Trouble with my new Maytronics Dolphin Plus - Pictures Included

[QingGuy]

Since my second or third use my new cleaner just hasn't seemed to work right. In-fact I can think of many occasions where I've wished I'd never switched from my Hayward suction vac.

After a recent dust storm I'm confident there's something wrong. The pictures are from running 1 full cycle with the screen like filters (first set of pictures) and the second with the pleated set of filters. The second cycle was run minutes after the first cycle (second set of pictures). Sorry for the quality of the second set of pictures, not sure what the heck I was doing.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Greatly appreciate it!

 

[Jimrahbe]

qg,

There appear to be about a dozen dolphin cleaner with the word "Plus" in them.. Which specific cleaner do you have?

The ones I have, all have two motors... one that drives the tracks and another that provides the suction. From looking at the track marks, it appears that the suction motor is not always working.

Granted, we don't get too many dust storms, but even when I let my pool floor get dirty there is never, ever, track marks that I can see once it gets done. And even if I only have one dime-sized leaf on the pool floor, it has never failed to find it.

Something is not right..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[JamesW]

What happens when you brush?

 

[QingGuy]

@Jim - Thanks for your reply, it's a Dolphin Nautilus Plus. Yes, it will drive right through a patch of dust without vacuuming anything. However, it is getting some dirt as I find some in the filters. I wonder if the motor is coming on and off sporadically.

- - - Updated - - -

What happens when you brush?

If I understand your question, what happens when I brush the dirt on the floor of the pool? It creates little dust clouds and eventually settles in another area of the pool.

 

[Jimrahbe]

qg,

It could be that the suction motor is intermittent.. It is the motor in the top of the unit and you should be able to see the water moving through it when the robot is in the shallow end...

Might be worth a call the Maytronics and see what they say.

Unless you have leaves, the screen filters are worthless... . I only use the pleated filters which seem to catch everything..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[QingGuy]

qg,

It could be that the suction motor is intermittent.. It is the motor in the top of the unit and you should be able to see the water moving through it when the robot is in the shallow end...

Might be worth a call the Maytronics and see what they say.

Unless you have leaves, the screen filters are worthless... . I only use the pleated filters which seem to catch everything..

Thanks,

Jim R.

Thanks for the info, sending to Maytronics for them to look at. I'll report back what the issue ends-up being.

 

[JamesW]

My question was to determine if the dust was adhered or loose. Stuck on dust does not vacuum up very well.

Maybe try hand vacuuming to see if regular suction lifts the dirt.

If the dirt is loose, brushing should stir it up easily, even from water movement and not direct contact with the bristles.

 

[QingGuy]

My question was to determine if the dust was adhered or loose. Stuck on dust does not vacuum up very well.

Maybe try hand vacuuming to see if regular suction lifts the dirt.

If the dirt is loose, brushing should stir it up easily, even from water movement and not direct contact with the bristles.

Got it, yes, stirs-up very easily, definitely not adhered to the plaster. You are correct, water movement from the brush without contact causes the dirt to move.

 

[thebombardier]

The Nautilus Plus by design has to periodically shut off its pump motor to make arcing turns in the pool, but never more than a few seconds. Seems either the pump in not moving water at 100% flow (which could be as simple as a broken/clogged impeller) or the dust is bypassing your filters somehow.

 

[robl45]

The Nautilus Plus by design has to periodically shut off its pump motor to make arcing turns in the pool, but never more than a few seconds. Seems either the pump in not moving water at 100% flow (which could be as simple as a broken/clogged impeller) or the dust is bypassing your filters somehow.

I doubt the dust bypassing the filters is a problem. Even if it was doing that, it wouldn't do the pattern he has in the pictures. The robot is clearing going right over the dirt with no suction at all as you can see the only thing moving out of the way is the tracks. I'm a little confused as I would expect to the brushes to move the dust away.

 

[slickraft]

I live in Phoenix and know the dust storm residue very well. I tried a robot myself (Doheny Dolphin) and gladly went back to my old Hayward for various reasons. Your robot certainly is not working correctly in seeing those patterns on the floor. While my robot would not clear the fine dust nearly as well as my suction-side Hayward, my robot results were never as bad as your photos show. The robot picked up all of the dust but a small portion of it went back into circulation and then resettled on the floor again a few hours later. In my case, the "talc-like" residue from a dust storm was a problem best handled by my old suction-side cleaner system and sand filter. I mostly bought a robot to see how it did with waterline tile cleaning but due to my pool layout it only cleaned about 50%. Having dust filtering issues too, I returned it.

 

[QingGuy]

UPDATE - Sent cleaner in for "repair", repair shop put it through it's paces and reports there's nothing wrong with the cleaner, tested in their pool as well. Sent him the pictures and he asked the same question Maytronics did, does that dirt move when you brush it, yes it does. Repair shop suggested I contact Maytronics.

Any thoughts on what I should request from Maytronics? Clearly it's not working in my pool.

Thought I'd add, I'm confident I can open a complaint with AMEX and they'll make sure I get a refund, if that's what it comes to.

UPDATE 2: Maytronics has instructed me to contact their re-seller, feeling like I'm about to start getting the runaround . . .

UPDATE 3: Two days passed and no return call or email from re-seller. Not getting warm friendly feelings here. If I don't hear from them by EOB Monday going to have to call AMEX.