Turbo T-Jet motor repair story, info, - and thanks

by Andrew Pollack
(Cumberland, ME)

Bimetal Temperature Control Switch Thermostat 85C degree NC KSD9700 250V 5A

Having read of similar issues and the various things people here had done to address them, I was able to repair my Turbo T-Jet. This is my 3rd Aquabot in 17 years. The previous two were the normal crawler kinds. Both lasted several years with me replacing various plastic parts as they wore out, but ultimately developed motor issues and I opted at the time not to replace the motors.

In this case, like the pump motor on the other machines, this one has a thermostatic cut off in line. It's visible once you open the motor.

I tested mine a few ways. To begin with, I used a mug of boiled water and a mug of ice water and determined that the thermostat was in fact opening and closing the circuit at around the right temperature. Nonetheless, when wired inline, the motor would cycle quickly on/off/on/off, but when not in line it would run fine.

I discovered that the thermostat itself was damaged in such a way that it very quickly heated up while in use. It was the heat it was self generating that actually caused it to shut down, cool, restart, and heat up again.

I was able to find a replacement thermostatic cut-off switch here: http://bit.ly/12ua1c0 (though this like will likely expire, so here's the product description so you can search yourselves: "Bimetal Temperature Control Switch Thermostat 85C degree NC KSD9700 250V 5A"

I have temporarily wired mine up without this switch, but will replace the switch as soon as the one I've ordered comes in.

ALSO: This comes in a lot of 20 for 15 bucks from China, of which I need only the 1. So, if you need one of these, contact me -- or maybe reply to this or something.

Also after reading this and researching a bit, I decided to use synthetic compressor oil to re-fill the motor housing.

My motor is running fine now, at least in a bucket for a 30 minute test. I'll be leaving it in the bucket for 24 hours to make sure I have no oil leaks then re-attaching it to the aquabot, replacing a few old and cracked cord retaining clips, and away we go.

Thanks again to people who posted on this site.

ADMIN REPLY: Thank you for taking time to share this experience!