Why Is My Robot Not Working
A Robotic Pool Cleaner makes maintaining your pool easy and stress-free. However, discovering that your robotic pool cleaner is dead in the water can be a cause for concern.
Whatever make or model robot you have in your pool, it will function using the same basic features, a robot, cable, and a control box. It is possible to test these components yourself in an effort to self diagnose the issue. In this article we will explore these components and what causes them fail.
Control Box/Power Supply Issues
Your control box/power supply typically consists of a transformer and power cord. It converts the standard household power supply into a lower voltage suitable for your Robotic Pool Cleaner. The most common faults with a control box and how to diagnose them are as follows:
- Take your smartphone to the control boxes’ normal operating location and check the Wi-Fi status. Ideally, your phone should be showing at least an 80% Wi-Fi signal.
- Check your Wi-Fi is compatible and emitting a 2.5Ghz signal. Many robots do not work on 5.0 GHz.
- Assuming you have sufficient Wi-Fi signal and you still cannot connect, the control box may be at fault. Take the control box closer to the Wi-Fi router, attempt to connect with an alternative phone if possible. If you still cannot get a connection, bring the control box in with your robot for a service.
Maytronics S and M Series Conrtol Boxes.
No power TO the control box is evident when no lights or buttons work, the control box will behanve like it is not plugged in.
The most common fault causing no power is the black power cable connection to the main supply. Swap this cable with another IEC C14 Power Cord, commonly found connecting desktop computers to the mains. If this resolves the issue, you can order a new power cord with the water-resistant seal on our website.
If this is not the issue and the control box still remains dead with a known working cable, then you will likely need to replace the control box as they are not serviceable. Bring the control box and robot in for service.
This is where things can get a little more complicated. Assuming the control box has working lights and buttons, but the robot does not work it can then be a number of issues.
Cables typically fail due to electrical faults caused by water penetration. This issue is difficult to self-diagnose as specific tools are required to access the likely fault location. A failed cable will likely present as the robot not working at all when triggered to do so. With smartphone-compatible robots, often an error message is displayed. Call us for more information.
Robotic Pool Cleaner motors are made up of both drive motors and an impeller/suction motor. If either of these fail the robot will stop. However, typically a robot will start to move around the pool as it carries out a ‘self-test’. This is a quick process that takes no more than 10 seconds, the robot will move forward and back and then stop. If your robot is doing this then the motor is the likely fault and you will need to bring the robot in for a service.
Connecting the motor to the pool floor are a series of gears, wheels and tracks. As these wear out they increase the resistance on the motor. When the motor registers a high level of resistance it will shut down the Robot to protect the motor.
With the robot out of the pool and upside down, turn the robot on. The tracks should rotate back and forth freely, if they do not, then inspect for debris jammed in the tracks, failing that, again the robot will need to come in for a service.
If you notice that your robot is tracking around the pool but not collecting debris, there are several likely causes.
Blocked filters are the most common cause of poor performance Robotic pool cleaners function in a similar way to a pool filtration system, a motor spins an impeller that sucks water from the robot inlet, and pumps it out the rear or top vent. This water flow draws the debris into the robot via the filter. If your filter becomes clogged, then the water flow is reduced, and performance suffers.
The first step is to clean the filters thoroughly. If you are using the mesh screen filters then a simple hose out should clear the debris. If however, you are using the ‘super fine’ filters then you may need to soak them in a filter cleaning solution to remove built-up contaminants.
Note that super fine filters do need to be replaced regularly as they eventually become saturated to the point that they can no longer be cleaned out effectively.
Your robotic pool cleaners impeller pushes water out through a vent either on the top or the rear of the robot. Debris can at times become clogged at this location, check and clean the impeller and vent.
Most robots feature a rapid drain system which allows water to quickly flow out of the robot when removing it from the pool. The Maytronics S Series in particular can suffer from failures of this flap which results in the cleaner not collecting leaves, and leaves slipping past the filter and jamming the impeller. This flap should be checked regularly to ensure it is sitting flat against the robot’s body.
