Recent content by mhosborn

Interesting solution! I've used a small upright smoker cover that has worked well for me for many years. It's not nearly as polished as your solution, though.

YMMV, but for me a key factor in selecting a Maytronics robot was its ability to resist getting hung up on the main drains. Our main drains are of the newer, mandated variety and as such stick up from the bottom more than older drains do. We had a Dolphin DX-4 robot that always got hung up on...

Excellent writeup of your experiences with the Intellicenter....many thanks! A couple of thoughts came to mind after reading this: Pentair announced this almost 2 years ago (might be longer than that, actually). I'm a bit disappointed that, after all this time, the Intellicenter upgrade still...

I saw this same issue with our old Maytronics DX4 robot. The only "cure" was to replace the power supply. (Am now using an M400, purchased last year).

The Maytronics USA site shows the Dolphin DX4, which would be the same as the unit you're replacing.

My M400 does a fine job in our free form pool. I purchased this model a couple of months ago, primarily because of the third brush on the bottom of the unit that other Maytronics models (except the M500) do not have. I needed this bottom brush to prevent the unit from getting high centered and...

I use a small vertical smoker grill cover over my cart/power supply, as I have no other place to keep it out of the elements. It keeps it shaded, plus keeps the water away.

I purchased the M400 a month ago for the very concern you mentioned (and others here have mentioned)....the M400/M500 have a center brush on the bottom that all but eliminates any worries of the robot getting high-centered on the main drains. The M400 I got came with both a fine wire mesh...

The main drain issue was the reason I went with the M400 this year. It glides right over the main drains, whereas the DX4 it replaced used to spin around on them...sometimes for 10 minutes more more.

I've stored my Dolphin outside every year (bring it indoors for the winters). I keep the caddy/controller covered with an inexpensive grill cover. Until I started covering them, I was going thru controllers every year. Since then, no problems.

I'm disappointed, too, that Pentair hasn't started shipping these yet. Technically, however, summer hasn't arrived yet, so they aren't late. :D

A consideration you should keep in mind when choosing a robot cleaner is your main drains. Our Dolphin DX4 would constantly get stuck on our main drains and spin in circles on top of the drain for several minutes before breaking loose. Because of this issue, and the fact it no longer turned...

Your profile doesn't indicate you've got a salt pool. Our pool is salt, and we had a similar problem with some metal chaise lounges we'd purchased at Lowe's. They were rusted like yours after only one year. We've switched our pool furniture to Polywood resin furniture, and are very pleased...

I'm interested in both as well....following this thread.

Have you looked at what type of pool cleaner you want to use? Pressure-side cleaner, suction-side cleaner, or robot? Do you have a budget in mind? I think you'll find a lot of folks here use robots, as they're so much easier. Less hassle than pressure or suction side cleaners. I'm sure if...