Aquabot Classic Capacitor Replacement

by Bob
(PA)

Aquabot classic dead in water. Take Aquabot apart. When separating pump from drive, noticed wire from pump was blown away from terminal on drive motor. Being that these devices are in parallel, test each device separately using alligator test leads from step down xfmr from supply to test each device to determine which device(s) had failed. The culprit turned out to be the pump, bit the drive motor still worked but the internal logic for drive direction changed lacked any symmetrical timing. But change would eventually occur in time. As for the pump: After pump was removed from the Aquabot, I tested was the provided 36vac directly to the wires. No movement. To overcome inertia, I spin impeller by hand. Pump runs. Next, decide to take pump apart. Drain oil in pan. Looking for capacitors to overcome inertia problem.Being that pump was submerged in oil, motor armature was fine. Noticed what appeared to be 4 capacitors in cap covered with epoxy to cap. Having nothing to lose, I decided surgery was in order. Using utility knife and basic hand tools, I carved away at the epoxy ( this is time consuming ) with care until I could get at the capacitors to see what they were. And to draw a basic wiring diagram for my own knowledge. After surgery, found out they were just standard electrolytic 470uf/63v caps. Went on ebay. Ordered 4. Cost :$3.00 plus $3.00 ship.Caps are wired in pairs (-) to (-) then (+) to (+) on one end in series. The remaining 2 (+) get soldered to the wire harness. Being that money is a factor, I soldered these capacitors together, using my diagram. Not having epoxy in my shop, I just grabbed some good rtv that I had, covered the caps, put pump back together, and test. Works fine. Fill with 30 SAE non detergent oil. Run in bucket to test for oil leaks. This little project took minimal time. Now that I know that I fix the pumps for about $5.00 vs the $300-$500 replacement cost, My next project will be drive motors. I saw one of your sites where you did that. You can get the parts on ebay with the Japan and China part numbers. In closing, it should be noted not to run pumps and motors out of water for long period of time because they generate significant heat. But these pumps can be fixed . Very economically. I do not have the $$ to waste on these cleaners. They do work great, but require constant maintenance . That is why I have 4 of them. When 1 goes down, just throw another one in the pool. Only with original Aquabot parts. If you can find them. Thanks. Bob