I had a pool at my last home that was a monster, 51k gallons. I went through a Polaris that was difficult to keep running, moved to a Letro, and the an Aquabot Viva. We moved and the Viva sat for 6 years until we built our fiberglass pool. After the concrete deck was poured I made the mistake of using the fine filter bag to clean the pool. I think that it clogged and the resultant pressure killed one of the motors so that only one tread turns. I contacted http://www.aquaqualitypools.com/ where I had just purchased a new bag for advice. Since my unit is over 6 years old all of the motors would need replacing and at that point I might as well buy a new cleaner.
I have spent a few day reading every post here and calling dealers and manufacturers. The fact that there are dozens of variants on the same cleaners is what is driving me crazy. I have distilled it downn to a few points that guide my search for a replacement:
1. Newer models from Dolphin, Polaris, Aquabot do not have all of the drive belts of older units. They use gears and thus appear to be much more economical since belts don't need to be replaced every few years.
2. Tigershark and a few Dolphin models have gone to filter grids instead of bags. This would appear to be much easier to clean than what I was used to with the Viva. No more dunking in a bucket and the occasional trip to the washer. I haven't seen any posts commenting on this newer system. The Polaris 9300 may be similar but I'm not sure based on website.
3. The warranty length varies significantly between makes. Some have 5 years pro-rated, some 3-4 years full, and some are ridiculously short IMO for this price point.
4, Service and parts costs are a real issue as I see now. If a robot motor goes, you're sunk. Manufacturers will not cover many internet sources under warranty, especially Dolphin. For those of us in rural areas it really stinks. I'm not driving an hour or two to buy a cleaner.
Sorry for the long post but I don't know which model to purchase. I would love to hear from someone with a cartridge filter type cleaner. I see Blue Diamond recommendations here but why buy a unit with belts?
In the running:
http://westwoodpools.com/Dolphin-Suprem ... -1314.html
http://www.nationalpoolwholesalers.com/ ... C9990.html
http://www.amazon.com/Dolphin-Triton-Ro ... -1-catcorr
Dolphin DX-6 looks o.k. but warranty is short.
http://www.poolsupplyworld.com/poolsupp ... mpid=CMPGB short warranty
All advice gratefully accepted. I would love to hear about newer models from folks here.
I have spent a few day reading every post here and calling dealers and manufacturers. The fact that there are dozens of variants on the same cleaners is what is driving me crazy. I have distilled it downn to a few points that guide my search for a replacement:
1. Newer models from Dolphin, Polaris, Aquabot do not have all of the drive belts of older units. They use gears and thus appear to be much more economical since belts don't need to be replaced every few years.
2. Tigershark and a few Dolphin models have gone to filter grids instead of bags. This would appear to be much easier to clean than what I was used to with the Viva. No more dunking in a bucket and the occasional trip to the washer. I haven't seen any posts commenting on this newer system. The Polaris 9300 may be similar but I'm not sure based on website.
3. The warranty length varies significantly between makes. Some have 5 years pro-rated, some 3-4 years full, and some are ridiculously short IMO for this price point.
4, Service and parts costs are a real issue as I see now. If a robot motor goes, you're sunk. Manufacturers will not cover many internet sources under warranty, especially Dolphin. For those of us in rural areas it really stinks. I'm not driving an hour or two to buy a cleaner.
Sorry for the long post but I don't know which model to purchase. I would love to hear from someone with a cartridge filter type cleaner. I see Blue Diamond recommendations here but why buy a unit with belts?
In the running:
http://westwoodpools.com/Dolphin-Suprem ... -1314.html
http://www.nationalpoolwholesalers.com/ ... C9990.html
http://www.amazon.com/Dolphin-Triton-Ro ... -1-catcorr
Dolphin DX-6 looks o.k. but warranty is short.
http://www.poolsupplyworld.com/poolsupp ... mpid=CMPGB short warranty
All advice gratefully accepted. I would love to hear about newer models from folks here.