Leaf catcher needed? In AZ? vs two skimmers?

[RawhideKid]

Just got the final of 3 quotes on our pool build, and trying hard to compare them side by side. Some highly recommend a leaf catcher; others think they are a waste of $.

In AZ, we get some winds of course, but mostly dust. High block walls around yards. BUT, we do have a couple of young, short Ash trees that will become giant old ash trees.

Leaf catcher needed? Pool is about 37k gallons, 20x38 feet. Will have two skimmers.

thx for any advice.

RK

 

[257WbyMag]

If you are going to have a suction side cleaner, then yes, I would recommend a leaf catcher. They are inexpensive, cause no problems, and can save you big $$$ and headaches from dealing with clogged suction lines. I see no downside. However, if you are going to have a pressure side cleaner, then it wouldn't be necessary to have one.

 

[RawhideKid]

ok. thx. probably will do the leaf catcher. Hate to regret such a little thing.

but now you bring up a confusion for me. Now that I'm not doing the in-floor cleaning system, I'm stuck trying to figure out the difference between suction side and pressure side cleaners, pro's and con's of each, cost of each. Looked in the pool school area; not finding much. I'll keep looking, but if anyone could kindly refer me to a good discussion on the topic, I'd appreciate it!

RK

 

[mas985]

Suction cleaners works best on dust and dirt while pressure side cleaners work best with leaves. Costs are usually not that much different unless a booster is involved with the pressure side cleaner. But I would avoid cleaners with boosters since there one's available without them.

I would highly recommend ThePoolCleaner, either suction or pressure. I have the suction side and it is a pretty good performer. Once a year we have leaf fall on a large chinese elm and it handles the leaves fairly well but if there gets to be too many leaves, it can clog. So if you have mostly dirt with the occasional leaf, then the suction side is probably the best choice.

However, if I had to do it all over again, I might go with a robotic. The nice thing about robotics is that they are independent of the pool pump and use very little energy. With a suction or pressure side cleaner, the pump will be using lots of energy to get the cleaner to work properly. With a robotic, the pool pump can be run at more efficient speeds, assuming you have a two or variable speed pump. From what I understand, robotics are pretty good at cleaning both leaves and dirt. The downside is the cost but with a new pool it is so bad by comparison.

 

[learthur]

It really depends on how big your leaf problem is. My pool has a huge leaf problem. I have a pressure side Polaris with booster pump. It does a very good job. Takes about 4 hours to do a heavy cleaning on the entire pool. For light use you can run it less.

If you are building a new pool, my advice would be to try to design things so you have no trees or limbs within 20 feet of the pool. Prevention can be the best choice sometimes.