Shall I stay away from Maytronics altogether?

[acpie360]

My Doheny's Discovery stopped working after three years due to water leak in the motor compartment.

I dried out everything, applied conformal coating on all PCBs, lubed all the o-rings and put everything back. It worked for another 3 months and now the same problem happened again. I think I am going to need a new robotic cleaner because getting a new motor assembly is too expensive to make sense.

I am a bit hesitant to get another Maytronics design. The fact they put a Desi Pak in the motor compartment worries me. It tells me two things - One, they are aware of the problem; two, they opt for a band-aid solution. On the other hand, I really like the simplicity of their overall design. So, shall I stay away from Maytronics altogether?

 

[mknauss]

Your choice. Many of us have Maytronics robots that are much older. Not sure why yours leaked.

Mine is on its 5th year. I am quite happy with the longevity of mine and would buy another tomorrow.

 

[trivetman]

My S200 died after 2 years and I bought another that week. Seems every once in a while one dies a premature death but is there something more reliable out there?

 

[Jimrahbe]

A,

If you think that the desiccant is in there to "soak up a leak" you don't have a good understanding on what desiccant does.

You can buy from anyone you like, but I suspect they all have the same basic failure rate..

In my case, whenever any of my three Dolphin robots die, I will have a replacement on my porch as fast as FedEx can get it there.

My last one was a Dolphin Premier which was over 7 years old.. I might have even been able to fix it, but it was the older design and much harder to service.. So I opted for another S200.

Thanks,

Jim R,

 

[Newdude]

The fact they put a Desi Pak in the motor compartment worries me.

I'm a little impressed by it, never having seen pool robot guts like this. People throw a warm robot into a cold pool, or vice-versa all the time. Condensation has to happen at times.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Condensation has to happen at times.

Dude,

That is exactly why it is there..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[acpie360]

Hey, guys, thanks for convincing me to stay with the Maytronics. Better the devil you know than the devil you don't.

 

[BowserB]

Hey, guys, thanks for convincing me to stay with the Maytronics. Better the devil you know than the devil you don't.

I read here a lot. One could easily get the impressions that certain brands have a lot of failures. I hesitated a long time getting the Pentair IC-40 SWCG, but then I read it is by far the most popular Pentair unit. Maytronics practically owns the robot market. Besides what they sell under their own name, virtually every Pool equipment brand has one or more Maytronics robots, as do all the major pool store chains.

Another factor is how the cleaner is used. My M500 can be programmed to be left in the pool and automatically run every few days. I gather a lot of people do just that. Well, not OCD Bill (that's me.) I don't spend $1100 for a pool cleaner with plastic, rubber, and metal parts and then leave it soaking in salty chlorine water. I run it once a week, then take it out (no small chore, as I think it may weigh 40 lbs full of water) to clean the filters and thoroughly hose inside and out with fresh softened water, and that includes the low voltage cord. Then I let it dry on the caddy before covering with an old outdoor chair cover. The caddy is next to the house on a covered patio, but it gets late afternoon sun, so I keep it covered. We're also on a corner lot, so I don't want it visible to curious eyes peeking over or through the fence.

Now that I've bragged about how I care for the robot, it will probably break today.

 

[Newdude]

I read here a lot. One could easily get the impressions that certain brands have a lot of failures. I hesitated a long time getting the Pentair IC-40 SWCG, but then I read it is by far the most popular Pentair unit.

Exactly. Searching any model of anything is a rabbit hole. You get 172 bad reviews of that refrigerator and really start to get swayed. But then you realize that there are 1.74 million folks out there that were too busy with their cold beer to care about leaving good reviews.

While 97% of folks with a problem sought out answers online, or left complaints.

 

[acpie360]

So I got a Doheny's Advantage this time.

Can someone please tell what that blue egg shape thing is for? My old Discovery does not have that.

Thanks.

 

[Newdude]

Should be a float so it doesn't run over the cord. On most electronics that football-y thing helps shield it from electromagnetic interference. That shouldn't be an issue 8 ft deep in the pool.

 

[acpie360]

Should be a float so it doesn't run over the cord.

In my 3+ years with the Discovery, it happened only once that the cord got trapped in between the wheel and the front brush. I don't think this thing could prevent that.

 

[Newdude]

I don't think this thing could prevent that.

Then I got nothing Normally the interference doohickey is on data cords like HDMIs or charging cords that also transmit data. The data can be interrupted with the right radio frequency or electro magnetic field. Maybe the brains are super sensitive and it’s to stop any interference coming from the outlet.

 

[markayash]

I thought it was to help pull it out of the water gently of coarse. Then I grab the handle

 

[Geebot]

In my 3+ years with the Discovery, it happened only once that the cord got trapped in between the wheel and the front brush. I don't think this thing could prevent that.

It's a float:

Maytronics Dolphin 99960081 Float Assembly

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