Any long term users of the Ariel SolarBreeze

[SteveK52]

Anyone with a year or two of usage of the Ariel SolarBreeze and if so, how has it held up?

 

[Newdude]

There are members in these 2 threads if they don't come along on their own shortly.

Battle of the Solar Skimmers: Ariel vs Betta 2 Bake off!!!

So as my Betta makes its way across the country, I have promised to do a side to side comparison. Step 1 is how much stuff does each one pick up. So I cleaned out the Ariel and put it into the pool this morning with a clean basket. I will leave it in for 5 days (until Tuesday morning) and then...

www.troublefreepool.com

Solar Skimmers: Betta versus Ariel

I am looking at picking up a solar-powered skimmer to help with surface debris. Based on research here, it appears that the 2 viable candidates are the Ariel by Solar Breeze and the Betta by Instapark. I suppose that not many have owned both, given that both are somewhat new, but looking for...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[SteveK52]

I have tried the Betta and it was not acceptable, hung up on stairs and the skimmer. Also, I see so many reviews with people having to return them for repair many times over. The last thing I want is to buy something that I have to return every other month. I have one of the original SolarBreeze NX2's that has finally died. I see one of the biggest complaints is Ariel will not run through the night which I'm not happy about but could live with.

 

[gvc]

they supposedly have an "improved" model out, but not sure what improvements they have made. they just sent me an email offering $100 off legacy owners, but even with that it's still $498.

 

[SteveK52]

I have ordered the newest model from Amazon along with a 3 yr warranty, I will post my findings after I start using it.

 

[sultanoswing]

they just sent me an email offering $100 off legacy owners

Me too. I'm tempted. The sale takes it down to $498, and when I applied the discount code, it reduced further the $398.

Trouble is, they add $32 Arizona sales tax, then to ship it to NZ costs almost $500NZD (including an additional %15 sales tax). Yikes.

As an owner of a 1st generation Solar Breeze NX, then the NX2, I do like how they keep the pool clean - but at least on the older model reliability was a real problem, and even moreso when spare parts are half a world away. I've still got one mostly running NX2, cobbled together from the two machines' spare parts. At the price of a new Ariel - even on sale - I'd want to know the reliability was there.

 

[SteveK52]

Received the 2023 Arial 2 days ago. Placed it near the pool to charge at approximately 2:00 pm. It was mostly cloudy and after about 15 minutes I placed it in the pool, it ran until 9:30pm before running out of juice. Yesterday it started itself back up around 8:00 am and yesterday was mostly sunny with a bit of haze. Ran all day and when I got up this morning it was still running. For my particular situation, Freeform pool with steps on one end and a swim-out on the other this is a much better choice than the Betta. I don't have a huge amount of large leaves to pick up, mainly grass cutting from neighbors lawns, flying ants and other bugs, petals and small leaves from flowers around the pool and pollen. I tried a Betta last year and it constantly got stuck on the steps and the skimmer entrance. I would say the build of the Arial is better than the Betta. I purchased it from Amazon along with an Asurion Protection Plan which will give me 4 years total protection. Hope this helps others looking to make this type of purchase.

 

[salinda]

I am a long-time user of the Solar-Breeze products. I had the original NX, NX2, original Ariel, and the 2023 Ariel. The 2023 Ariel is amazing. It runs all day and into the night. It is very reliable and seems to be very durable. Using sensors, it turns readily when reaching edges of pool and does a better job at this than the original Ariel. Picks up pollen, seed pods from a tree, fluff pollen from a nuisance tree, sticks in a storm (I know I'm not supposed to leave it out in a storm) etc. It is also super quiet. The only issue I have had is that it gets hung up on the hose for my Pool Cleaner (suction cleaner). It doesn't have good hose avoidance. If it straddles the hose, it can damage the rear paddles. This seems to have happened to mine. It still runs well and does a good job but one paddle now has a lot of play and clunks because it is hitting the cleaner body. The company is honoring the warranty. They're offering either a direct replacement or a Skimbot, so now I'm researching Skimbots.

 

[ride525]

I've had two Ariels since they first came out. First one died, and was replaced. Neither is the newer 2023 model.

 

[z3540i]

How well does the 2023 Ariel pick up the debris that clings to the edge of the water/wall?