My Dolphin: Now I'm getting rid of it

[CarlD]

It sure sounds like a bad microprocessor or a bad batch of ROM chips, doesn't it.

I'm sorry to hear the Smart Pool keeps sending people's Dolphins back without fixing the problems, claiming they are fixed.

Meanwhile I haven't heard from MayTronics in Israel. I will send the reference to this thread along and let THEM see what they think!

But I WISH I could catch a break..

The Blue Diamond works perfectly if I loosen the 2 bolts and pop the ladder out. I tried using just one picket on the ladder but that didn't work--I need to have 2 but I havent cut the 2nd yet.

So I let it run during the night with the ladder out. This morning I'm coiling up the cable--and there's a slash in it! Luckily it's not all the way through the insulation, just the surface, but it means when it came up the wall it gobbled the cable and damaged it! D*** thing is BRAND NEW!!!!! The cable does NOT uncoil as smoothly as the Dolphin's and does not get straight the way the Dolphin's does, and isn't as tough or as hard-shelled. The Dolphin NEVER did this.

The power supply stores UNDER the Diamond--How stupid is THAT??? and isn't nearly as sealed as the Dolphin's. For a device that costs a lot more, some more thought should have gone into parts of it.

But it works. Still, how come I can't catch a break???

[cheshamjim]

It wasn't too long ago that the quality (of all things!) of the Mercedes automobile was at a low point because of faulty and/or unreliable electronics components.

The process controller on my Sharp microwave goes out about every 9 to 12 months.

Ahhh, electronics ... can't live with 'em and can't live without 'em.

-Jim

[brent.roberts]

I still don't think these things have anything more than abosolute minimal procesing on board.

It doesn't add up. If it could calcualte it's path real well it could finish a 16 x 32 pool in less than an hour. The guys that make know it's dumb. That's why the program goes to 8 hours.

It's barely got any more brains than a Kreepy Krawly

[VOLDADDY]

I still don't think these things have anything more than abosolute minimal procesing on board.

It doesn't add up. If it could calcualte it's path real well it could finish a 16 x 32 pool in less than an hour. The guys that make know it's dumb. That's why the program goes to 8 hours.

It's barely got any more brains than a Kreepy Krawly

Brent,

If it moved that fast to do an 18 x 36 pool, walls and all in an hour, it seems like it would move so fast that it would just fan the dirt instead of picking it up.

[cruzmisl]

Carl, some of the issues you pointed out with the BD are exactly what I was concerned about. Honestly from the website pictures it just doesn't look to have the quality of the Dolphin (especially from an ergonomics perspective). That is not to say the Dolphin is rock solid but it seems to be a better package when looking at the PS, unit and cart together. To me the cart of the BD looks cheap, the power supply even cheaper all while costing $500 more than the Dolphin. The fact that your "new" unit looked used when you opened it doesn't sound promising either. The brushes are supposed to be state of the art and resist staining etc so they should have been spotless when you opened it. The fact that the cord already has a slash in it concerns me as well.

Honestly, from what you have stated so far and the fact that you have to remove your ladder to get it to work, it just doesn't sound like it's worth $500 more.

Dissappointing as I was prepared to buy one..........

[CarlD]

I can't argue with that. It's a lot faster than the Dolphin, but there are a lot of "hits" on it that bother me.

Right now, though, it has one BIG, all-encompassing advantage....IT WORKS!!!!

[brent.roberts]

Brent,

If it moved that fast to do an 18 x 36 pool, walls and all in an hour, it seems like it would move so fast that it would just fan the dirt instead of picking it up.

It goes 50 feet a minute. That's about a length of the pool a minute. If it only covered a 1 foot wide path, it would be done in well under an hour.

But of course it does not have the brains that the advertizing alludes to, in fact it is random just like a Kreepy Krawly. I sure smells like false advertizing to me.

[Rescue30]

CarlD,
I'm on my third season with the BD remote, it is an awesome machine.It cleans my 25 X40 , 30K gallon vinyl pool in an hour .I've never had the cord eaten by the machine , but I do have some tangling of the cord , which happened as well with the Dolphin Dynamic I tested in the whole 3 days I tried it !! .AS far as the Power supply being stored under the machine, I agree while it's not the optimum place for it , I've never had a failure with it, in fact i left it out this past winter by the pool , uncovered , and just got a drop of rust by the two screws holding the connector where the cord goes.The machine goes around the pool much quickler than the Dolphins , and the factr that randomly they turn and go in a total opposite direction, really gets the pool clean, it doesn't miss a spot.As far as climbing the walls , mine was the first year model of the BD remote, it only goes up the wall on the 7th time it hits it, it WILL START to go up the wall/floor angle, realize it's on a wall and come right down, if you hit the "program" button on the remote , then it climbs each time it hits the wall.

[CarlD]

Thanks, Rescue, but I did find that out. The wall-climbing program is in the manual, but the 7th go I got from the svc ctr.

I don't see anyway but pulling out the ladder each time.

I do have to say it got the pool sparkling. I was swimming laps this AM and the water was cleaner than it's ever been. They tell me I can use my extra Dolphin bags in it two. They are multiple layered and if they work, I suspect they'll catch more stuff.

[CarlD]

It wasn't too long ago that the quality (of all things!) of the Mercedes automobile was at a low point because of faulty and/or unreliable electronics components.

The process controller on my Sharp microwave goes out about every 9 to 12 months.

Ahhh, electronics ... can't live with 'em and can't live without 'em.

-Jim

Jeez, Jim.

Don't even get me STARTED on Mercedes and THEIR quality control! To charge what they charge for the unreliable crap they put out is the new definition of that fine old Yiddish word: CHUTZPAH!