I bought a house with a very old refurbished in ground pool and no pool cleaner. It didn't take me very long to figure out I have better things to do than vacumm the pool once a day as we live on a hilltop in Arizona and the pool accumulates dust daily. I tried a Kreepy Krauly diaphragm cleaner which worked ok but spent most of its time against the walls and missed a lot. I was given a Hayward Pool Vac Ultra, which I eventually rebuilt and have tried numerous combinations, but still lives by the wall. The only thing that seemed to work was a dedicated suction and return line, and run it 8-12 hours a day. I am sure my problem is the plumbing is undersized for the flow I need to run it correctly. Rather than wasting more time and money tinkering with it, I have decided to go Robotic. I actually enjoy tinkering with it, but completely re plumbing the suction and return and probably replacing the pump is not a good option as I do have a concrete deck.
Like most I get more confused the more I research the many brands and models. I had kind of narrowed it down to the dolphin S300 or Pentair 930, but was confused about whether to buy from a dealer for the support or internet to save money. Then it dawned on me I live 2 and 1/2 hours from any kind of a pool cleaner repair facility and would wind up shipping it anyway, if it needed repair. So I decided to call Dolphin, Pentair, Hayward, Aquabot, and Smartpool and ask about Brick and Mortar versus internet purchase warranty. I was pleasantly surprised at the response time, but however realize I was not speaking to an actual technician, but a service customer service associate. They were all courteous and quick to answer my questions. Then I called Aquabot whom I had previously ruled out due to no dealer support even close to me. The gentleman I spoke to was extremely knowledgeable and a pleasure to talk to. He then referred me to a dealer that who sells the Fury, Bravo and Viva cleaners, which the aquabot Rep recomemded due to my tile walls and 90 degree pool to wall transition. The pricing seemed competitive.
My question is what kind of energy consumption savings can you expect by changing to a robot, and does any one have any experience with the above mentioned cleaners or a particular recommendation. I am thinking my budget is around $1200. It seems like most of the features when you go above that are just frills. I just want a reliable long lasting cleaner that cleans the pool, can climb my tile walls with 90 degree transitions, and above all good service if I do have a problem.
Like most I get more confused the more I research the many brands and models. I had kind of narrowed it down to the dolphin S300 or Pentair 930, but was confused about whether to buy from a dealer for the support or internet to save money. Then it dawned on me I live 2 and 1/2 hours from any kind of a pool cleaner repair facility and would wind up shipping it anyway, if it needed repair. So I decided to call Dolphin, Pentair, Hayward, Aquabot, and Smartpool and ask about Brick and Mortar versus internet purchase warranty. I was pleasantly surprised at the response time, but however realize I was not speaking to an actual technician, but a service customer service associate. They were all courteous and quick to answer my questions. Then I called Aquabot whom I had previously ruled out due to no dealer support even close to me. The gentleman I spoke to was extremely knowledgeable and a pleasure to talk to. He then referred me to a dealer that who sells the Fury, Bravo and Viva cleaners, which the aquabot Rep recomemded due to my tile walls and 90 degree pool to wall transition. The pricing seemed competitive.
My question is what kind of energy consumption savings can you expect by changing to a robot, and does any one have any experience with the above mentioned cleaners or a particular recommendation. I am thinking my budget is around $1200. It seems like most of the features when you go above that are just frills. I just want a reliable long lasting cleaner that cleans the pool, can climb my tile walls with 90 degree transitions, and above all good service if I do have a problem.