Pool Vacuum Head - Spindle and Roller Upgrade

thingiverse

Repair and upgrade broken spindles and rollers in a common pool vacuum head attachment. The original all-plastic spindles have a high failure rate; often crumbling to pieces after a few years. This replaces the original spindle with a pair of printed spindle-halves, plus a #8 button-head stainless steel bolt (1.5" long) and nylon lock nut. You may re-use the original rollers, or print new rollers. Parts needed for an 8-roller vacuum head: Qty 16 - printed spindle-half Qty 8 - printed roller (optional) Qty 8 - Stainless steel bolt #8-32 (coarse thread), button head, 1.5" long Qty 8 - Stainless steel #8-32 nylon lock nut Assembly Instructions: https://youtu.be/RjhsLrcMUE8 Print instructions: Spindle-Half - Use material that is sturdy and will not shrink or warp in the sun and heat, eg. PETG or ABS. 3 shells/walls at 0.2mm layer height. 30% infill. Roller - Use the same material as the spindles. To improve durability, print with 0.1mm layer height, and set the number of walls/shells to 4. Use a very high infill such as 50%. The top/bottom layer count is 4. Assembly: Use pliers to remove the old/broken spindles. Hold the roller in-position between the two blue tabs. Insert a new spindle-half through the left tab, and another through the right tab. The spindle-halves will make contact at the center of the roller. Insert a bolt through both halves of the spindle, and attach the lock nut. Tip - Be sure that the lock nut ends of the bolts are NOT facing outward on the corners of the vacuum head. Following this tip will protect the pool from scrapes against sharp bolt ends.