Best reasonably priced vacuum for pebble sheen pool?

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MattM

MattM

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Jul 14, 2011
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San Diego, CA
Our pool builder included the barracuda mx8 with our new pebble sheen pool. I like the mx8 and have used it three times now and have concerns that at corners and other awkward spots that the plastic on the front or side of it is pushing at just the right angle against the floor of the pool to knock off pebbles. I'm still a newbie on this so I may be misinterpreting.

I posted in the mx8 thread asking if other pebble tec/sheen pool owners had used the mx8 for a sustained period and been happy with it and didn't really get an answer for that, other than that it was unlikely the zodiac would be causing damage and that if I wanted to switch, the aquabot might be the one to move to?
 
Well, I'm not the only one apparently having concerns about the mx8 for pebble:
http://ihatexmas.net/r/buyer-beware/53823
http://www.amazon.com/review/R10QIYQG27 ... &linkCode=

Important parts of reviews:
"began to notice that chunks of plaster had been lifted of the plaster surface. The problem was most severe in the corners of the pool where the MX8 had difficulty maneuvering a right angle. I believe the damage to the plaster bottom was caused by the constant friction of the tractor wheels."
"Cleans the pebbles right off your Pebbletec! There is so much sand in my filters it has me very concerned. Looking at the Baracuda's exterior after just 2 months, it is all scraped up from it's poorly design edge clearances, it appears like it is just knocking the pebbles off with the plastic edges of the body of the unit."

I've generally been still willing to give the MX8 a try, but in the last two runs with the vacuum I did see that areas the mx8 had gone over seemed like they had been rubbed extensively and had a lower pebble density than others, also I saw some tiny plaster pieces in the pump basket. Note that my pool is still relatively new so I expected to find some stuff....but the comments above plus my experience are making me wary.

I'm considering seeing if I can return the mx8 and either get a blue diamond, aquabot, or pool cleaner 4x. The aquabot seems the nicest product, but comments about lack of support are worrying. Pool cleaner also gets nice reviews but it seems to be minimal feature. I'm really trying to find a cleaner we'll be using for the indefinite future...10+ years....if aquabot issues are generally easy to repair on your own, I might still go with them....I'm not sure how blue diamond and aquabot compare.
 
Note that I did send a note to zodiac support asking them if there were any concerns with using the mx8 on pebble surfaces and the response I got back was a generic - "the mx8 is suitable for all pool surfaces".
 
roysteves said:
The mx8 should be fine on pebbletec. If you want to move to a robot, the Blue Diamond is pretty popular, as are Dolphins and Aquabots. I've noticed several recommendations for smartpool on the forum, but from what we've heard (and seen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aYwTYO80ko) they can sometimes behave... oddly.
Click to expand...

The link you posted is a random turning routine that they do. It's part of the programming.
 
bobodaclown said:
The link you posted is a random turning routine that they do. It's part of the programming.
Click to expand...
I'd heard of them getting stuck like that, so I looked it up...
NC51 Owner Manual said:
During normal operation, the cleaner will appear to shut off for a few seconds, raise the front wheels of the pool bottom and move either left or right or turn for an undetermined amount of time. This is normal and has been preprogrammed into the unit to assure the quickest and most efficient cleaning of your pool. http://www.smartpool.com/website/manuals/NC51.pdf
Click to expand...
I stand corrected! bobodaclown's quite right.

Back on the MX8, despite mostly positive reviews, one of the negative ones was:
I bought this right after it came out. Worked great at first. [...] IF YOU HAVE A PEBBLE TEC POOL it will strip the pebbles right off of it. I have lost a considerable portion of the pebbles off my pebbletec in the corners and places the MX-8 struggles to clean.
Click to expand...
It's still a fairly rare complaint, but someone else pointed out another thought: Even if Zodiac is right, and the MX8 won't hurt the pool, the Pebbletec may result in more wear on the wheels or pads of cleaners, and I'm not sure whether the treads on the MX8 would hold up worse or better than other cleaners in that case.
 
You could email or call Pebble Tec and see if they have a preferred model for pebble sheen. We have been using the Navigator for a year and a half and are not seeing the issues you are concerned about. Thats not long term but I know they have been around a while.
 
Well, I'm currently leaning towards getting a dolphin cleaner ....they seem to have the least complaints about breakage/etc, although they are harder to purchase and way too many models....blue diamond or aquabot t2 are also under consideration, but apparently both have their share of issues. The aquabot seems to have the best reputation for overall cleaning, but the reviews on amazon are a nightmare.

If I go dolphin, which one....the supreme m4 seems best on the "international" website, but since dolphin only warranties products purchased locally that means finding a local retailer and their website suggests the closest is almost a thousand miles away. Alternatively, there is the deluxe 5 from leslies or the dx6 from general pool resellers in the local area. I've seen good reviews on the deluxe....but it is worrying if all support must go through leslies.
 
Mother and Dad have Dolphin....love it. Except for repairs........nightmare. You must be sure that there is someone in the area to repair it and in NJ there is only a couple and are outrageously expensive.

I have had Aqua bots. About 4 in the past 27 years. Lucky to have repair within 20 minutes of the house but have been told they are excellent in repairs to other states and turn around is very quick. Again, not the cheapest but when you need the pool cleaned........you don't want to wait a long time. Plus the new Aqua bots come with 4 year warranties.
 
At the moment, seems to be coming down to either a dolphin dx6 w/ cartridge filter or an aquabot t2. The t2 seems to have more users, but more reported problems with expensive repairs....it also washes in addition to scrubbing/filtering....warranty is about the same for both, aqua might be longer but it is prorated and includes cycle count and some people have reported that the manufacturer will try to get out of providing repairs. I assume both will be fine for pebble tech. I don't have a problem taking in a dolphin for local repairs if it doesn't cost an arm and a leg - I'm in san diego and there is a local retailer only 10 miles away.
 

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I have pebblesheen and use a Dolphin Dynamic with remote control. I did have a problem where the power supply would not turn on after only a few months. I talked to customer support (in Phoenix I think) and mailed them the power supply and they sent me a new one no problem with a slightly different design. When we did this they mentioned that if the power spiked it could have killed the motors too, but I decided to try the PS first and if it still did not work I could have shipped them the whole unit.

Now, I bought mine from Costco online ... so if things really go south, I can return it locally. Problem is, they only list the product on their website in the summer, although maybe there is a way to call them and order it anyway if you wanted to go that route.

EDIT: Just wanted to add that the Dynamic I got is exactly the same as Leslie shows on their website for $1800 ... pretty sure I paid $1000 from Costco.
 
Spoke to the local dolphin reseller, he seemed an OK enough guy but mentioned that it had been awhile since he had last sold a DX. Biggest issue with repairs for him is just getting the parts from distribution. Also, low cost suction based cleaners rule most of southern California apparently. He thought both the dolphin and aquabots were about the same, but that there was a lot of interest lately in the aqua t-jets because there is no moving parts except for the pump. Rough price for the DX was $1,200 and he thought as long as I didn't leave it in the pool when I wasn't using it, I should have no problems with it.
 
See my edit in my post above for what I paid ... plus Costco's return policy is just incredible if you can live with yourself.

I actually ordered one of the Aqua-T Jet propelled ones from Costco before I returned it and got the Dynamic. The problem I found was that the propulsion jet passes through the filter bag ... the dirtier the bag gets, the less forward movement you get. I found that VERY quickly it would not have the power to get out of the deep end of my pool as the bag gets dirtier and heavier. Now if you have a flat pool, it might work well, but it will certainly not climb the walls and scrub the tile like my Dynamic does.
 
Well, I searched costco and they don't seem to be selling the dynamic anymore....and there is also a dynamic plus they aren't selling either :(
I spoke briefly to leslies about the dolphin deluxe 5 -- the 5 appears to be almost identical to the DX6, except that it is rebranded for leslies and supports a cartridge filter like the new supreme m5.
No one nearby seems to have heard or sell the m5.
Local reseller of the DX6 was supposed to call me back today, apparently never got around to it.

Dolphin certainly doesn't make it easy to buy any version of their product unless its the deluxe.

I see split reviews on the deluxe, some blogs claim the entire line is "cheap", but other sources say the earlier deluxe models had issues because of who support was outsourced too, but this was fixed with the deluxe 4...and that the deluxe 5 does have the dual motor/split brush and most of the improvements from the dx line.

Is it still a good idea to stay away from the deluxe?
 
Well, I ordered a dolphin deluxe 5 from the local leslies store - includes a 3yr everything covered/no pro-rate warranty and cartridge filter + remote w/ various cleaning cycles + brushes that are supposed to be safe for pebble. Hopefully, I won't have to run it more than twice/month given that we have a covered pool.
 
I'll brush the pool manually occasionally and have fun with it, but vacuuming...not really -- plus having a robot allows me to just throw it in an hour or two before if we're going to have a pool party and ensure the pool gets completely clean -- at least thats the hope. I'm also curious to see how it will perform with brushing the tile and steps.
 
Hi I'm fairly new to pools, and I just wanted to ask you guys, how often do you recommend using the automatic cleaner I have ( zodiac barracuda), once a week? twice?

Thank you, I appreciate any advice.
 
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