Aquabot Supreme with drive/pump motor issues

by kelly
(pensacola,FL.)

Bought my Aquabot Supreme in 2010 and she worked great for almost a year. About three months ago I noticed the machine wasn't following it's normal lap pattern of climbing the walls reversing down to the bottom and up the other side. When it is turned on the drive motor and pump motor work. Then she climbs the wall and stays on the surface of the waterline for a couple of minutes and then reverses. This is where the problem starts. When she reverses to go down the wall the drive motor works(the tracks are moving fine) but the pump motor won't come back on. When she finally reaches the bottom she will just turn in slow circles for several minutes. It has been sent back to Aquabot and they put a new handle on, and some other parts. When it came back it worked great for about a week and then the problem described above happened again. When I turn her on her side and gently drop her from about an inch above the ground a couple of times then put her back in the water she works for an hour or two and then again the problem described above repeats itself. Opening up the drive motor I see a half moon shaped disc made of metal with some white lubricant on it that sits atop the motor with nothing actually holding the disk in place except the lubricant. Anyone know what the function of the disc is? Some of the white lubricant seems a bit hard or crusted surrounding the disc. Is the disc supposed to move when she climbs the wall and in turn tell the motor to reverse. I'm at a loss as I've never worked on a drive motor with stepper motor and hall effect sensor Even when turned on her side out of the pool, the drive motor and pump motor work fine when turned on. HELP!!!