What's Up Wednesday: Dorado Quick Fix

Repairing a Pentair Dorado Suction Side Cleaner

The Pentair Dorado is a powerful suction side pool cleaner. Unlike other suction cleaners on the market, the Dorado can be fully repaired down to every single part present for operation meaning a long life out of the cleaner and even more savings in your wallet! At the end of the day cleaners are expensive and for the most part usually can only be repaired or have parts replaced so many times before it is time to purchase another expensive cleaner. The Dorado is the exception to the rule.

Removable Swivel 

To start, the entire swivel assembly comes apart and is easily removed from the top of the cleaner with a twist motion clockwise in direction.

Once the swivel assembly is removed, the entire cleaner comes apart with the removal of 6 phillips-head screws. After removing the screws, there are two strong clips that retain the oscillator assembly via the oscillator chamber cap. The oscillator lifts right out of the cleaner leaving the gears, cam, and ratchet assembly easily accessible for inspection or replacement.

Removable Gears

The gears are removable as a complete unit and should come out as one with the shaft and axle blocks still attached. We suggest replacing all of the gears at the same time if there is some wear present just to ensure the entire assembly is wearing at the same rate and time, similar to replacing tires on a vehicle. This is also a good rule of thumb to utilize during troubleshooting if there are issues with the cleaner. Knowing that ALL of the gears are brand new versus just a few really helps in the long run.

Replacing Seals, Gears, and Shaft

The seals, gear set, and long shaft are also 100% replaceable. The short gear shaft, gears and cover can also now be removed and replaced with the simple removal of one small phillips screw. Now that we've gotten this far into the cleaner, the lift brush and brush ring are now accessible as well as the ratchet tab, bumper, shroud, and cleaner frame.

The ratchet tab simply slides out of the cleaner when pushed by a small flathead screwdriver. The tab is simply pressure fit into the frame of the cleaner. The tab allows the gears to move forward one notch with each pulse of the oscillator, the tab needs to fully engage the gears to make everything function properly and be able to extend the lift brush. This helps the cleaner rotate and move towards a different direction keeping it out of the trouble spots like drains, corners, and the steps.

Full Breakdown of Pentair Dorado Parts

Below is a full parts breakdown of the Dorado showing just how extensive and impressive the replacement options are. When we said the Dorado had a lot of longevity, we mean it! The Dorado is a very powerful and well built cleaning platform among the other numerous options Pentair has to offer.