not a blown cap I can replace (although I'm not voiding a warranty by popping it open to check)
After discussing with myself, I'm going to take it in to be diagnosed (I've got a factory-approved reseller close by that I trust).
However, are there any other things I can check before doing that?
Thanks!