So this just happened....

[JoyfulNoise]

Well, a brushless DC motor really is "pulsed DC", which really is a form of AC with a permanent magnet on the rotor. If the field were potted properly, it could also work. The control circuits for brushless DC would be a bit more complex than a 400 HZ induction motor, if it were single speed.
In any event, the control unit would need to be changed. I would still stick with 24 Volt in either case.

Yup. More complexity on the control board but a much more reliable motor to drive the unit. It would also allow for variable speed operation of the water pump motor which could be used to optimize the energy use during a cleaning cycle. If they incorporated ultrasonic transducers, the bot could actually “see” where it’s going and know when it’s approaching walls or obstructions. Right now, the robot is “dumb” … it’s essentially a random-walk device. Don’t be fooled by the marketing hype, these robots have no intelligence built into them.

 

[SDor]

They could make them watertight if they did it correctly.

Lots of stuff is watertight with no leaks.

Pool lights mostly don't leak, although they can leak.

My watch is waterproof to 1,000 feet.

So you leave your watch in the pool 24 x 7?

 

[JamesW]

So you leave your watch in the pool 24 x 7?

I needed the extra waterproofing when diving in this pool.

 

[jedigrover]

I’ll say this - if you need to use the programming feature so the bot can run unattended, like when you go on vacation, so be it. You need to keep a pool clean. But if you’re there and you can afford the time, take it in and out. There’s literally only 5 rubber o-ring seals separating life from death for these robots … it’s a huge risk.

I do believe that water temperature matters a lot too. The last two years I would use the robot in the depths of our Sonoran winters to clean. Pool water doesn’t freeze here but it gets pretty darn cold (high 30’s). And I know I left the robot in the pool for days on end. I believe the Dolphin manual is fairly specific about not running the robot when the water gets cold. I would agree that cold water will shrink the seals and increase the risk of pool water getting into the motor case.



Not entirely sure. The company that makes them is located in China and they were pricing everything in Yuan. I wanted to pay in Russian Rubles. We thought we could agree on a swap of cryptocurrency and then they backed out. So no joy on the pallet of spares…

This has been my big sticking point and the reason I will stay with my pressure-side cleaner. It's truly automated & I can empty the bag weekly, make sure the tail scrubber is intact and it's still working & forget about it.

I've had a hard time getting my head around a marketing model of "we'll give you a scheduling feature, but only for when you're on vacation b/c we are worried our machine may not hold up in pool water for long times." As well as "we have waterproof electronics for the unit in the pool (but not so waterproof to leave it there), but we only make the control unit splashproof, so don't leave it outside."

I'm sure they clean very well, but I'm afraid the technology is just not where I need it to be yet. Long live Spike (my 280)!

 

[JoyfulNoise]

This has been my big sticking point and the reason I will stay with my pressure-side cleaner. It's truly automated & I can empty the bag weekly, make sure the tail scrubber is intact and it's still working & forget about it.

I've had a hard time getting my head around a marketing model of "we'll give you a scheduling feature, but only for when you're on vacation b/c we are worried our machine may not hold up in pool water for long times." As well as "we have waterproof electronics for the unit in the pool (but not so waterproof to leave it there), but we only make the control unit splashproof, so don't leave it outside."

I'm sure they clean very well, but I'm afraid the technology is just not where I need it to be yet. Long live Spike (my 280)!

As others have pointed out, they are designed with very finite lifetimes. Maytronics doesn’t sell these robots retail, they leave that up to the supply channel (small mom & pop stores and national chains). But if you talk to those owners, and I have, they want nothing to do with repairing robots because it means paying someone a lot of money to a do job that is not bringing in revenue. So Maytronics designs them so that all the shops need are a screwdriver and workbench. You simply diagnose part X as broken and replace it even if, internally, it could be repaired. Then you get to sell the customer a very EXPENSIVE modular component that you’ll get a handsome cut of the profit on AND you get to charge a service fee for the hours (15mins really) that you spent diagnosing and fixing it. That’s the only way shops will sell these things. And, in order to keep that channel flush, Maytronics actively keeps all the internal sub components off the market so the user can not repair it themselves.

Stay with your pressure cleaner. It works, it costs you very little to run and it’s cheap to repair.

 

[jedigrover]

I'm just waiting for the Ryobi One+ pool robot. Then, my collection will be complete!

 

[jedigrover]

As others have pointed out, they are designed to fail. Maytronics doesn’t sell these robots retail, they leave that up to the supply channel (small mom & pop stores and national chains). But if you talk to those owners, and I have, they want nothing to do with repairing robots because it means paying someone a lot of money to a do job that is not bringing revenue. So Maytronics designs them so that all the shops need are a screwdriver and workbench. You simply diagnose part X as broken and replace it even if, internally, it could be repaired. Then you get to sell the customer a very EXPENSIVE modular component that you’ll get a handsome cut of the profit on AND you get to charge a service fee for the hours (15mins really) that you sent diagnosing and fixing it. That’s the only way shops will sell these things. And, in order to keep that channel flush, Maytronics actively keeps all the internal sub components off the market so the user can not repair it themselves.

Stay with your pressure cleaner. It works, it costs you very little and it’s cheap to repair.

Indeed.

It makes perfect sense from their perspective.

Also, knowing where it's being made speaks volumes. I work in the electronics industry & we (like everyone else) moved the majority of our manufacturing and even a good bit of design over to that side of the big swimming pool. The engineers there are young, and green. And they have one thing hammered into their heads all the time: "Cost & schedule". Quality is not a focus, unless the customer (company selling the product) forces it to be (why Apple can get reasonably good quality is because they demand it). Most companies manufacturing over there also care mainly about cost & schedule. So we get stuff that is frustrating to me (an engineer): half-baked, full of bugs and compromises.

 

[Mdragger88]

I'm just waiting for the Ryobi One+ pool robot. Then, my collection will be complete!

Is this a thing?? If so I’m in. They have an expensive cordless handheld pool vac already.

 

[Mdragger88]

I would have went for a polaris but the above ground versions don’t perform much better than the intex sweeper that I had so I went with a robot.
At the time the price for a replacement intex auto cleaner had more than doubled to almost $300 so that kept me from replacing it & made the $500 robot look well worth the cost.

 

[jedigrover]

Is this a thing?? If so I’m in. They have an expensive cordless handheld pool vac already.

No, just a joke referencing how that have approximately 1 billion different tools for that system. It took me years to give that system a try & I like it specifically because of the longevity of the battery platform. I inherited some of my late father's old blue & yellow OG One+ tools and the new batteries work with them and brought them right back to life. Seeing as every other tool platform I've adopted has changed their battery platform right after I adopted it, I appreciate Ryobi's commitment to keeping things working.

I saw the pool hand vac and was excited. I had an original pool buster but it died, so I've been back to the old water hose venturi for spa cleaning.
But the Ryobi pool hand vac is not currently available and lots of reviews show it had problems...a lot of them to do with the battery compartment not being really watertight. So either they have canned it or are working on a Gen2.

I'm kinda hopeful they solve it and decide to make a pool robot. That would get me interested. I've been looking at the cordless pool robots. The Pool Buster / Blaster guys have one now that can theoretically be left in for a few days. When you empty it and charge it, you then set it on the deck pointed toward the pool and when the timer tells it time to clean, it drives & dives right into the pool and lives there until the basket is full or the battery is low, then drives over near the wall for easy extraction. At least that's what the literature claims. Pool Blaster 77000RR CX-1 Cordless Inground Robotic Cleaner - The Pool Supplies Superstore

Interested, but at that price I don't want to be the guinea pig.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I would have went for a polaris but the above ground versions don’t perform much better than the intex sweeper that I had so I went with a robot.
At the time the price for a replacement intex auto cleaner had more than doubled to almost $300 so that kept me from replacing it & made the $500 robot look well worth the cost.

The KK Sandshark was $450. The replacement S300i motor assembly was $450. I had to decide between replacing the motor and maybe getting a few more years out of the bot with other replacements looming ($100 cable, plastic parts worn out, etc) OR get a new suction cleaner that will go the distance for 4+ years without needing any significant repairs (consumable rubber flaps are at most, $20). The choice was easy - go back to the suction cleaner.

My next project is to automate it by installing a valve actuator on the cleaner line. I have all the parts for it, just need to chop and glue some PVC and install the spare CVA actuator I have.

 

[Orion7319]

Is this a thing?? If so I’m in. They have an expensive cordless handheld pool vac already.

I have one of those Ryobi pool vacs. Unfortunately its “meh” at best.

 

[Mdragger88]

No, just a joke referencing how that have approximately 1 billion different tools for that system. It took me years to give that system a try & I like it specifically because of the longevity of the battery platform. I inherited some of my late father's old blue & yellow OG One+ tools and the new batteries work with them and brought them right back to life. Seeing as every other tool platform I've adopted has changed their battery platform right after I adopted it, I appreciate Ryobi's commitment to keeping things working.

I saw the pool hand vac and was excited. I had an original pool buster but it died, so I've been back to the old water hose venturi for spa cleaning.
But the Ryobi pool hand vac is not currently available and lots of reviews show it had problems...a lot of them to do with the battery compartment not being really watertight. So either they have canned it or are working on a Gen2.

I'm kinda hopeful they solve it and decide to make a pool robot. That would get me interested. I've been looking at the cordless pool robots. The Pool Buster / Blaster guys have one now that can theoretically be left in for a few days. When you empty it and charge it, you then set it on the deck pointed toward the pool and when the timer tells it time to clean, it drives & dives right into the pool and lives there until the basket is full or the battery is low, then drives over near the wall for easy extraction. At least that's what the literature claims. Pool Blaster 77000RR CX-1 Cordless Inground Robotic Cleaner - The Pool Supplies Superstore

Interested, but at that price I don't want to be the guinea pig.

I thought maybe u had the inside scoop!
I love All my ryobi stuff!
I don’t care for diamonds I want power tools
That other bot looks neat! May try one out when i hit the lotto

 

[JoyfulNoise]

No, just a joke referencing how that have approximately 1 billion different tools for that system. It took me years to give that system a try & I like it specifically because of the longevity of the battery platform. I inherited some of my late father's old blue & yellow OG One+ tools and the new batteries work with them and brought them right back to life. Seeing as every other tool platform I've adopted has changed their battery platform right after I adopted it, I appreciate Ryobi's commitment to keeping things working.

I saw the pool hand vac and was excited. I had an original pool buster but it died, so I've been back to the old water hose venturi for spa cleaning.
But the Ryobi pool hand vac is not currently available and lots of reviews show it had problems...a lot of them to do with the battery compartment not being really watertight. So either they have canned it or are working on a Gen2.

I'm kinda hopeful they solve it and decide to make a pool robot. That would get me interested. I've been looking at the cordless pool robots. The Pool Buster / Blaster guys have one now that can theoretically be left in for a few days. When you empty it and charge it, you then set it on the deck pointed toward the pool and when the timer tells it time to clean, it drives & dives right into the pool and lives there until the basket is full or the battery is low, then drives over near the wall for easy extraction. At least that's what the literature claims. Pool Blaster 77000RR CX-1 Cordless Inground Robotic Cleaner - The Pool Supplies Superstore

Interested, but at that price I don't want to be the guinea pig.

There are at least two threads about the cordless Aiper robot. It looks like a futuristic Dolphin robot with a floating battery source. They released it on a Kickstarter and some folks are trying it out. So far the robot is working as advertised. What needs to be sussed out is the charge/run cycle and if the battery will go the distance. The App is way better than Dolphins App and hopefully the Aiper customer service will be good. That’s Dolphins major weakness - they have horrible customer service and their Apps are complete garbage.

 

[Mdragger88]

their Apps are complete garbage.

& They know this -
hence, automation mode…

 

[Katodude]

Competition is always good. If these Aiper robots turn out to be better than the Maytronics, and their customer service is better they will capture market share. Maybe it forces Maytronics to up their game. Maytronics is clearly stuck in the old pool marketing mentality.

They already have one advantage of a direct to consumer model. We are going to have to wait to see what their longevity and their customer service is like for post warranty repairs.

 

[arielpool]

Just gonna say that i leave my robot on the pool 24/7 and has been running for 3 years with no issues so far till now. This season (about 3 months now), I decided to run it more than I did past ones to see if I can counter debris and algae and it has been great so far. It's now running about 3 times a day. Yep. No issues till now that i had to replace the ballbearings which seemed small potatoes and fun to tinker inside the plasticky expensive thing.

I'm skittish now seeing that after a motor clean-up these can break / water can leak inside. I just did mine. Cleaned up the carbon from inside the motor. We'll have to check and see.

 

[red-beard]

JoyfulNoise did get 5 years out of it, with it living in the water.

My only thing to add is that if you are going to get one of these, go with muted colors. My Orange and Black Triton PS Plus has definitely had color fade. When it is out of warranty, I will repaint it, using some sort of UV resistant boat paint. T.O.M. may need a new name...

 

[Mdragger88]

JoyfulNoise did get 5 years out of it, with it living in the water.

My only thing to add is that if you are going to get one of these, go with muted colors. My Orange and Black Triton PS Plus has definitely had color fade. When it is out of warranty, I will repaint it, using some sort of UV resistant boat paint. T.O.M. may need a new name...

He also used it pretty much year round due to his location- this is not the case for most, mine is used in fairly warm water for at most 7months out of the year.
Robert has faded , no doubt, u can’t tell when he’s in the pool though. I suspect it’s the uv. I do try to make his resting spot in the pool be under the umbrella. I recently moved my steps to a new location & noticed that my liner is darker where they used to be as well. I assume the fading would be reduced if u removed the robot & stored it in darkness immediately after its run each day. When i let him out of the pool to “breathe” & be rinsed off, i wait until the shade is on the deck. I didn’t do this at 1st so it’s possible that’s when most of the fade occurred.

 

[Newdude]

********

Matt, buy the 1000 pack of replacement motors and charge a $10 profit plus shipping. You have the time and ability to drop a few off at the post office here and there and wouldn't mind some side cash.

MattsMaytronicsMotors is born today.