New robot keeps parking itself in the same corner mid cycle

Started by robotvic · · 5 replies
Back to the forum
Reply
#1
Testing a new robot this month, won't say which one yet since I don't want to bias the thread, but it keeps stopping dead in the same back corner of my pool about 20 min into a cycle. Battery shows like 60 percent on the app when it quits, not a low power shutdown. Pulled it out, no debris jammed in the impeller, brushes spin fine on the bench. Happens on both the wall climb setting and floor only mode. App is current firmware, reinstalled it once already. Anyone seen this with a specific spot vs a general fault. Wondering if it's a nav glitch confusing that corner for home base since my return jet is right there and maybe it's reading flow as a dock signal. Grasping at straws at this point.

5 Replies

#2
The return jet theory is actually plausible, mine's the Aiper Scuba S1 and it has never done this but I did notice early on it would hesitate for a second near my sun shelf corner where the water movement is weakest, not stop dead, just a pause like it was recalculating. If yours is stopping consistently at the same spot near a jet every single time regardless of mode, that's too repeatable to be random debris or a battery fluke, sounds more like it's picking up something environmental there.

Before you chase the nav software angle I'd kill the jet for one full cycle and see if it still parks there, cheap test and it isolates whether the corner itself is the trigger or just coincidence with your pool's layout. Also worth checking if that corner is shallower or has a different wall angle, some of these robots get confused on slope transitions near steps or shelves, not saying that's it but it's an easy thing to rule out before you call support.
#3
Before the jet test, does your return in that corner run off the main pump schedule or is it on its own valve, I ask because if the main pump happens to kick on around that same 20 min mark every cycle that's not a nav glitch at all, that's just flow turbulence overpowering the robot's prop wash in that corner at the exact same timestamp.
#4
Marcus has a good point on the timing overlap, that's the thing I didn't check yet. My main pump is WiFi scheduled and I honestly don't know the exact minute it kicks on relative to the robot start, could easily be lining up at that 20 min mark. Gonna stagger the two schedules by 15 min before I do the jet kill test, cheaper to rule out and takes zero tools.
#5
Good catch by Marcus, that timestamp overlap is way more likely than a nav glitch reading flow as a dock signal. Mine's on a separate schedule from the pump for that exact reason, learned it the hard way early on with weird hesitations.
#6
Vic, before you stagger anything, what's the actual turnover rate on that main pump, meaning how many gallons a minute is it pushing through that return. I ask because on my 20x40 the jet closest to the deep end corner moves enough water to push my Dolphin off its path a little even on floor mode, and that's with the pump on a modest schedule. If yours is a bigger pump or a smaller pool, 20 minutes in could be exactly when it builds enough flow to overpower the robot's traction right at that corner, which would line up with Marcus's timing theory better than any software explanation.