Just found this site, and very excited because my husband and I bought a house with an inground vinyl lined pool, and have no idea what to do with the pool. There have been two small tears in the vinyl lining (about 5 inches down from the water level top), that were always there, but never seemed to make any effect on anything so we didn't pay attention to them. Last week, we bought an aquabot (after loads of research into which cleaner to get), and we love it BUT yesterday the water level had dropped a few inches, we brought the pool people out (we still are using the same pool service the last homeowners used, until we figure out this whole pool thing) and they said it was because of the tears in the vinyl, and they are coming to patch the vinyl tomorrow. We fear that the aquabot exacerbated the tears, and fear using the aquabot on patched vinyl. (we also are not sure that this dip in the water level has anything to do with the tears, something similar happened before we even moved in, and we just filled the pool and the water level has been pretty consistent, but we figure that patching the liner can't hurt anything)...I called Aquabot, and they say that it can be used safely on patched vinyl, and searching online I do not see any information about this, so I hope someone can help! Since we just got the aquabot, and we got it from Costco, I can return it right now if I need to, but we were so happy with its performance that we really do not want to return it and start the search for an automatic pool cleaner again! hope someone can help? thanks so much in advance for such a great site!
Can I use an aquabot on patched vinyl?
- Thread starter tedesa
- Start date
It is possible for a patch to come off from the aquabot, the rolling brush can lift a patch. If the patches are coming off seal the edges of the patch with boxer glue you can use a syringe or wear latex gloves and put a dollop on your fingers and rub it on the edges. You can also seal the edges with anderson flexible sealer. I also use above ground pool vinyl to patch pools since it is thinner there is less of an edge when patching.
Welcome to TFP!!
Kevin is proving himself to be a great resource here!
As he said, the rollers can peel a patch off of the pool, it's less likely if the patches are rounded and were properly applied to begin with 
I think the best way to prevent the cleaner from opening up a patch is to apply another patch over the first one (as long as the first patch is secure and holding).
IMHO - 2 patches are always better
Knowing you have a 'weak spot' that's been patched means that you have to pay some extra attention to that area, just so that you will see if the patch has started to fail.
If you continue to have a problem with this - PLEASE ask us, with the experience here (and NOT just the industry guys) - we WILL be able to help you
Kevin is proving himself to be a great resource here!
As he said, the rollers can peel a patch off of the pool, it's less likely if the patches are rounded and were properly applied to begin with I think the best way to prevent the cleaner from opening up a patch is to apply another patch over the first one (as long as the first patch is secure and holding).
IMHO - 2 patches are always better
Knowing you have a 'weak spot' that's been patched means that you have to pay some extra attention to that area, just so that you will see if the patch has started to fail.
If you continue to have a problem with this - PLEASE ask us, with the experience here (and NOT just the industry guys) - we WILL be able to help you