Our Zodiac is about a year old and started running in circles, a problem mentioned before 2014 in the comments section here. A fix was proposed by Jguy as follows:
“Similar story here but with different conclusion. After working perfectly for most of last season I had a similar issue with my MX8. Zodiac support sent me a new A-side control. That seemed to help for a few days but before long the MX8 ws running in circles again. Over the winter I took the old A-side control apart and found no sign of wear or damage. Checked out everything including treads but it would still periodically run in circles due to either A or B side not driving. What I discovered was that the bevel gears on the drive shaft were not making reliable contact with the gears in the A and B controls. The bevel gears mount on a brass shaft that runs through the paddle that driven by water suction. The solution was to remove the bevel gear (simple size 4 screw) from the drive shaft and place two washers behind the gear. With that modification my MX8 has run perfectly all summer and I now have a spare A-side control.”
“Similar story here but with different conclusion. After working perfectly for most of last season I had a similar issue with my MX8. Zodiac support sent me a new A-side control. That seemed to help for a few days but before long the MX8 ws running in circles again. Over the winter I took the old A-side control apart and found no sign of wear or damage. Checked out everything including treads but it would still periodically run in circles due to either A or B side not driving. What I discovered was that the bevel gears on the drive shaft were not making reliable contact with the gears in the A and B controls. The bevel gears mount on a brass shaft that runs through the paddle that driven by water suction. The solution was to remove the bevel gear (simple size 4 screw) from the drive shaft and place two washers behind the gear. With that modification my MX8 has run perfectly all summer and I now have a spare A-side control.”
