Repair 8-yr old dolphin m500

[pookiesunshine]

Robot would turn in only one direction and then stop dead after a few minutes.
Nothing found in tracks or gears. thought it might be a dead motor drive.
Ran it without belts to take the load off the side of the motor drive that was getting stuck. it worked.
so looked closer underneath and found that the ball bearings on that end of the center active brush had broken loose and were creating a jam.
the ball bearings were still contained by the casing but the bracket that kept them separated had broken.
Replacement brush assembly ordered from Marina; installed and robot now working again. down time less than one week.
Cost less than 100 vs either 400 olus for motor or much more for new robot.
We'll see how much longer it runs before dying, but i'm optimistic.

 

[kul]

8 years is a good run. Hope you get many more years after the fix!

 

[KenKasza]

@pookiesunshine
Good job on the repairs.
I had a similar issue with my Dolphin 20. Would no longer move. Found that the motor drive gear was stripped. Easy $5 fix. But still would not move. Then discovered the track drive gears were stripped and the bushings were bad. OK...another $50. Put it all together and it worked....for a while , until the power cable went bad. The anti-tangle slip connection failed. I cut out the slip connection, made a water proof splice and everything was up and running again. Well.... for a couple weeks. This time discovered moisture in the motor assembly (not caused by the cable repair). Not flooded, just wet. Tested to motors and servos, they were good. It was the control board which I could not find a replacement for. So another $550 for the motor and decided to replace the cable while I was at it, another $125. So my 5 year old Dolphin received about $750 in parts. It's basically new with a 5 year old patina. Cheaper than paying $1200 for a new one. Just hope it keeps running for another 5 years. I need to get my moneys worth.

 

[Killer95Stang]

@pookiesunshine
Good job on the repairs.
I had a similar issue with my Dolphin 20. Would no longer move. Found that the motor drive gear was stripped. Easy $5 fix. But still would not move. Then discovered the track drive gears were stripped and the bushings were bad. OK...another $50. Put it all together and it worked....for a while , until the power cable went bad. The anti-tangle slip connection failed. I cut out the slip connection, made a water proof splice and everything was up and running again. Well.... for a couple weeks. This time discovered moisture in the motor assembly (not caused by the cable repair). Not flooded, just wet. Tested to motors and servos, they were good. It was the control board which I could not find a replacement for. So another $550 for the motor and decided to replace the cable while I was at it, another $125. So my 5 year old Dolphin received about $750 in parts. It's basically new with a 5 year old patina. Cheaper than paying $1200 for a new one. Just hope it keeps running for another 5 years. I need to get my moneys worth.

I was in a similar situation and rebuilt, replaced every part I could. I had a spare non working S200 that stopped working for a buddy of mine, that I scavenged parts from. Finally couldn't keep water from getting in, because the motor shaft packing seals were bad and couldn't be replaced. My final solution was a Aqua Products/ Polaris Evo 614iq from Marina's. This thing works awesome and seems to have improved where the S200 was lacking. Good luck...