Choice of Suction Pool Cleaner--I am conflicted

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sjsoldo

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Jul 17, 2009
105
Hi there

I have had the old Hayward Pool Vac Ultra for 20 years. I have replaced most of the parts at regular intervals. I have been satisfied with the device for the most part. I use it with the Hayward leaf chamber to keep large leaves out of the filter basket.

But recently it stopped climbing walls, only cleans the deep end, and my Pentair VF pump keeps stalling because it seems that it is starved of water return. I have replaced the hose, no different. The problem might be the pump, but it has worked fine for years. Perhaps the pump needs maintenance. I don't know.

My approach is the following. I figure I got my money's worth out of it, and time to change the cleaner. I have five products in mind: 1) The Poolvergnuegen (probably 4 wheel for 26,000 gal pool 2) Jayward AquaNaut or the Hayward Navigator Pro.

Any suggestions on which product to choose ?
 
I would skip all suction side cleaners and go with a robotic instead. Even though a suction cleaner will climb the walls it does not brush the walls so it is pretty useless for that. A robotic will not only climb the walls but will scrub them as well. Plus you don't need a pump to run them. They will run completely on there own saving quite a bit on energy costs (lower RPM and/or shorter run time for your main pump).

Doheny's Discovery, S200, Active20, Triton owners club

Pretty excited, I just ordered my first robotic pool cleaner. I chose the Doheny Discovery, which appears to be the same model as the Maytronics Dolphin S 200 / Active 20 models. As of today, the Doheny's Discovery was on sale for $649.00 with free shipping and no tax, which helped smooth over...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
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The robotic can be plugged into any outdoor outlet. However, if you don't have any outlets near the pool, then that may not be an option.
 
If your set on not getting a robot the Poolvergnuegen is an awesome cleaner that works and works... it is 200 less than a robot and does way less but it will work :)
 
I've used the Poolvergnuegen 4-wheel for four full seasons now. I had a Hayward Navigator at my previous house. Both do what their supposed to; vacuum debris off the bottom. The Hayward seemed to climb better than the Poolvergnuegen but, as mentioned above, they don't do much good on the walls anyways. The main advantage of the Poolvergnuegen over the Hayward is that it's required no maintenance or replacement parts. Seems like I was always replacing wings and other wear items on the Hayward. I'll keep the suction cleaner for now, but may step up to a robot in the future.

If you can salvage your current cleaner, I would stick with what you have, rather than invest in a new suction cleaner. The symptoms you describe hint at an obstruction somewhere in the cleaner or plumbing.
 
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Interesting that you would mention to keep my current cleaner which I am leaning towards. Changing the parts once a year is not at all difficult.

I get the enthusiasm about robots, but the wiring would be a pain. I have outlets 15 feet from the pool. But I would have to run a low voltage wire over the decking which is not at all practical, if for no other reason that someone may trip over it.
 
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I have the four wheel version of The Pool Cleaner. It kicks butt, I like it a lot and my brother in law had really good luck with the two wheel version. We both ran inline filters to avoid clogging the pump basket.

A friend had a robot and said he'd never do it again.

My .02 is that a robot or rover isn't to replace the normal care a human provides the pool. I simply rely on the rover to remove dirt, leaves and seeds from the bottom of the pool so I don't have to vacuum manually. If your mindset is similar, most suction side rovers like The Pool Cleaner or a barracuda (had this in a rental house with a pool, it wasn't terrible) will do well and are worth the money. I picked up my four wheel rover for $450 at the LPS, and it's the special edition black :sneaky:😎
 

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sjsoldo said:
I get the enthusiasm about robots, but the wiring would be a pain. I have outlets 15 feet from the pool. But I would have to run a low voltage wire over the decking which is not at all practical, if for no other reason that someone may trip over it.
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My outlet for mine is 15 foot away from the pool as well and for the 4 years that I have owned it, nobody has every tripped over the cord. It is very thin and lays flat on the concrete so it would not be easy to do.

I have owned both The Pool Cleaner and a Maytronics Robot. While ThePoolCleaner is a very good performer, there is really no comparison to the Discovery (S200) although based upon performance reviews on the forum, it does make a difference which robot you get. The link I posted above has many happy customers that made the change.
 
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mas985 said:
My outlet for mine is 15 foot away from the pool as well and for the 4 years that I have owned it, nobody has every tripped over the cord. It is very thin and lays flat on the concrete so it would not be easy to do.

I have owned both The Pool Cleaner and a Maytronics Robot. While ThePoolCleaner is a very good performer, there is really no comparison to the Discovery (S200) although based upon performance reviews on the forum, it does make a difference which robot you get. The link I posted above has many happy customers that made the change.
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I can’t wait to get mine after my pool gets replastered. Suction side cleaners are just outdated with what is available now
 
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