One-button power supply with Dolphin S300i?

[Countingbackwards]

Hi all,

This is my first post. I recently put in a new fibreglass pool and have made good use of the resources available here to make me feel a level of control over this whole new world of pool maintenance and water quality!

As with many on here, I decided to go with a robot for my pool cleaning needs after doing the manual vacuum thing a few times - but unlike the most popular opinions here, I went with the extra bells and whistles of the Dolphin S300i, rather than the S200, as I figured I'd want more control over the program used to run the robot, and having a caddy for it seems practical. So far, I'm loving the little guy. After a single run through the pool, it was looking spotless despite the continued patio construction zone that's been sending more sand in there than you'd want to see. Rarely have I dealt with a new appliance or piece of tech that was a simple as: pull it out of the box, plug it in, put it in the water, and press the one button it has.

Despite enjoying this simplicity...to other S300i owners out in TFP-land...wasn't the S300i supposed to come with a power supply that had more than 1 button? Shouldn't I be able to select cycles, delay, etc directly on the unit? The one that I got simply has a single button and a WiFi connection indicator, which forces use of the app to use anything other than a normal clean.

The concern I have is that if someone else wants to turn my robot on and choose a program, are they not out of luck? I guess I can install the software on my wife's phone as well. It just wasn't what I expected.

 

[aggiedds]

I just purchased one as well and was under the same assumption - but possibly the lights in the video were just indicators??? No I’m sure they were buttons now that I reviewed the video but I can’t find any text that says that. Disappointing - because while I love my wife and she is a genius, if there is a problem with anything remotely tech it’s now my problem.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Backwards,

Show us a pic of your power supply and include the P/N...

My S200 has 4 buttons, but only two of them work...

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[smokinfish]

I have an S300i and I have a power button, cycle buttons and timer buttons. My control part number is 99956035. It also came with the caddy.

 

[Chrissykr]

Mine came with two sets of buttons on the control pad. I never use them so I don’t Even know what they do. Once I set a program through the app, it stays on that program permanently until I change it on the app. I set mine for floor only in the spring and don‘t change it very often.

 

[Countingbackwards]

This is what mine looks like...perhaps they changed it this year? While I've done everything through the app so far, it would be nice to have a way to operate the robot if my WiFi went out beyond simply pressing the button to power it on or off.

 

[smokinfish]

This is what mine looked like before it just now stopped working...

 

[Countingbackwards]

This is what I was expecting. Well, a functioning copy of it...I hope you're able to get it taken care of by Maytronics!

This is what mine looked like before it just now stopped working...View attachment 156332

 

[Jimrahbe]

Backwards,

Maybe this has something to do with the fact that you are in Canada...

Marina Pool and Spa website shows this one for the "S" series power supply..

Maytronics Dolphin 99956035-US-ASSY Power Supply

Price shown is Maytronics MAP price - the minimum price we are allowed to advertise.

marinapoolspaandpatio.com

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Chrissykr]

This is what mine looked like before it just now stopped working...View attachment 156332

I have this one as well.

 

[dschlic1]

I think that the newer S300i and Active 30i models come with a single button. Mine also has just a single button. Perhaps when Maytronics when with the wifi connection, they did away with the multiple buttons. In any case my Dolphin Plus app connects without issues. The function assigned to the button can be changed via the app.

 

[Countingbackwards]

I think that the newer S300i and Active 30i models come with a single button. Mine also has just a single button. Perhaps when Maytronics when with the wifi connection, they did away with the multiple buttons. In any case my Dolphin Plus app connects without issues. The function assigned to the button can be changed via the app.

I haven’t been quite as lucky with the app...it seems to periodically lose contact with my robot for a very short period - it happened yesterday while I was “driving” it to a dirty bit of the pool - it just shut off mid-stride, then turned itself back on and started a new initiation process before allowing me to continue driving. It’s not the end of the world that the app doesn’t have perfect connectivity (even though wifi signal is strong) - what’s bothersome is that it relies exclusively on an app that isn’t quite up to the task. It’d be nice to not lose physical features vs. prior year models until the app is rock-solid.

FYI I doubt it’s a Canada thing - US and Canadian models and promotions seem to be the same. The US site doubles as the Canadian site. They seem to have simply changed the power supply unit on the 300i.

 

[dschlic1]

You might try disabling the 5.6 GHz band on your router. The Dolphin only uses 2.4 GHz. I have had that issue with other IoT equipment.

 

[red-beard]

I haven’t been quite as lucky with the app...it seems to periodically lose contact with my robot for a very short period - it happened yesterday while I was “driving” it to a dirty bit of the pool - it just shut off mid-stride, then turned itself back on and started a new initiation process before allowing me to continue driving. It’s not the end of the world that the app doesn’t have perfect connectivity (even though wifi signal is strong) - what’s bothersome is that it relies exclusively on an app that isn’t quite up to the task. It’d be nice to not lose physical features vs. prior year models until the app is rock-solid.

FYI I doubt it’s a Canada thing - US and Canadian models and promotions seem to be the same. The US site doubles as the Canadian site. They seem to have simply changed the power supply unit on the 300i.

Your phone doesn't connect "directly" to the robot. It connects to the power supply. These units will only connect to a 2.4 GHz WiFi network (Wireless G). Wireless N and Wireless AC (and I expect WiFi 6...) also produce a 2.4 GHz connection. If you are connected to the 5 GHz network, for some reason it thinks you are on a different network. You can connect using Bluetooth.

The Odd thing, the WiFi system connects to the Dolphin Cloud. You can access it "anywhere". Unless you are on your own home network and on the 5 GHz...

The other thing that may be happening is Power Supply is not in a good spot for the WiFi connection. Move your "caddy" to a place where your 2.4 GHz network is better.

 

[Countingbackwards]

Your phone doesn't connect "directly" to the robot. It connects to the power supply. These units will only connect to a 2.4 GHz WiFi network (Wireless G). Wireless N and Wireless AC (and I expect WiFi 6...) also produce a 2.4 GHz connection. If you are connected to the 5 GHz network, for some reason it thinks you are on a different network. You can connect using Bluetooth.

The Odd thing, the WiFi system connects to the Dolphin Cloud. You can access it "anywhere". Unless you are on your own home network and on the 5 GHz...

The other thing that may be happening is Power Supply is not in a good spot for the WiFi connection. Move your "caddy" to a place where your 2.4 GHz network is better.

Wi-Fi is plenty strong all over the yard, so it’s not that. If it’s the 5ghz thing, then I’ll put my phone on cellular instead if the wifi feature is giving me trouble...I certainly won’t turn off the superior network to cater to sub-par software. This is something Maytronics needs to correct, not me.

That said, it’s intermittent and I can always get it working.