Unhappy with generic KreepyKrauly-- air in lines at most connections

[linzjane88]

I thought I would dip my toes into the world of automatic cleaning gadgets. I don't mind manually vacuuming and actually find it a bit fun but there would be some satisfaction in looking out my window to find debris free water without me snorkeling around for an hour.

I got the generic Kreepy Krauly from Amazon and was a little annoyed with it right off the bat. The connections on the hose were a pain to stick together but I got it done. Stuck it in the water and noticed it sucking air at almost every connection of hose. I spent the next few hours messing with it only to look out and see a pump full of air again . It seemed to work okay for about 20 minutes before it filled with air again. I tried it on both high and low speed (high was much worse). I adjusted the weights and no matter what I did you would hear air sucking through any hose pieces not submerged. I also noticed it getting stuck behind my ladder. So back to Amazon it went. Five hours of my life I won't get back...and a pool bottom just as messy to show for it.

Is this a common problem with automatic cleaners? I sure hope not because I would love to try something else. Preferably something that doesn't have a bunch of small chunks of hose to put together. I don't know that I am ready to commit to a cleaner over $250 yet. Any thoughts?

 

[Sidecarist]

I had barracuda g3 which is similar to the creepy krauly. The hoses could suck air, but the biggest problem was it getting stuck and twisting the hoses. I tried a hose twister and that made the air problems worse, but it didn't get stuck as much... I finally gave up on this pulse type of cleaner and went with a zodiac mx8. Yes it's expens, but overall quality is much better, and it works very well, not getting stuck, etc. It also climbs the wall all the way to the tile line. I also read good things about the "Pool cleaner" from hayward.

It is nice to have the pool just be clean!

Good luck