Rotating bowl getting stuck and not rotating
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Sonagi
Jul 6, 2010, 11:01:08 PM7/6/10
to CatGenius
Hi guys. I have been trying to fix a major problem I am having with my
catgenie 120. The bowl gets stuck more and more frequently, and I've
been trying various fixes.
I first thought it was the loose granules in the gears or below the
bowl, so I cleaned them out thoroughly. No dice.
The bowl gets stuck almost every time.
Then I put a plastic spacer (from the spare parts bag) to the bottom
of the bowl above the plug. A slight lessening of the frequency of the
stuck bowl. 60% chance of the bowl getting stuck. Then I put another
spacer (a total of two), then this further lessened the frequency of
the stuck bowl. Maybe 50% chance of getting it stuck now.
I am afraid to add another spacer as there is now very low clearance
between the bowl and the enclosure. But I might try anyway.
I found the thread on the litter-box forum about this problem, and the
suggested cause was that the bowl was not perfectly circular due to
packing problem in the earlier units. The poster suggested using a
lubricated o-ring which will allow the bowl to work and eventually fix
itself with the heat during drying cycle.
Unfortunately, my unit is fairly new, and I didn't encounter this
problem before. Also, the bowl gets stuck almost always during the
drying part of the cycle. Or when I am using the scoop only cycle, the
bowl gets stuck sometimes, but it's almost always during the drying
part of the full wash. When the bowl is wet with water, the bowl
doesn't seem to get stuck, so I think the water is lubricating the
bowl.
My working theory right now is that it's just too hot in my apartment
(over 89F degrees today), and the bowl gets warped during the dry
cycle. To test this theory, I shut off the cat genie when the bowl was
stuck during the dry cycle and let it cool. After maybe 10 minutes, I
turned it back on. It was still stuck, but I was able to unstuck it by
nudging the bowl against the enclosure. It gets unstuck, but will get
stuck again (but less frequently). When the bowl gets stuck when it's
hard it's hard to get it unstuck with the nudge as it will get stuck
again very soon.
(Warning: I found that pressing the bowl against the enclosure can
damage the bowl's gear and pop one of the inner rotating wheels).
Either the pressing the bowl or the getting it stuck has slightly worn
the rotating bowl's outer gear.
I also tried moving the genie hand/scooper slightly to lower the
pressure on the bowl, and this has maybe 30% chance of getting the
bowl unstuck. I never noticed how much pressure the genie hand puts on
the bowl.
Rob has mentioned earlier there's a fix for this problem, and it would
be nice to get advice.
Maybe it's because it's just too hot in here and causing the plastic
parts to warp during the drying cycle especially with the genie dome
on. Any suggestions? Thanks.
catgenie 120. The bowl gets stuck more and more frequently, and I've
been trying various fixes.
I first thought it was the loose granules in the gears or below the
bowl, so I cleaned them out thoroughly. No dice.
The bowl gets stuck almost every time.
Then I put a plastic spacer (from the spare parts bag) to the bottom
of the bowl above the plug. A slight lessening of the frequency of the
stuck bowl. 60% chance of the bowl getting stuck. Then I put another
spacer (a total of two), then this further lessened the frequency of
the stuck bowl. Maybe 50% chance of getting it stuck now.
I am afraid to add another spacer as there is now very low clearance
between the bowl and the enclosure. But I might try anyway.
I found the thread on the litter-box forum about this problem, and the
suggested cause was that the bowl was not perfectly circular due to
packing problem in the earlier units. The poster suggested using a
lubricated o-ring which will allow the bowl to work and eventually fix
itself with the heat during drying cycle.
Unfortunately, my unit is fairly new, and I didn't encounter this
problem before. Also, the bowl gets stuck almost always during the
drying part of the cycle. Or when I am using the scoop only cycle, the
bowl gets stuck sometimes, but it's almost always during the drying
part of the full wash. When the bowl is wet with water, the bowl
doesn't seem to get stuck, so I think the water is lubricating the
bowl.
My working theory right now is that it's just too hot in my apartment
(over 89F degrees today), and the bowl gets warped during the dry
cycle. To test this theory, I shut off the cat genie when the bowl was
stuck during the dry cycle and let it cool. After maybe 10 minutes, I
turned it back on. It was still stuck, but I was able to unstuck it by
nudging the bowl against the enclosure. It gets unstuck, but will get
stuck again (but less frequently). When the bowl gets stuck when it's
hard it's hard to get it unstuck with the nudge as it will get stuck
again very soon.
(Warning: I found that pressing the bowl against the enclosure can
damage the bowl's gear and pop one of the inner rotating wheels).
Either the pressing the bowl or the getting it stuck has slightly worn
the rotating bowl's outer gear.
I also tried moving the genie hand/scooper slightly to lower the
pressure on the bowl, and this has maybe 30% chance of getting the
bowl unstuck. I never noticed how much pressure the genie hand puts on
the bowl.
Rob has mentioned earlier there's a fix for this problem, and it would
be nice to get advice.
Maybe it's because it's just too hot in here and causing the plastic
parts to warp during the drying cycle especially with the genie dome
on. Any suggestions? Thanks.
patrick
Jul 6, 2010, 11:14:11 PM7/6/10
to CatGenius
When I got my 120, the bowl would not rotate at all. I called
petnovations and they had me take it apart, and the nub the bowl rides
on was actually broken off. They ended up replacing the entire base.
Since you've already shimmed your bowl, I would assume this isn't your
problem.
I don't think the heat is causing your issues. Both of my catgenies
are in my attached garage, and I can assure you I don't run the window
A/C out there when I'm not working on something. It's been over 100F
here, and I've had no stuck bowl issues.
It seems to me that something is warped in your catgenie. Hopefully
nothing in the PU, since you've flashed it. If you call in, I don't
know if the test functions they'll have you do are available on the
catgenius firmware. You could try emailing, or calling them from
"work", and get the troubleshooting steps and calling back the next
day. If you explain everything you've tried to remedy the situation,
they may just send you a new bowl and/or base without any more
testing.
petnovations and they had me take it apart, and the nub the bowl rides
on was actually broken off. They ended up replacing the entire base.
Since you've already shimmed your bowl, I would assume this isn't your
problem.
I don't think the heat is causing your issues. Both of my catgenies
are in my attached garage, and I can assure you I don't run the window
A/C out there when I'm not working on something. It's been over 100F
here, and I've had no stuck bowl issues.
It seems to me that something is warped in your catgenie. Hopefully
nothing in the PU, since you've flashed it. If you call in, I don't
know if the test functions they'll have you do are available on the
catgenius firmware. You could try emailing, or calling them from
"work", and get the troubleshooting steps and calling back the next
day. If you explain everything you've tried to remedy the situation,
they may just send you a new bowl and/or base without any more
testing.
Sonagi
Jul 6, 2010, 11:24:45 PM7/6/10
to CatGenius
Sounds like a good plan. Thanks for the information. :D
jaime
Jul 6, 2010, 11:41:15 PM7/6/10
to CatGenius
Sonagi
I can help you with that one!
That was one of my my first complaints with Petnovations "PN"
First when I recieved the unit the white peg that you put those
spacers was broken.
They sent me a bowl by mistake instead of the peg.
I finnaly got the peg and the broken hand replaced (all damaged from
shipping).
Then on the first test run the bowl would jam.
PN said that the bowl was warped.
I tried the new bowl and found it not to be effective.
They also sent me a stinky replacment processing unit to "solve" the
problem but that did not work ether.
If you will notice the brim and processing unit will support the bowl
at the gear even if it is warped.
If you study the problem you will probably find the gear on the edge
of the bowl will interfere with the hand gear.
I found that if you place the most minimum of granuals in the bowl it
may eliminate the problem.
If not please let me know and I will show you the solution.
IMG_0970.JPG
I can help you with that one!
That was one of my my first complaints with Petnovations "PN"
First when I recieved the unit the white peg that you put those
spacers was broken.
They sent me a bowl by mistake instead of the peg.
I finnaly got the peg and the broken hand replaced (all damaged from
shipping).
Then on the first test run the bowl would jam.
PN said that the bowl was warped.
I tried the new bowl and found it not to be effective.
They also sent me a stinky replacment processing unit to "solve" the
problem but that did not work ether.
If you will notice the brim and processing unit will support the bowl
at the gear even if it is warped.
If you study the problem you will probably find the gear on the edge
of the bowl will interfere with the hand gear.
I found that if you place the most minimum of granuals in the bowl it
may eliminate the problem.
If not please let me know and I will show you the solution.
IMG_0970.JPG
Sonagi
Jul 7, 2010, 12:21:31 AM7/7/10
to CatGenius
Hi Jaime, thanks for your help. Can you please the last part of your
message?
> the brim and processing unit will support the bowl
> at the gear even if it is warped.
So even if the bowl is warped, the weight of the processing unit will
allow the bowl's gear to touch the PU's gear (by pressing down on the
bowl)?
> "the gear on the edge of the bowl will interfere with the hand gear."
However, you think the bowl's gear (the teeth) will touch against the
hand gear when the hand gear is moving? How can I prevent this from
happening?
Thanks
message?
> the brim and processing unit will support the bowl
> at the gear even if it is warped.
allow the bowl's gear to touch the PU's gear (by pressing down on the
bowl)?
> "the gear on the edge of the bowl will interfere with the hand gear."
hand gear when the hand gear is moving? How can I prevent this from
happening?
Thanks
Robert Deliën
Jul 7, 2010, 6:54:22 AM7/7/10
to catg...@googlegroups.com
> I also tried moving the genie hand/scooper slightly to lower the
> pressure on the bowl, and this has maybe 30% chance of getting the
> bowl unstuck. I never noticed how much pressure the genie hand puts on
> the bowl.
> pressure on the bowl, and this has maybe 30% chance of getting the
> bowl unstuck. I never noticed how much pressure the genie hand puts on
> the bowl.
The scooper motor has no end-of-stroke switch. So to make sure the scoop reaches the end, it is kept on for a longer time. A full stroke takes ~18 seconds, but the original washing program keeps it on for up to 40 seconds, putting some real pressure on the bowl.
> Rob has mentioned earlier there's a fix for this problem, and it would
> be nice to get advice.
Jaime has a good solution to keep granules away from the gears.
> Maybe it's because it's just too hot in here and causing the plastic
> parts to warp during the drying cycle especially with the genie dome
> on. Any suggestions? Thanks.
I wouldn't know; I had a blocked bowl once. I took it apart, found nothing, and when reassembled everything worked again.
Once I had the scrubber jammed at the side of the bowl.
jaime
Jul 7, 2010, 9:12:21 AM7/7/10
to CatGenius
Once again, it is very important not to put the amount of granuals in
the bowl that PNV reccomends.
Using the minimal amount of granuals will insure the cleaning cycle is
most effective.
The important thing to observe is when the granuals are wet and the
bowl is turning clockwise.
The granuals should never reach the bottom edge of the brim behind the
hand and even less pass over the hand.
This will allow the granuals get between the brim and the bowl.
Also this places a large load on the bowl drive.
I really doubt the bowl motor will ever stall, it is very strong.
You should hear popping when the bowl stalls, this is the gear jumping
teeth.
I can not get photos to post with my messages on this group.
I can show you how to isolate the bowl gear and the hand gear with
photos if I could get them uploaded.
The hand needs that down pressure to operate properly.
If the hand does not push down hard the granuals will just lift it up
and the poo will get split and smeared and mixed in with the granuals.
When that happens it is not much fun to watch the cycle when it comes
time to dry the granuals.....
The hand will not put enouph pressure to cause the bowl to stall.
I put a thin UHMW plastic spacer between the bowl gear and the hand
gear.
A piece of soda bottle will work well also.
It takes some effort to get the spacer to an effective shape.
Then I drilled holes through the brim and the plastic spacer and used
pop rivits to fasten it in place.
I never had a problem after that modification.
the bowl that PNV reccomends.
Using the minimal amount of granuals will insure the cleaning cycle is
most effective.
The important thing to observe is when the granuals are wet and the
bowl is turning clockwise.
The granuals should never reach the bottom edge of the brim behind the
hand and even less pass over the hand.
This will allow the granuals get between the brim and the bowl.
Also this places a large load on the bowl drive.
I really doubt the bowl motor will ever stall, it is very strong.
You should hear popping when the bowl stalls, this is the gear jumping
teeth.
I can not get photos to post with my messages on this group.
I can show you how to isolate the bowl gear and the hand gear with
photos if I could get them uploaded.
The hand needs that down pressure to operate properly.
If the hand does not push down hard the granuals will just lift it up
and the poo will get split and smeared and mixed in with the granuals.
When that happens it is not much fun to watch the cycle when it comes
time to dry the granuals.....
The hand will not put enouph pressure to cause the bowl to stall.
I put a thin UHMW plastic spacer between the bowl gear and the hand
gear.
A piece of soda bottle will work well also.
It takes some effort to get the spacer to an effective shape.
Then I drilled holes through the brim and the plastic spacer and used
pop rivits to fasten it in place.
I never had a problem after that modification.
jaime
Jul 7, 2010, 9:20:30 AM7/7/10
to CatGenius
> So even if the bowl is warped, the weight of the processing unit will
> allow the bowl's gear to touch the PU's gear (by pressing down on the
> bowl)?
It is not the weight, it is the support where the components make
> allow the bowl's gear to touch the PU's gear (by pressing down on the
> bowl)?
contact.
The gears have a lot of engagement or the teeth fit together deeply.
If you notice the gap between the bowl and the brim, it is pretty
close all the way around the bowl.
If the bowl was not held round there would be a gap between the brim
and bowl at one point.
When the load on the bowl drive becomes to high, the angle of the gear
teeth will cause the teeth to climb apart and jump.
You can reach in and stop the bowl by hand to get an idea how strong
the drive is.
Robert Deliën
Jul 7, 2010, 11:10:46 AM7/7/10
to catg...@googlegroups.com
> I can not get photos to post with my messages on this group.
> I can show you how to isolate the bowl gear and the hand gear with
> photos if I could get them uploaded.
> I can show you how to isolate the bowl gear and the hand gear with
> photos if I could get them uploaded.
You should be able to attach photo's to your posts to this group, unless they're really big. I can.
But to be sure, I have promoted your account to Group Manager. This also allows you to upload photos in the files section.
Sonagi
Jul 7, 2010, 9:08:06 PM7/7/10
to CatGenius
Thanks for the detailed instruction on repairing the stuck bowl.
Indeed a picture or two would be nice. Thanks :D
Indeed a picture or two would be nice. Thanks :D
Sonagi
Jul 15, 2010, 2:11:42 PM7/15/10
to CatGenius
I think I found a fix by putting even more spacers underneath the
bowl. So I am using 3 spacers (from the spare parts bag) plus two
spacers I cut out from some plastic packaging. It's interesting that
my bowl gets stuck always in the latter half of the drying cycle, and
thus far, this extra spacers seemed to have cured the problem...
fingers crossed.
A picture or two of the jaime's solution would be nice still.
bowl. So I am using 3 spacers (from the spare parts bag) plus two
spacers I cut out from some plastic packaging. It's interesting that
my bowl gets stuck always in the latter half of the drying cycle, and
thus far, this extra spacers seemed to have cured the problem...
fingers crossed.
A picture or two of the jaime's solution would be nice still.
Özgür Nadiroğlu
Jun 22, 2016, 8:57:29 PM6/22/16
to CatGenius
I heard a bad noise in the middle of the night and when I checked my cat genie it was stucked (during the very begining, scooping period). So I removed the unit, turned the bowl and scoop a few times in both directions and everything was normal.
Put everything back and it was stucked again and again. So I removed the unit, pushed with sth. to the switch to turn it on without putting back to base and surprisingly it was still stucked!..
It has its original firmware, I bought it less than a month ago and not modified yet before reading almost all topics here.
What do you suggest for me? Should I call customer service or is there a really simple problem that I don't know about?
Thank you..
Put everything back and it was stucked again and again. So I removed the unit, pushed with sth. to the switch to turn it on without putting back to base and surprisingly it was still stucked!..
It has its original firmware, I bought it less than a month ago and not modified yet before reading almost all topics here.
What do you suggest for me? Should I call customer service or is there a really simple problem that I don't know about?
Thank you..
John Morgali
Jun 22, 2016, 9:59:04 PM6/22/16
to catg...@googlegroups.com
The bowl motor shaaft probably broke. Call customer service. They'll warranty it for you.
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Ozgur
Jun 25, 2016, 9:04:40 PM6/25/16
to CatGenius
Thanks for your reply. I called them and they came same day. Motor changed completely, it is ok for now..
The bowl motor shaaft probably broke. Call customer service. They'll warranty it for you.
-------- Original message --------
From: Özgür Nadiroğlu <cha...@gmail.com>
Date: 6/22/2016 5:57 PM (GMT-08:00)
To: CatGenius <catg...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [catgenius] Re: Rotating bowl getting stuck and not rotatingI heard a bad noise in the middle of the night and when I checked my cat genie it was stucked (during the very begining, scooping period). So I removed the unit, turned the bowl and scoop a few times in both directions and everything was normal.
Put everything back and it was stucked again and again. So I removed the unit, pushed with sth. to the switch to turn it on without putting back to base and surprisingly it was still stucked!..
It has its original firmware, I bought it less than a month ago and not modified yet before reading almost all topics here.
What do you suggest for me? Should I call customer service or is there a really simple problem that I don't know about?
Thank you..
Michael Conner
Jun 25, 2016, 10:59:22 PM6/25/16
to catg...@googlegroups.com
Ozgur,
pull the Bowl out and clean the bowl and inside on the CG machine.
Sounds like there's litter in t he bottom and the friction is your problem.
Michael..
John Morgali
Jun 26, 2016, 10:28:41 AM6/26/16
to catg...@googlegroups.com, John Morgali Jr
If they sent warranty support out and they replaced the entire motor assembly, then they probably took the time to look at everything else. However, it sounds like it was probably just a faulty bowl motor, or the little sweeper disk under the bowl. Mine gets stuck occasionally also and makes a horrible racket, but it has not broken the bowl motor yet.
Ozgur
Jun 26, 2016, 11:57:52 AM6/26/16
to CatGenius, jo...@morgali.net
Hi John.. and Michael
I bought catgenie and put two washers under the bowl after a week or so, because there was too many litters under the bowl. After that I haven't seen any litter or else under the bowl and around the main unit. I checked everwhere before service came out and also they first looked if there is any issue with the bowl because of litter or something else. I also never heard any bad noise from the motor and the bowl, everything was ok till that day. The service man also said there is something wrong with the motor when he took it off and checked.
Changing motor with a new one was under warranty btw.
P.S. sorry for my english, it is not as good as yours :)
I bought catgenie and put two washers under the bowl after a week or so, because there was too many litters under the bowl. After that I haven't seen any litter or else under the bowl and around the main unit. I checked everwhere before service came out and also they first looked if there is any issue with the bowl because of litter or something else. I also never heard any bad noise from the motor and the bowl, everything was ok till that day. The service man also said there is something wrong with the motor when he took it off and checked.
Changing motor with a new one was under warranty btw.
P.S. sorry for my english, it is not as good as yours :)
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