Dolphin Interactive - Diagnostic Power Supply - Timer Lights Up, then goes Dark

by Jim
(Round Lake, NY, USA)

Thank you for the great troubleshooting advice to bypass the timer. I was late opening the pool, and there was a layer of silt on the bottom that I was hoping my Dolphin Interactive would take care of. Unfortunately, when everything was ready to go, and I pushed the "ON" button on the Diagnostic DC power, the timer lights would light up for a second, then go dark, with no power to the robot. Then I found these troubleshooting pages. Figured I had nothing to lose, I was looking at a $200 to $300 bill for a new power supply, and they didn't make my old one anymore. The newer ones, don't seem to have accessible internals, making ANY potential for repairs impossible.
So, I unplugged the plug from the timer circuit board, and spread the wires apart, and snipped just the white and yellow ones from the plug that came off the main circuit board (attached to the aluminum heat sink base). I stripped about 1/4" from the ends of these two wires, then spliced them together with a small wire nut, taping it over with electrical tape. I made a loose coil of the wires leading to the timer circuit board plug, taped that together, covering over the cut ends of the white & yellow wires. I plugged the spliced ends back into the main circuit board socket, and reinstalled the base with the 10 Phillips head screws. Then I connected it to my somewhat dated Dolphin Interactive, already in the pool. This time, when I pushed the "ON" button, I didn't expect the lights to come one. . . . but the robot impeller started, and the Dolphin started vacuuming!!
Thank you very much for the excellent advice!!