Instapark Betta review

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DanF said:
^^I called Betta today, described the issue and the history. The rep (Maria) told me to spray WD40 on the gear and wait five minutes and call back. While I knew this would not work because of how frozen the gear was, I complied.

After that did not work, I called back and Maria said the repair would covered under the warranty from the last repair. She sent me the shipping documents and I will be be sending the Betta pack tomorrow.

I asked what current turnaround repair time was and she said 7-15 business days, 20 days max. This was due to the large number of repairs they currently have.

Note to self and other Betta owners: save your shipping boxes for the all-expense paid trips to Santa Fe Springs, CA.
Darn, I love this product when it works!
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Yep, save the box! Lol! Glad they are repairing it for you, and glad to hear they also warranty their repair work.
 
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Definitely. Don't understand why the bottom feeders have cords, but skimmers don't! Either a charging cord or a permanent swivel cord! I'd buy an upgrade as soon as available.
 
I am not thrilled with the idea of a cord, since it stays in the pool all the time. Messes with my feng shui. But when I come out in the morning I could take it out of the pool. Empty the basket, and plug it in for a few hours before the sun is shining on the pool. Give it a nice head start for the day. Especially on days where I run my robot, I have to take it out of the pool anyway, why not give a a boost.

It is interesting that the two major manufacturers of these surface skimmer both refuse to put a charging option.
 
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You'd think they could come up with a Roomba type charger where it docks to a 12v charger at the coping when it needs juice. But yeah, just being able to charge it overnight so it runs all day regardless of sun! Maybe Aiper will come out with one.
 
My replaced unit arrived during an extended period of cloudy days. Then the frigid stormy weather and now finally some sunny days. I haven’t had any full days of continuous operation. But when it runs it’s great as we all agree.

Betta 2‘s propellers are getting entangled with pine straw and leaves that I think causes the battery to drain faster than it should. Betta 1 didn’t have this problem although pine straw would wrap around the paddle connections. That’s not happening with Betta 2. Anyone else with a similar problem? I extended the white things thinking they might change the flow pattern except the battery is dead so I can’t test it yet!
 
DanF said:
I called Betta today, described the issue and the history. The rep (Maria) told me to spray WD40 on the gear and wait five minutes and call back. While I knew this would not work because of how frozen the gear was, I complied.

After that did not work, I called back and Maria said the repair would covered under the warranty from the last repair. She sent me the shipping documents and I will be be sending the Betta pack tomorrow.

I asked what current turnaround repair time was and she said 7-15 business days, 20 days max. This was due to the large number of repairs they currently have.

Note to self and other Betta owners: save your shipping boxes for the all-expense paid trips to Santa Fe Springs, CA.
Darn, I love this product when it works!
Click to expand...
Update: On 12/21 I sent my Betta back for repairs. On 12/23 it was received by Betta. On 12/27 while I was out of town, my Ring doorbell notified me that a package arrived at my house. I clearly wasn't expecting a repaired Betta so soon, so I thought it might be a new V2. I asked my neighbor to take the box in for me.

Upon arriving home today I opened the box, and it was my repaired V1. I stuck her in the pool and she has been running ever since. Expecting a few cloudy days coming up so we shall see.

No paperwork in the box to indicate what the fix was.
 
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Bam Bam said:
My replaced unit arrived during an extended period of cloudy days. Then the frigid stormy weather and now finally some sunny days. I haven’t had any full days of continuous operation. But when it runs it’s great as we all agree.

Betta 2‘s propellers are getting entangled with pine straw and leaves that I think causes the battery to drain faster than it should. Betta 1 didn’t have this problem although pine straw would wrap around the paddle connections. That’s not happening with Betta 2. Anyone else with a similar problem? I extended the white things thinking they might change the flow pattern except the battery is dead so I can’t test it yet!
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Yep, the pine straw is bad. Too much pine straw will clog the beta up. I always have to manually skim after a storm or high winds due to the amount of pine straw.
 
Hey Betta owners - just wondering what kind of runtime you're getting this time of year. For me, she starts moving about the pool at around 12:30, and stops for the day at about 4-4:30. That's only if the day is nice and sunny; we recently had a 3-4 cloudy/rainy days and she didn't move much at all.
 

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I put mine in the sun (when it's sunny) until about noon, then in the pool. Lasts until 6 or 7. My house shades the pool until 11 or so, and oaks shade the pool from noon on. Betta 2 does a decent job of finding sunny spots. If it's cloudy, it barely runs.
 
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MiguelACA said:
My Betta 2 finally went in for repair. The right motor started seizing up. It'll arrive got repairs tomorrow and turn around time is up to 14 days... Let's see how it goes
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Update for those curious, the betta 2 arrived at instapark on 02/01 and was sent back to me on 02/06, should be delivered tomorrow 02/09. I will update on if it was fixed or replaced
 
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MiguelACA said:
You're telling me!

I was expecting to be without it for at least a month.

Guess they've caught up on repairs...or just shipped a new/refurbished one?

It's out for delivery now, should be delivered by the time I'm home!
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Betta was delivered, seems like the replaced the motors and propellers, working great now. I forgot how quiet it was... It has gotten VERY loud
 
My B2 started going on circles today. Decided it was time to take motors apart and wd40 them. Back to going straight today! What's odd is one motor has stainless bearings, and one has plastic bearings. Anyone know which is newer? I did send mine back about a year ago for one motor getting really noisy, so they must have replaced one.
 

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