Expert in Cordless Pool Cleaning Robots – Tips & Recommendations for Purchase and Discussion

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kapbo said:
Thank you Michael! That's very helpful. You say you don't have too many wired robots. Should I consider a wireless one? I was assuming the wired robots would last longer because they don't have batteries and it seems like rechargeable batteries eventually decline (like on my power tools). But I guess I could replace the battery if necessary...?
In terms of the skimmer, do you think it would clean leaves off my negative edge? This is where a lot of my leaves collect, right at the drop off of the ledge. It would need to climb onto the negative edge ledge (~1 ft wide and water going from 0 to ~1 inch deep).
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I use cordless robots more often because I work in the cordless robot industry.
Cordless robots have indeed developed very well in the past two years due to their convenience.
But it has not yet reached a mature and stable stage.

You're right, currently cordless robots are unable to overcome the issue of lifespan. Its rechargeable battery will eventually fail. Because pool robots are too easily damaged by water they come into contact with.
And the battery cannot be replaced. They are wrapped in layers of waterproof measures, and even if you open and replace them, you cannot achieve 100% restoration of their waterproof performance.
And in many cases, battery failure is just one of the manifestations of its damage. In fact, the circuit board or motor has been exposed to water, causing a short circuit and rusting, and burning out. The battery accelerates the process from short circuit to damage.
Even if you replace the battery, it will quickly be damaged again.
At present, beatbot has done a good job in terms of sealing design, but it start sell for only 1 year, cannot fully prove its durability.


If you value long-term use the most, then you can purchase Dolphin.
They have enough experience to produce better quality and more durable products.
Regular maintenance of the track and other components is sufficient.


Regarding the Skimmer.

You may not be able to use it, I guess. It cannot know its location through ultrasonic sonar in an environment without walls as edges.

You can send pictures of your pool or try asking BETTA customer service if it can be used, or try it out while keeping the original packaging intact and not affecting secondary sales.
If it's not working well, just wipe the machine clean and return it.
But if you can use it, you will definitely love it very much.
 
poolinaz said:
Yes, it does, albeit nowhere near as bad as the Aquasense 2. Beatbot did take it seriously and support said they plan on releasing new firmware in the next few weeks to resolve it. If that ends up being true, I'd be impressed. Hopefully they release that before the end of my return window as that may be enough to make me keep it.

Aiper just told me to keep the filter clean and run it a few more times, also that lifting is expected if the pool floor isn't flat. Didn't offer much support beyond that.
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The technical staff of Wybot told me the Whelie issue is due to the structural design of the product.
Robots often have lighter "heads" and a center of gravity at the back in order to climb up walls.
And there is a cavity in the front that may store air.
When the filter is clogged, it may cause excessive water mixed with bubbles to be unable to be discharged through normal channels to get out from pump, thus entering the front cavity.
that caused robot wheelie.
Perhaps they have a way to solve this problem through OTA
It is also possible that it cannot be completely resolved through by firmware
Try removing the ultra fine filter in most cases to solve this problem.
This issue has not been fully resolved in the entire industry.
But it is very evident on, for example, x1 and aquasense.
Looking forward to your feedback after long term use
 
See this post and video. It apparently is all solar powwr for recharging while in the pool.

Almost!

I've been talking about this for a few years now. About how I'd buy a robot cleaner when it can crawl out of the pool and park and charge itself. This is soooooo close.
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
Hi Michael, thank you for sharing such great information. We currently have a Zodiac MX8 pool cleaner that has lasted about 6 years but it is a suction cleaner and we are wanting to replace with a robot cleaner. While the Zodiac has been great at climbing walls, it is not great at cleaning the walls even when adjusting the pump speed. We typically get quite a bit of pollen in our screened in pool from our neighbors massive oak tree but do not typically see leaves. We do have a sitting ledge, steps, and a sun shelf and the pool is a kidney shaped so walls are slightly rounded. There is also what looks like two drains at the bottom which we were told is so that if someone is over one drain, it will not keep you sucked down - not sure if that matters much. I would love a robot that can scrub the walls at a minimum (steps we can brush if robot cannot clean). Skimming is not an issue with our pool but we do have a decent slope going from shallow to deep end. I am not picky about the cost if it is a cleaner that works great at cleaning and will be reliable and last through the warranty. My biggest pet peeve is having to use the warranty and then be out of a cleaner. Our Zodiac is broken and one of the wheels is not turning so we cannot keep this one as a back up. Interested in hearing your recommendations and thank you in advance.
 
Hi.

Wondering why the cordless Polaris Freedom is never mentioned. Serious brand with long term experience in the pool cleaner space. Starting on year 3. With mine. So far no issues amd happy with the overall experience.
 
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Damsroy said:
Hi.

Wondering why the cordless Polaris Freedom is never mentioned. Serious brand with long term experience in the pool cleaner space. Starting on year 3. With mine. So far no issues amd happy with the overall experience.
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Glad to hear your cordless cleaner is still going strong! My guess as to why it doesn't get as much attention as say, the Aiper S1, is the interest/hope that a $500 robot will be as capable and reliable as one that costs almost 3x. Plus marketing....
 
HermanTX said:
See this post and video. It apparently is all solar powwr for recharging while in the pool.

Almost!

I've been talking about this for a few years now. About how I'd buy a robot cleaner when it can crawl out of the pool and park and charge itself. This is soooooo close.
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
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I am not optimistic about this product of Wybot.
Wybot S2 has gone through three versions, and S2 Solar is not the first robot from Wybot that use solar energy.
And Wybot's flagship products of previous generations have all failed.

Wybot has great innovative ideas.
But they always make mistakes when put into practice, such as Wybot's first generation solar panel product
It is called M1 Ultra.
Charge the robot through a floating solar panel.
But this product quickly failed, and its consumers complained through various channels that the solar panels of this product quickly broke.

The S2 Pro in 2024 has a base station design similar to that of the S2 Solar.
Power is supplied through metal contacts.
But consumers soon discovered that the metal contacts would rust, making it impossible to charge.
So later, S2 Pro was upgraded to wireless charging.
Now the wires of the base station have been removed and replaced with solar power supply.
Some customers have indicated that the charging power may be insufficient (solar panels are usually 10-20w，the battery is 170wh).
Only when there is sufficient sunlight can the robot complete a complete cleaning cycle for 2 days.

Moreover, I don't think there are robots that can continuously soak in water without damage, especially Wybot's robots
I noticed that beatbot has published their base station patent, which can lift robots out of the water after use.
Perhaps beatbot can better assist wybots in achieving the automated cleaning they have been pursuing
 
Damsroy said:
Hi.

Wondering why the cordless Polaris Freedom is never mentioned. Serious brand with long term experience in the pool cleaner space. Starting on year 3. With mine. So far no issues amd happy with the overall experience.
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I didn't mention Polaris Freedom because I haven't actually used it, but thank you for the reminder. glad to see your robot is still strong, I can learn more about this model in the future.
 
Derekisthematrix said:
Glad to hear your cordless cleaner is still going strong! My guess as to why it doesn't get as much attention as say, the Aiper S1, is the interest/hope that a $500 robot will be as capable and reliable as one that costs almost 3x. Plus marketing....
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Polaris' parent company Fluidra spent approximately $100 million to acquire a 23% stake in Aiper, perhaps they are now sister brands, haha
 
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Michael z said:
Polaris' parent company Fluidra spent approximately $100 million to acquire a 23% stake in Aiper, perhaps they are now sister brands, haha
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That is significant investment - where was that published? Isn’t Aiper a private company?
There website states they were formed in 2017 and have offices throughout Europe and Asia.

Fluidra who owns Polaris must see some technology that Aiper owns that will benefit their product offering. Time will tell.
 

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Michael z said:
I noticed that beatbot has published their base station patent, which can lift robots out of the water after use.
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See? So they know how they're supposed to work, they just haven't gotten there yet. My previous rants about this describe how they should work, and the design would solve all the problems you list. No solar. No soaking. The robot climbs out of the water and finds it's 120V-powered charging station (hidden somewhere near the pool), which includes a larger waste bin into which the robot empties it's little on-board bin. And like my Roomba, should the pool be extra dirty, the robot should crawl out to empty the bin, and/or top off its charge, and then return to the pool as many times as it takes to finish. I think my Roomba can even sense how dirty the floor is, and adjust its process accordingly. It can also sense when something is in its way that wasn't there when it first plotted the house's map, and just goes around it.

Like I've said, the technology exists, just not the market for it that would inspire a company to spend the R&D to do it right. Heck, I've already done the hard part for 'em!! ;)
 
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HermanTX said:
Fluidra who owns Polaris must see some technology that Aiper owns that will benefit their product offering. Time will tell.
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It's too bad Roomba (iRobot) hasn't gotten involved. They have the software, perfected over many, many years. It works. They just need to apply it to a submersible version.

The reality is, it's a pretty harsh environment, under water, and salt water at that. Definitely an engineering challenge. Maybe our military needs to get on this. They've got the budget, that's for sure. The robot could be nuclear powered and stay under water for six months at a time!! Armed with counter-measures to keep kids and pets away, and a couple of chlorine and/or muriatic torpedos for those tough stains. :crazy:
 
Damsroy said:
Wondering why the cordless Polaris Freedom is never mentioned.
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I KNOW. So many brands are never discussed and with the line of newbs around the corner, you mean to tell me *none* of them have any of those ?

We should have a plethora of 'help this XYZ is junk and I need a different brand/model' or 'i've had XYZ for 8 years and it's awesome'.

Is the market cornered by 6 robots out of 30 ?
 
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Dirk said:
It's too bad Roomba (iRobot) hasn't gotten involved. They have the software, perfected over many, many years. It works. They just need to apply it to a submersible version.

The reality is, it's a pretty harsh environment, under water, and salt water at that. Definitely an engineering challenge. Maybe our military needs to get on this. They've got the budget, that's for sure. The robot could be nuclear powered and stay under water for six months at a time!! Armed with counter-measures to keep kids and pets away, and a couple of chlorine and/or muriatic torpedos for those tough stains. :crazy:
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The technology exists - just not affordable for a household product - at least not yet.
 
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HermanTX said:
The technology exists - just not affordable for a household product - at least not yet.
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My Roomba, with charging station (including the station's "off-loading' bin) was about $550. I imagine making a submersible Roomba and a weatherproof charging station would definitely cost a lot more, but how much is a lot? Three times as much? I think some people are paying that much for their robots. No?

But maybe not enough would (to make the endeavor profitable), and that proves your point I guess. :cry:

The vigil continues...
 
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I had a Polaris 360 and just got an Aiper S1 Pro. While I’m impressed with the cleaning power what’s
been most shocking to me is the pure weight of the unit and pulling it out of the pool every 3 hours
for it to charge.

I can see why the higher end models have the caddy/dolly. It’s really a shame how little battery life
these newer robots have. I'm undecided if I'll keep it.
 
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mattw221 said:
I had a Polaris 360 and just got an Aiper S1 Pro. While I’m impressed with the cleaning power what’s
been most shocking to me is the pure weight of the unit and pulling it out of the pool every 3 hours
for it to charge.

I can see why the higher end models have the caddy/dolly. It’s really a shame how little battery life
these newer robots have. I'm undecided if I'll keep it.
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Not that you asked...

This was one of a handful of reasons I never went for a robot, and only half-joke that I would when they can crawl themselves out of the pool to empty and charge. I really like my suction-side vac for these reasons, it's very light to remove when I need to (and I almost never need to), and I never have to empty an onboard bin. Everything collects in the pump basket, which is easy for me to get at, and I don't get wet emptying it.

If I may... if you're complaining about the weight now, it won't get any lighter! In fact, as you get, uh, more seasoned, the thing is only going to get heavier. How's the leaf situation in your pool? Probably not much this time of year. How is it going to be in the fall to haul that thing out not only for the charging, but to empty the bin of leaves over and over?

Is it working for you? Or are you working for it? Maybe you need a second robot to manage the pool robot? ;)

Battlebots GIFs - Find & Share on GIPHY


Sidebar: depending on your existing plumbing, it may be possible to reconfigure for a suction-side vac. I was able to. I didn't much like my Polaris, so I had the plumbing changed from pressure-side to suction-side and its worked out great. If you decide to return the 'bot, and want a change from the 360, I can wholeheartedly recommend a Rebel.
 
Dirk said:
Not that you asked...

This was one of a handful of reasons I never went for a robot, and only half-joke that I would when they can crawl themselves out of the pool to empty and charge. I really like my suction-side vac for these reasons, it's very light to remove when I need to (and I almost never need to), and I never have to empty an onboard bin. Everything collects in the pump basket, which is easy for me to get at, and I don't get wet emptying it.

If I may... if you're complaining about the weight now, it won't get any lighter! In fact, as you get, uh, more seasoned, the thing is only going to get heavier. How's the leaf situation in your pool? Probably not much this time of year. How is it going to be in the fall to haul that thing out not only for the charging, but to empty the bin of leaves over and over?

Is it working for you? Or are you working for it? Maybe you need a second robot to manage the pool robot? ;)

Battlebots GIFs - Find & Share on GIPHY


Sidebar: depending on your existing plumbing, it may be possible to reconfigure for a suction-side vac. I was able to. I didn't much like my Polaris, so I had the plumbing changed from pressure-side to suction-side and its worked out great. If you decide to return the 'bot, and want a change from the 360, I can wholeheartedly recommend a Rebel.
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On the leaf front what I can say is the AIPER Surfer S2 skimmer is worth the investment. I haven't had to recharge it in over 2 weeks and it does a good job skimming the water 24 hours. I had the Betta for several years and Aiper has done a better job on their skimmer. The only
thing the Betta has better is the basket removal is easier. Betta supposedly has a new model coming out but Aiper has really done a good job on the S2.
 
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