Blue Diamond Pool Cleaner Model Aq11xxxx Drive Belt

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• #1

Just received a blue diamond cleaner, and haven't gotten it to work. When I put it in the pool, the propeller works for about one minute, the unit doesn't move at all, and then after one minute it shuts off. It's not the electrical outlet. I cycle it on and off several times, it always shuts off after a minute, without moving. Before I send it back, and since customer support is closed right now, just wondering if anyone had any similar experience with it. Thanks.

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• #2

I have a similar problem. Mine ( 3 weeks old) starts and stops between 1 - 5 mins. Since I am in Canada, I have to send it to a Canadian repair shop, i have to pay for freight and a labor charge which sucks since it is essentially brand new.

The service guy at the repair shop said it was likely a pump motor issue.

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• #3

Interesting.
I just bought a BD a couple of weeks ago and only ran it twice.
So far so good.
Watertech is based out of East Brunswick, NJ - literally 10 mins. away from my house...so you understand why I don't much care if I have to send/take it back for repairs.

I must admit however that it's somewhat annoying to see reports of essentially brand new units failing right away. I hope this won't be a trend.
Sorry I couldn't be of any actual help.
-99

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• #4

I had a BD Remote I purchased last summer and the same thing happened - about three weeks after I started using it. I too live near the East Brunswick facility, but refused to send it back because they wanted me to pay for return shipping. I think it's a terrible policy for a company to expect a customer to pay for shipping for a defective item within the warranty period, especially as in my case, within 30 days of purchase. After several calls with Water Tech customer support, I returned it to Sams Club for a complete refund, no hassles or issues.

I will say though, while it worked, it worked great. I haven't replaced it with a new cleaner as I'm trying to figure out which model/brand to buy. I was hoping that my unit was a fluke, but based on some of these very similar posts, it appears that Water Tech may have a problem with QC.

Anyway, hope it works out for you. Try to to get Water Tech to pay for return shipping - it won't hurt to at least ask. And if they refuse, you can tell them that you'll return it to where you bought it for a full refund.

Good luck!

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• #5

I ended up sending mine back, they paid for shipping. They repaired it and shipped it back; apparently it was a bad motor. They were very responsive and prompt. It's been working great. I'm very happy with how it performs, but I'm also nervous about the possible quality issues. Since I'm fairly close, in Rhode Island, I feel a bit more comfortable in being able to ship it to NJ quickly if needed. I'm crossing my fingers it keeps on working as it is now, because it's great.

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• #6

Tim, I'm glad to hear they were so accommodating and that it worked out for you. Keep us posted if you have any other issues and how much you like it as the season continues.

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• #7

I had a BD Remote I purchased last summer and the same thing happened - about three weeks after I started using it. I too live near the East Brunswick facility, ...

Why didn't you just drive it down there?
....unless your definition of "near" is a bit different and it would be too big of a trip to make it worth it.
I called them once (before purchasing) and they told me that I coudl just bring it in if it ever needed repair.

I also bought mine from SAM's.
I wanted to give my business to a local pool shop, as I'd rather support the "working man" than some big store....but it seems they make it impossible to be their customer. BUt anywa, that's a whole another issue.

OP:
Good luck with the BD, and let's hope we don't hear about these issues too often.

-99

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• #8

Why didn't you just drive it down there?
....unless your definition of "near" is a bit different and it would be too big of a trip to make it worth it.
I called them once (before purchasing) and they told me that I coudl just bring it in if it ever needed repair.

I was a little annoyed at the way WaterTech tried to convince me that I would have to return it to them at my cost and that I shouldn't have called Sam's for repair or return. Sam's has an unconditional return policy, which Water Tech tried to convince me didn't apply to their products and again that it was up to me to return it to them for repair. They changed their tune several times after Sam's called them and told them otherwise and that I had every right to just return it for a full refund - so it was in Water Tech's best interest to work with me to make me satisfied. In other words, Sam's really didn't care if I returned it because Water Tech would be out the sale (I'm sure Sam's wasn't making that much profit on them as they had the lowest price by several hundreds of dollars than the best price I could find anywhere else).

Long story short, why should I pay for Water Tech's faulty equipment within the first 30 days, even if it just meant a 30 minute ride down the street (which I would have had to take time off from work for). In the end, they did offer to pay for return shipping, but by then I was so fed up with them I just sent it back to Sam's (which they paid for return shipping as well) for a full refund.

I now own the iRobot Verro 500 (which seems very similar to the non-remote BD) and I'm very happy with it. I only paid almost half than what I paid for the BD so I'm even more happy. Granted the Verro doesn't have the same features (remote, 1 hour clean cycle) as the BD, but it works very well for the money.

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• #9

I see. I'd probably get fed up as well, and perhaps done the same on principle alone-don't blame ya.
Don't know if you're aware, but when I was buying mine online I called to verify they have these in stock.
I was told it ships out directly from the factory/manuf. I chucked and asked if I could just pick one up from them on they way back from work (they said no).
SAM's may have these in stores......that I don't actually know, but Internet orders are simply filled through them and get shipped directly fromt he manufacturer; many places do this on various items.

You're right, SAM's doesn't care much whether you return the defective unit or not, they'll bill the manuf. on their return and it's a loss sale anyway.
Watertech would probably be better off raising the price of the unit by $50 and providing a 1yr (or similar) free shipping on repairs. THis way customers like you wouldn't get ****** off and would end up keepign the product. If they end up payig way too much for shipping of too many defective units.........too effin bad-make a better product whioch doesn't break as much, as soon.

Glad you're happy with the replacement. Thus far I am very pleased with my BD - just hope it will last awhile before it needs any repairs.
-99

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• #10

Well, my BD got back from the service depot, the ran it several times for several cycles and found no issues. I put it back in my pool (I got it back last year but due to a family illness did not use it until this spring) and it started doing the same thing again - runs for 5 mins and then quits. I am going to run it without the catch bag tomorrow just to see if somehow that is the issue, i am not sure the service depot ran it with the bag in. Pretty frustrating, given the cost of this beast.

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• #11

I have a Blue Pearl cleaner (cousin to the Blue Diamond) and I have had a couple of episodes of my cleaner stopping after a few minutes, earlier this spring. What I found is that it does this when the pool is especially dirty (leaves, dirt, sand, and such). The weight in the bag becomes too much for the unit and it shuts itself down. I realized I was asking the cleaner to do too much.

My pool is clean now and the Blue Pearl hasn't shut itself down early anymore.

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• #12

Cap brings up a good point. If you have an especially dirty pool, it will quickly clog and fill the catch bag and the resulting inability to push water through the bag will shut off the unit.

I discovered this Spring (with an especially dirty pool) that my Blue Diamond would run for 3 minutes, then 3 minutes again, 20 minutes, 40 minutes and finally in complete cycles. Obviously, the pool was getting cleaner and cleaner so it was taking longer and longer to fill the bag and shut down the unit.

I am no Blue Diamond fan by any means as I found their customer service to be very marginal at best. That said, if you have a completely algae clogged or dirt clogged pool, I doubt there's a cleaner out there that can handle it........it's time for some manual vacuuming.

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• #13

I have a Blue Pearl cleaner (cousin to the Blue Diamond) and I have had a couple of episodes of my cleaner stopping after a few minutes, earlier this spring. What I found is that it does this when the pool is especially dirty (leaves, dirt, sand, and such). The weight in the bag becomes too much for the unit and it shuts itself down. I realized I was asking the cleaner to do too much.

My pool is clean now and the Blue Pearl hasn't shut itself down early anymore.

Mine shuts down regardless of the amount of dirt, leaves, etc. Having said that I think i will also wash the filter bag in a washing machine, maybe the filter bag holes are clogged and the simple hose spray clean is not getting it done.

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• #14

I had a BD Remote for 3 years , great machine, always worked .I don't know why but I sold it and got an Aquabot Viva ,2 years ago , which stopped working 2 weeks ago.I sent it back (cost $30 shippping)they told me the pump motor is bad , they are going to replace it under warranty together with both drive motors , I asked why and they said they have to pull off the drive motors to get to the pump motor so all 3 get replaced , and they also put on a new cable as mine had a couple of squirrel chew marks at one spot ... total for repair and return shipping was $165. The parts were under warranty, but labor is my responsibility. I hope they did replace all the parts they said they will but I have no real way of knowing .This repair would have cost me $1450 just for the parts ! had it not been under warranty
I bought a Polaris 9300 in the meantime, great machine , no fancy crazy parts , most expensive part is the motor with a total price of $370 , does a great job and the filter takes 3 minutes to clean instead of the bag which ends up being a real dirty chore . If I were to buy another machine it would be through Sam's club, their return policy is great , and you can get an extended warranty which would cover you after the 4 year manufacturers warranty .

I think I will sell the Aquabot on Ebay , the cost to repair is real expensive ........

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• #15

I'm rather surprised to read that so many Blue Diamond's have given trouble. Our Blue Diamond went into service in August of 2006 and has kept our pool squeaky clean and has given no problems at all in the 3+ years that it has been used. I recently bought a "tune up kit" which includes the belts, bag and PVA brushes. My timing was perfect as I began to notice tiny bits of blue stuff in the bag upon emptying it. A careful look at the PVA brushes confirmed that they were wearing away on one edge. So now, I'm confronting the dis-assembly of a perfectly operating BD. While WaterTech provides a fairly detailed set of directions for replacing the consumable parts, I'm always reluctant to tear into anything for the first time.

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• #17

As an update, my BD is heading back for warranty work. The pump motor is to be replaced this time. The service guy says that although Blue Diamonds and Aquatron's share the same pump motor manufacturer as other brands, they seem to have a far higher failure rate. He does not know why. Hopefully, upon it's return I will get a fully functional cleaner.

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• #18

I got my back my BD in mid August after the motor was replaced. It works perfect now, in fact much better than then the few times I had it working before the repair. too bad I have essentially wasted two years getting it right.

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• #19

I have a different problem with my Blue Diamond. The propeller works fine when I start it up but it has stopped moving. Will just sit there for the entire cycle. I even took the bag out to test it with no weight. I also moved the tracks and brushes to make sure they run.

I would assume the motor that moves the tracks has an issue. Has anyone had a similar problem where only the movement doesn't work?

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• #20

I have the Blue Peril and have been using it 3x a week for 3 years now and no problems. I just clean the bags real well and wash out the inside with water. Even leave it outside on the hot deck and in the rain..... so I guess I feel lucky now.

It does work good and I like the fact that it contains its own dirt, sand, and small stuff in bag and does not send it to my filter.

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