Question: suction, pressure, or robotic for my situation?

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M

monrocm

0
May 12, 2011
13
I'm new here, so please bear with me... I did several searches, but didn't find the answers I was looking for.

I'm remodeling my pool, and to save money for things I cannot do, I'm doing some of the work myself.

Here is what I have:
20x40 oval w/ 9' deep end, and attached 4 person spa
Hayward: Northstar pump, DE filter, gas heater
Polaris: Eos Command Center & valve actuators, spa side remote, wireless remote, and (uninstalled) C2100 ORP
Automatic cleaner was Kreepy Krawley w/ dedicated plumbing, but he is broken and needs to be replaced.

My neighbor's oak tree dumps bushels of leaves and small twigs in my pool each month (I offered to pay for the removal, and replacement with a different tree further from my fence, but he isn't willing)

Question 1: What would be the best cleaner for my situation? Currently plumbed for suction, but could be replumbed for pressure w/ booster pump. Large leaf load.

Question 2: Should I get a robotic cleaner (and keep the suction option for manual vacuum), and if so, does the robot have to be removed every day (I'm not in town every day due to brief travel).

Question 3: What robot would be best? According to the literature, they all are ;)

I think that is about it for now. Any advice would be appreciated.
 
Re: Question: suction, pressure, or robotic for my situation

That is a very large pool for a suction side cleaner. Generally, you pay for cleaning power so for a pool that size, you may not get the cleaning capacity you need with a suction side. I would suggest a robot. The same principle applies......the more you pay for a robot, the more cleaning power you will purchase.

I have a large pool as well (42K) and a blue diamond robot. I have to run it two cycles (3 hours) everyday for it to keep my pool really clean. I could clearly benefit from a larger one.

As voodoo suggests for the leaves (with the pool skim) make EVERY effort to get the leaves and large stuff before it sinks. There is NOcleaner available that will pick up and dispose of a large quantity of leaves without either filling itself or your pump strainer basket.
 
Re: Question: suction, pressure, or robotic for my situation

My experience with a robot is they aren't good for getting big stuff like twigs, large leaves, etc. like the pressure side cleaners with a bag on top. On the flip side, the robots are better at the little stuff like pollen and sand, where the pressure side cleaners do nothing but put that stuff into suspension.

So, you either contend with keeping a pressure side cleaner's bag clean from the large stuff, or you skim everything off the pool every day and ALSO use something like a leaf vac on the bottom of the pool to pick up large debris every time it shows up - BEFORE you run the robot.

The robots are intended to be taken out after use. They run their cycle (mine runs 3 hours) then shut off until you manually turn it back on.

I saw a cheap alternative to the pool skim device a while back, but since my returns have no way to attach anything to them, I don't recall what it was called or where to get it.
 
Re: Question: suction, pressure, or robotic for my situation

Robotic Cleaners can be a real hassle. I see so many Tiger Sharks sitting on the deck or in the equipment room not being used because of the hassle of having to plug it in, let it clean, then take it out, etc.

If your pool gets a lot of leaves, get a pressure cleaner such as a Polaris.

If your pool doesn't get too many leaves, but more dirty/sand, etc, then get a suction cleaner like a Zodiac MX8, The Pool Cleaner, Navigator, Kreepy, etc.
 
Re: Question: suction, pressure, or robotic for my situation

robotic cleaners do an excellent job, no question with that, when they worked, my pool was spotless, but thats the big issue, when they work. I'm in Florida, my pool runs year round, maybe that makes a difference, but I've been through at least 5 motors, 2 power supplies, etc.

BTW, I was told by the manufacturer that you should leave them in the water, taking the robots out and leaving them out of the water seemed to cause way more problems them leaving themin.

But at the end of the day, a good robot is at least 1000 dollars, shipping to have it repaired is like 50 plus dollars and you without the robot. There was a local place here, they charged the same amount and I didn't have to bother shipping it, still it adds up and you without a cleaner. you can buy 3 suction or pressure ones for the price of a robot.

all that being said, if you have unlimited funds, I would definately go for the robot.
 
Re: Question: suction, pressure, or robotic for my situation

I have a massive oak tree myself! ;) I own and recommend this guy: http://www.thepoolcleaner.com/pressurepoolcleaner.html
It does not get the 'fines', but handles leaves, acorns, twigs, Hot Wheels! Alternative would be a suction side with an inline leaf canister. I have heard good things about this solution.

Poolskim or Pooldevil helps during the 'leafy' season as well, but do aerate the pool and drive pH up.

I've never used a robot but personally not a fan. Expensive, complex, have to lug them around, etc.
 
Re: Question: suction, pressure, or robotic for my situation

I love my Blue Diamond robot, and it has no problem with leaves. Can't speak to things like acorns since they aren't any in my neighborhood.

I don't know where the OP is located, but in my area the pool owners with either bug/critter or vegetation problems usually end up screening them in.
 
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