New Dolphin – Disappointing Results

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suburbiaboy

Well-known member
May 12, 2018
65
Ontario, Canada
Hi all, I just bought a new Dolphin Explorer E20. Not sure what that's equivalent to but it's a low end model with one brush.

I've been looking at these things for 3+ years and finally pulled the plug: CA$1000 later and what a disappointment.

I've run it around 5 times now and it just kind of bounces back and forth missing huge parts of the pool. And I mean after five runs there are large parts of the pool it's never been to. It is able to climb all of the walls and slopes with no problem but only occasionally does it go all the way to the surface. It doesn't struggle, it just stops and goes back down immediately after going vertical.

It also seems to favour two or three places which it will visit over and over – I assume because the pool shape is guiding it? I've tried starting it in different places running the cable from different sides and it just seems to make very little difference.

I have a 16x32 hopper shaped vinyl pool with fairly smooth transitions between surfaces. Is this unusual behaviour or did I just get my hopes up that it would be amazing? Do these things have any smarts at all? so far it seems more simplistic than my base model Roomba (half the cost) which at least knows roughly where it's been.
 
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S-Boy,

I have used several S200 "style" robots and none of them had those problems.

There is no doubt they are dumb as a rock, but if I have just one dime-sized leaf in the bottom of my pool, it will be gone 90% of the time after just once cycle and 100% of the time after two cycles.

The unit you have does not clean the tile line. If it did it would have vents on both sides where water is blown out, so that the unit moves sideways when at the tile line.

Something is wrong, but I have no idea what.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
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The first answer is No, they don't really have smarts in that they don't laser-map the pool or remember where they've been. As far as I know, all of them operate by randomly moving and turning. I believe they do know when they are on the floor or wall, to manage water force.

The second answer is that's usually plenty good. One key note is that your E20 is the equivalant of an S100, Active 10, and other base models, and a key differentiating feature is that they don't have waterline scrubbing, which may be why you haven't seen it near the surface. For some reason the Explorer line numbers are shifted -- the E30 (equivalent to S200, Active 20, Warrior SE, etc) is the one that most of us would recommend for a pool like yours.

I'm happy with my Explorer E30. As in another thread, if you watch it run it's frustrating to see it keep skipping a section you want it to cover, but if you leave it alone and come back when it's done it will have done so. When it goes up the walls, it will usually spin at the waterline sideways for a few feet.
 
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Ok I understand – since it does clean the walls up to the waterline (i.e. it just breaks the surface, scrubs for a moment then drops) that's all I expected.

However it's kind of beside the point – it's not cleaning all of the floor, nowhere near all of the walls and a fraction of the waterline. I reckon after 5 runs it covered around 80% of the floor and 25% of the walls. I can clearly see where it hasn't been as my filter is currently offline and there's a light algae/pollen build up that I'm trying to control while I wait for new parts.
 
One key note is that your E20 is the equivalant of an S100, Active 10, and other base models, and a key differentiating feature is that they don't have waterline scrubbing, which may be why you haven't seen it near the surface. For some reason the Explorer line numbers are shifted -- the E30 (equivalent to S200, Active 20, Warrior SE, etc) is the one that most of us would recommend for a pool like yours.
Click to expand...
Thanks @jmastron that's helpful. The models available in Canadia seem to be slightly different for some extra added confusion.
 
Just run it again- it’s never going to get every square inch in one cycle. 80% sounds pretty good.
Also, don’t watch it, it will drive you nuts. Much like a dumb ole roomba.

Btw- a bot or any other cleaner won’t tackle/control an algae problem. Neither can a filter. It simply proliferates too quickly for mechanical removal to be effective enough. Chlorine is the answer.
Add 5ppm worth of liquid chlorine to the pool every day to keep things from getting worse until your equipment is up & running & you can do the
SLAM Process.
Pour it in slowly, away from the wall & brush it around so it doesn’t settle on your liner. Then run the bot again 😁 if you have a submersible pump you could also use that to help circulate.
 
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I've just realised the confusion about the waterline cleaning. In my initial post I said:
It climbs all of the walls and slopes with no problem but only occasionally goes all the way to the surface.
Click to expand...
What I meant was: It is able to climb all of the walls and slopes but in reality it only occasionally goes all the way to the surface. Usually it just drives onto the wall then gets straight back off. No attempt, it just doesn't bother to leave the floor!

Sorry @Jimrahbe and @jmastron the waterline thing was an accidental red-herring.
 
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Manually brush your pool sides and bottom the night (pump off to let it settle) before running your bot. It sounds like you currently have a heavy accumulation of debris and or dust built up and that often requires more than one run. Manual brushing occasionally is important to keeping your pool clean despite the hype about the bots superior brushing abilities.
 
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suburbiaboy said:
@Mdragger88 80% is after 5 runs!

I've been a convert to the TFP process for years, my point was really just that I can see where the robot has been and where it hasn't been from the paths it leaves as it cleans.

It cleans well where it goes but it misses so much...
Click to expand...
They sometimes do their little wheelie dance a bit much. Before you give it the boot let’s make sure of a couple things-
Is the water really cold? This can sometimes affect the climbing & speed of the bot.
Are you making sure you purge all the air out of it when lowering it into the water?
Do you have the ultra fine filter basket in it or just the standard mesh basket?
Have you checked the impeller for obstruction?
Here’s a list of things to check

FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions | Maytronics

Find answers to all your Dolphin robotic pool cleaner questions on our FAQ page. Learn about maintenance, troubleshooting, and more for optimal performance
www.maytronics.com www.maytronics.com
 
Firstly thanks for all the advice but just to clarify, I really do know how to clean the pool, I've been doing it myself manually for years – full on TFP style ;)
This post was supposed to about the performance of the robot and if my experience is similar to anyone else – or just general troubleshooting I guess!

I haven't been watching it go really – or at least not for more than a few minutes at a time – but I do have a camera facing the pool so I check in occasionally. I feel like it's in the same few places almost every time I do and the unbrushed areas of the pool seem to confirm that. I'll do a little diagram to show.

@Mdragger88 -
Is the water really cold?
It's cold but not below the recommended temps, i.e. 50+, I made sure of that before using it. Also it doesn't seem to have trouble climbing (as per the FAQ link) it's more like it chooses not to. It goes onto the wall and the wheels stop and it goes back, they don't spin or anything. Same for the slope at one end, it just seems to ignore it even though it's the same angle as the others.

Are you making sure you purge all the air out of it when lowering it into the water?
No I just drop it in and it sinks down and goes on it's way. I assume it's pretty well purged because I don't see any bubbles coming out as travels about, going up and down slopes and walls. I could try giving it more of a shake in the water I guess.

Do you have the ultra fine filter basket in it or just the standard mesh basket?
I have both but I've only been using the mesh. I wanted to do the initial runs with the mesh then switch to the fine for ongoing cleaning

Have you checked the impeller for obstruction?
No I haven't actually, though I will do tomorrow. The thing is it doesn't seem to be obstructed because it does climb well when it tries and I can see the strong jet on the surface when it's in the shallow end

Edit: This user seems to have had the same experience.
 
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suburbiaboy said:
This is a quick estimated diagram of the coverage:
– Green, yellow and orange get cleaned (green all the time, orange very rarely).
– Red never gets cleaned
Click to expand...
Some robots have a “floor only” setting which makes it stop at walls. Any chance that is turned on? It shouldn’t affect floor cleaning though.

My maytronics robot seems to go everywhere.
 
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Even though they don’t “remember” your pool or anything like that there is some logic involved in the movements I think. some people report that initially the bot does what you’re describing but after quite a few runs it attempts more area. This could be purely anecdotal.
Not ever going to the one side of the pool is odd - if it didn’t navigate any of the slopes I would just say its not a good fit for your pool angles but that’s not the case. Is that “red” part the farthest point from where the bot is plugged in? Maybe resistance on the cable is keeping it away? It really doesn’t take much.
Have you tried putting it in & starting the cycle in that spot? If all those things fail, That’s really the only the red flag that something is up with your particular bot.

My nautilus cc keeps my pool quite clean but I have never tried to use it when the entire floor is covered in enough debris/algae that I can see it’s path. There are some times that you just need to manually vac to get the result you desire. I see the bot as more of a regular maintenance tool for normal debris levels. That’s not to say that it won’t help - just that it’s not the best or fastest tool for that big job.
When people use their bot during the
SLAM Process they often run it multiple cycles per day.
 
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