Dolphin Pool Cleaner - BROKEN is FIXED!!! SOLVED with 1$ Bearing | HOW TO REPAIR for MOST Models!

Read the comments! So many people fixing theirs! My $450 Motor Assembly had a seized impeller motor! I took it all apart and FOUND 1 BAD BEARING and FIXED it with a $1 part!
Links:

My picks for the best pool robot, I'll buy #1 if my s300 ever dies:

Dolphins have different part numbers for their motors, and MOST can EASILY disassembled to reveal magnets, windings, and usually 3 ball bearings. THIS IS THE FAILURE MODE OF MOST DOLPHINS THAT GO BAD!!!! My Dolphin Model: s300 - same exact motor assembly as s200, s300i. THIS FIX WILL WORK ON MOST OTHER MODELS TOO!!!

This fix may work if your dolphin:
Works for short periods of time - or just seconds
Doesn't stick to the walls anymore
Keeps doing wheelies or flipping on it's back while cleaning
You have checked the cable, it's okay
You have checked the impeller, it's not clogged with debris
YOUR IMPELLER DOESNT SPIN EASILY BY HAND!!!!!

Good Luck! It's easy to take apart your dolphin and you can easily tell if you you have the same problem I did!

This will not be the fix if you have water in your motor assembly. That indicates your entire motor assembly will need be replaced. (at which point I'd consider a new dolphin robot entirely)

0:00 Intro
0:58 Diagnosis
2:45 The Fix
5:23 The Test

[AngeloDellaPorta-ky]

Hi Luke, thanks a lot. This was exactly my problem. I've spent only 1 dollar, 40 minutes and could fix it. you are the BEST. best regards from Switzerland Angelo

[bkst]

3 years later after this video was posted and yet here it is helping me fix mine. Thank you very much! 🙏🙏

[johniannetta]

My Maytronics Dolphin Active 20 just started having this problem where the impeller is not spinning. I bought brand new in 2020. We use it everyday in the summer. This is the 3rd season. With your instructions, I was able to take it a part. There was all this black carbon flakes. I used electrical contact cleaner to clean the inside of the 24V impeller motor, and both bearings. I couldn't take out the 3rd bearing off, put it all together and everything is working - back to normal! Without changing any parts! This took me 2 hours to do at a easy comfortable pace. Thank you for making this video. You saved me $1500. I was almost going to buy a new one.

[Liatriss]

Been working on these for 6 years, seen a lot of seized motors and this actually makes a lot of sense. Normally do repairs by replacing, but lately been trying to rebuild. Kudos for this info~

[theringostarman]

I spent $180 to replace the blue cable on my DOLPHIN Nautilus CC. It would only run for about 30 seconds and just stop. No indication on what was happening. Local pool shop suggested to replace the blue cable and I let them. Got it home a week later and of course it didn't fix my issue. They then suggested to replace the motor.. Adding up the cost of the potential repair, and I could have gotten a new unit for the cost of the motor and cable! :) I will for sure be taking my motor apart this afternoon to see if the bearing is the issue! Thanks for making this video!

[chuckanthony]

DUDEEEE credit where credit is due!!!! Dolphin moved backwards a few inches then forward a few inches then nothing. Checked impeller and stuck solid. Followed ur video and believe it or not a local skate shop had my bearing in stock and I fixed it in less than an hour. Saved me my hard earned cash man! Thank you!

[desertsynthguy]

Literally, you saved me $450 AND the fix was free !! Took apart as you did, took the motor apart and the inside was caked in fine carbon powder. A bit of compressed air later, the motor cleaned, everything back together and good as new. Thank you.

[BenBayliss]

Awesome video. Thank you for helping the algorithm find this repair and saving big $$$

A few notes as I'm mid-repair:

1) The sealed unit itself can be really hard to open. I used the shaft of a screwdriver (not the pointy end) to pry it apart using the clip brackets as leverage. I slipped a credit card into the gap to help work around. When it finally opened there was a large pop - I think the unit was REALLY well sealed and the temperature swing at night when I tried to open it caused a pressure / vacuum making it extra hard.

2) The long screws on the motor itself have SUPER SOFT heads. Immediately stripped one of them using a regular screwdriver. And that's the point I'm finding myself stuck at right now. Ugh. Be careful everyone with these! Might end up having to buy a new motor just because I've stripped some darn screws 😵

There is an eBay seller out there who will repair/refurb your motor for ~$110, or sell a kit of all the necessary parts for ~$30. Might be worth it if there's a lot of parts that need fixing, or if you're happy to outsource part of the fix without shelling out the full $450!!

[jillmhunter]

I'm 2 minutes away from ordering a whole new Dolphin but your video was so well done that, even though I've tried everything else, short of opening the motor, - which makes me nervous - you've given me the confidence to try this. Sounds like it is just the bearing and that will save hundreds!

[uncleruss]

Thank you Luke. I had the same problem on my Dolphin Deluxe 4. It has 2 bearings 626rs and 608rs. Truthfully, I only really needed to replace the 608rs, but since I was already in there and its like 10 years old, I replaced both. Additionally my circuit board had some corrosion and a burnt up resistor. I got some 90% rubbing alcohol and cleaned the circuit board. Determined the burnt resistor was an 18 ohm 1/2 watt, soldered a new one of those in and let'r rip. It runs like new. I would not have done any of this without your video. So here's the breakdown.
Multi pack of resistors $13. 10 pack of 626rs $9. 10 pack of 608rs $8. Rubbing alcohol from Wal-Mart $1.50 and a tube of silicone lube from HD $5. So, less $40 for enough parts to maybe keep this thing going for another 10 years. A ton of simple knowledge that I got to learn with my 15 year old son. It's a joy to watch a once dead Dolphin that I paid a $1000 for still going. One more tip. I've always had the habit of keeping those little silica packets that come with all the Chinese junk we buy. So I stuffed like 8 of those in the box to hopefully stop or limit future corrosion. I realize this this is now old and not as water tight as it used to be, I will probably open this thing up a couple times a year just to make sure. Thanks again Luke, you're AWESOME!!!!

[squidlips]

Hey mate, thanks for the great video, saved me $600 AUD for a new motor. Ended up being the brushes not the bearings, cost me a grand total of $10 to change them out. Although not the same problem as yours, your video gave me an insight on how to pull it apart & put back together again, working a treat now. Cheers from OZ

[HVDynamo]

Nice fix! Its always nice to be able to fix things rather than having to throw them out.

[mattanderson]

Got the bearing replaced and motor put back together. The seal must not have lined up right, Dolphin worked for about half hour then stopped. I took it apart and the housing for the motor is filled with water. Looks like I'll have to purchase a new one. Thanks for video, was super helpful!

[inthegarage.withalvaro.]

Man! I wish I saw your video before I spent $400 to fix my little robot…but now I know. Thank you for the video.

[mkanyuh]

This is a great video...my bearings where fine ...my motor was packed with carbon dust...cleaned it out and it runs fine now....this video is great showing all the steps...the engineering on this machine is fantastic...taking it apart and reassembling it is pretty easy...all the parts are indexed to only go together properly...even the power cord. thanks so much....saved a LOT of money. I recommend cleaning all the gaskets as you reassemble...just to keep water from creeping in. I sure wish they would sell the individual motors inside the $450 assembly....why engineer it so well to for repair and then not sell the interior motors?

[ryanmcdaniel]

Thank you for the description and link to the bearings- that saved me a lot of research! I pulled my Dolphin apart last summer when it refused to run for more than a minute or two and found that same bearing you changed was not turning smoothly in my motor. I lubed it with some oil put it back together and the robot worked for the rest of the year. Fast forward to this Spring and that bearing was rough again so it is time to replace it. Oil has it working for now, but the bearing really needs replacing.

One note for your viewers- when I reassembled the motor the first time it was running backwards and I needed to swap the red and black wires / brushes to the opposite positions from where they were originally to get the motor to spin in the proper direction. I'm not sure how I managed to get something backwards as it seems like all the parts were keyed for one orientation. I think it might have been the brass cap at the end of the motor. It isn't keyed to the motor housing but is keyed to the plastic enclosure. I think that going on opposite to original resulted in the terminals lining up opposite to where they were previously. I recommend putting an alignment mark on the brass cap and motor housing. It will help with aligning the screws to the holes, too.

Does anyone have a source for replacement brushes or the brush springs? I don't know how long these will last, but it would be great to be able to replace them when they wear out.

[mtbdad]

Great how-to video! Thanks for saving me significant replacement $$. I almost ordered a new robot right away, but figured I'd try this first. It fixed my Dolphin model with the exact same bearing, threw it in the pool and it started working again. I used toothpicks to move the motor brush springs off and then used them to hold the brushes back while inserting the electric motor back into its housing. With the extra bearings, I'm ready for 4 more repairs if necessary.

[SlotFever]

Mine has been acting the same way, extended warranty is replacing the unit.. but now I'm going to give this a try, nothing to lose! Then I'll have a backup unit 😊
Thank you.

[gastonmorrison]

Hey Luke, big shout out form Canada. After procrastinating for the summer I finally found your vid and did the same. The bearing cost me $7 here but still cheaper and quicker than sending it in to a shop. Thanks for the great vid.

[d.j.williams]

Well done. For all the maytronics owners out there, it would be phenomenal to be able to source those two motors somewhere @ the source. A fix for probably 99% of the failures for a few bucks, and not $400 for the entire drive unit.