Dolphin Active 40 vs Active 60 - Pickup Mode?

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J

jthornton71707

Member
Apr 5, 2022
11
California
Hey all!

So I have a 22k Gallon "bean" shaped pool with a 11" deep Baja shelf and a 17" deep seating ledge across on end of the pool. Its Grey Pebble finish if that matters.

Ive tested the Dolphin E20, and Dolphin Sigma so far.

The E20 did a good job cleaning bottom of floor, but would hardly climb the walls, wouldn't even make it up to Baja shelf, would just stop

The Sigma so far does an amazing job! It drives up and cleans the entire 11" Baja shelf and the seating area which to my surprise I was told these robots "dont do" However the Simga every single run has gotten stuck on my main drains (2) and the filters are a pain to clean.

Ive been in contact with Marina Pools & Margaret which have the best prices but aren't very good at replying. Im stuck between the Active 40 with Caddy $1299, and the Active 60 with Caddy $1599.

Pickup Mode is important to me because I have a bad back and dont like tugging on the cable, but Margaret & Marina claim the Active 40 does not have this, when every other website says it does?

Margaret did recommend the Active 60 as it would do a better job cleaning the shelfs with the Dual Drive, but also told me "not to expect them to clean the shelves much as none do".

My question to the community is which would be a better bargain for my case scenarcio? Does the dual drive and extra motor on the Active 60 make that much of a difference? the bottom looks like my sigma so im concerned it will also get stuck on my drains.

The Active 60 looks taller, will it be able to make it to clean my Baja shelf like the sigma? Or will I have better luck with the Active 40 cleaning my shelf/seating area with its lower profile?

The price difference is $300 which the only major thing I can say for sure sets them apart seems to be the warranty? Please help. Thanks!
 
I can't answer the question about the shelf - but I don't think the Active 40 makes sense for what you get vs the Active 30.

Having been thoroughly confused by the Dolphin lineup (I'm certain that's what Maytronics intended), I finally found this great YouTube video which breaks down the differences between them.
The video also links to this table which makes it even simpler (right click and download the image then open locally to see it bigger).

Having watched the video and studied the table, I narrowed it down to the Active 30, Active 40 and Active 60 (I wanted the caddy, which took out the Active 20). I then realized that the Active 30 and Active 40 are the same machines - the $200 price difference just gets you the UltraFine filter and unlocks some software features which you may or may not want (but probably don't need). Jumping up to the Active 60 gets you the UltraFine filter, a higher suction rate and dual drive motors (which apparently means it can turn better - though I've nothing to compare it to) PLUS another year on the warranty.

So in my mind the Active 40 didn't make sense. I just had to decide between the Active 30 and the Active 60 (which is what I ultimately went for - and got it in the pool yesterday).

As for whether the brushes spin at different speeds - I think that only happens when it's turning.
 
Too soon to tell - I've literally only run it twice. Haven't seen it "mount" my steps or shelf yet - but then I've not been watching it that closely either.

One thing I noted was that on the first run the "filter full" indicator came on but the filter basket was only about 20% full. I think this was due to it picking up silt/grit which was presumably reducing the water flow through the filter - so probably a good thing to know rather than it being some sort of malfunction which was my initial concern.
 
I’ve read a few times that the full filter indicated on these models is a little wonky. Hopefully it works ok.

Do you have any idea where the water sensor is located on your model? I’m trying calculate if it will have enough clearance to clean my Baja shelf like the sigma.
 
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