My Blue Diamond

[Brookwood]

After some pretty heavy research on this, the best site in the world, I decided to get the Blue Diamond. I ordered the non-remote control model as it was much cheaper and because I read a number of people saying they didn't really need it after all. I concluded that if you are going to drop it in and spot clean with the remote then you are counted as having used a cycle. Why not just drop it and leave it for the full hour and get your cycles worth? I do see it could be useful if your robot constantly misses some spots but that issue would be a major pain on its own. Also, the non-remote model is lighter and has less components that could break.

I chose the BD for these primary reasons:
1 hour cycle time to clean the whole pool. It isn't one of my kids and I just don't want to see it in there all the time.
2 micron filter
Great warranty - 4 years/400 cycles
Great reviews
The PVA rollers contact the entire surface
Rollers are cheap enough to replace after some years of use
Caddy included (it is crazy that a robot wouldn't have one included)

Sure I would rather have a top removing cartridge filter. Maybe a sleeker design like the Polaris 9300. But when you look at the specs it is hard to beat.

My tracking number says it will be here tomorrow. I'm super excited and might even dump some stuff in the pool just to see how it does!

I'll let you know what we name it.

 

[Bama Rambler]

I've seen a lot of posts on it and I'll be waiting to see how you rate it.

 

[chrisexv6]

I just ordered one for myself as well. Tested a Polaris 9300xi and I liked it, but wasnt thrilled about wake of the propulsion jet spreading leaves and fine dirt all over the pool. I know the BD moves fairly fast, but was hoping the water outlet being on top of the unit would tend to spread less dirt around. I find it funny that one or two of the youtube videos on the 9300/xi/9400 show leaves being spread everywhere by the propulsion jet, yet not many people mention that being completely opposite of "clean".

Amazon has 20% off (max 200.00) outdoor/patio stuff if you use their Visa card. Luckily, pool cleaners fall under outdoor

So after 20% off the standard Blue Diamond comes out to a really good price (search Amazon to see, Im not sure if pricing talk is allowed here). If anyone is looking, now is a good time to order. The 20% off promo ends Saturday.

 

[Brookwood]

20% sounds nice but I don't have an Amazon Visa so that rules me out. Good tip though.

I have heard that they are great with vinyl so that is a plus for you. I do hate when anything stirs the dirt up when cleaning. When I hand vac I tend to go slowly or I'm just wasting my time. I'm thinking about turning the pump off for an hour or so before running the BD to be sure everything settles to the bottom.

I have tons of trees around my pool so it will be interesting to see how often I put it in. Obviously twice a week = 4 years of warranty. During the Fall, every leaf on every tree goes into the yard and pool. No way the BD could keep up as we have to use the leaf net 3 or 4 times a day. One time the skimmer basket got too full and the pump suction ripped out the plastic bottom of the basket. I felt pretty stupid and was glad it didn't mess anything up.

 

[chrisexv6]

Yeah, I figured (am hoping) the PVA rollers would kick up less than something like a 9300 that has paddle-looking rollers. Hopefully they'll act less like a fan than the 9300 rollers seem to. If there was a way to slow down the rollers on the Polaris, Id already have one by now. I really like how it works aside from that issue. But there is no fix for the rear exit propulsion thing, just inherent to the design.

Up here in the Northeast Ill get maybe 4 months of pool open time a season. Even if I put it in twice a week its only 32 cycles/yr, well within the 4 yr length of warranty. I also wonder if WaterTech is lenient with the cycle count vs time. Like if you are a few cycles over but still within 4 years, would they warranty it for you. Maybe, maybe not.....luckily I dont think Im in a position where Id ever have to find out. Someone in AZ might be though. Ive also seen 2 different numbers floating around for the cycle count. Once place showed 400 and another showed 500. I actually think WaterTechs site lists those 2 different numbers in 2 different places as well.

 

[Brookwood]

Sometimes I wish we would winterize and cover our pool. It would save time, money, etc. But I do like seeing it out there. Whenever we get below freezing I just run the pump 24/7. We have covered it in the past to catch the leaves but those same leaves still have to be removed so it is a toss up.

I just went to the Water Tech site and they do say 500 cycles. I will print that page to add to my paperwork. The manual I downloaded doesn't specify. I imagine there is something in the shipping box that gives the details. I just got a "delivered" notice. Dying to leave early.

I never found an online video of the BD in action. There were a few how to vids to replace this or that but nothing with it moving through the water. It is cool that you were able to test the Polaris. If local local pool stores would let you do that then they would probably sell more and not lose business to online sellers.

 

[chrisexv6]

Sometimes I wish we would winterize and cover our pool. It would save time, money, etc. But I do like seeing it out there. Whenever we get below freezing I just run the pump 24/7. We have covered it in the past to catch the leaves but those same leaves still have to be removed so it is a toss up.

I just went to the Water Tech site and they do say 500 cycles. I will print that page to add to my paperwork. The manual I downloaded doesn't specify. I imagine there is something in the shipping box that gives the details. I just got a "delivered" notice. Dying to leave early.

I never found an online video of the BD in action. There were a few how to vids to replace this or that but nothing with it moving through the water. It is cool that you were able to test the Polaris. If local local pool stores would let you do that then they would probably sell more and not lose business to online sellers.

Yeah, I only got to test it because my brother in law bought one last year and raved about it, so I just had to see what I was missing.

As far as local pool stores, I think they'd need to lower their prices quite a bit. I dont mind paying a little extra for something local (for easier support and to help out a local business), but charging MSRP is outrageous. On top of that they have their own "special" models so you cant say "hey Amazon has the same one for...." and try to hammer them down on price.

A bad economy is bad twofold. They need to make $$$ so they wont budge on price, I need to save $$$ so Ill go wherever I can get the best deal. Catch 22 I guess.

 

[Brookwood]

This afternoon I was able to spend some time unpacking it and had a first test run. Out of the box it was pretty simple. One screw to join the handle pieces and 3 more to attach it to the caddy. I let it soak in the pool for about 30 minutes to let the rollers fill with water. They were hard as a brick when dry. I moved the handle diagonally as the manual said and I realized that the handle doesn't sit straight up in a fixed position. I guess after seeing so many pics of it up that I thought it would stay up. No big deal. Later the handle seemed to help as it acted somewhat like a float when the robot reached the waterline.

The cart/caddy seems like it could use some design help. With the cord wrapped around the handle it kept wanting to tip over if the robot wasn't sitting on it. It needs more front weight and I may add something under to help balance it. The handle seems to jut out at a strange angle. Also, when you normally have a cord that wraps up and down over 2 hooks you can remove the whole cord at one time by turning the top hook down in the opposite direction. The way it is you have to unwrap the cord up and down until it is all unrolled. Not a big deal, just an observation. I'm sure I will get more used to it.

Now for the good part. The BD did an awesome job at cleaning the pool. It was super quiet except for a blast of bubbles every now and then. It moved smoothly and with good speed. I was impressed at how it handled the waterline tile. I imagined it would shoot up the wall, hit the tile and then drop back down. Instead, it actually kept itself up and partially out of the water and would scrub several tiles moving along the wall then go back down.

It seemed to pause and think while doing its job, and at times it seemed to rev the motor to boost power when needed. I guess I thought it would use the same force and speed all the time. I didn't watch it for the full cycle but noticed it didn't stop at 60 minutes. It went at least 75 and I had to go somewhere. The good news it that it wasn't still running when I came home a few hours later and it had stopped itself close to where I drooped it in to start. I wound up most of the cord starting at the caddy then pulled it out. Flipped it over on the caddy and easily pulled the bottom plate and filter bag off. Went to the hose and rinsed it off for a couple of minutes. The pool didn't have any leaves but it did have some dog hair, people hair, silt, dirt and sand. We have been getting some sand from the new pavers and polymeric sand that was used to fill the joints. Also had about 12 swimmers in the pool the day before. Holding the filter bag while rinsing was sort of awkward and it might be nice to come up with something to hold it spread open while rinsing. I guess you could flip it inside out and put it back on the bottom plate to do it but that piece didn't look like it could take much banging around.

The warranty card does say 4 years/500 cycles! I had read 400 cycles over and over and I'm glad to have the extra 100. Overall I'm very happy with it. It is simple, easy, and it cleaned the pool. My wife did ask about the color and wanted to know if it came in white. Ha. I didn't buy it based on what color it is. Looking forward to dropping it in again.

 

[Tallcane]

Want to echo the ultimate conclusion here. I dropped my BD in for the first time today and it did an amazing job of cleaning. I was really impressed at how fast it was and how it handled walls.

 

[Brookwood]

chrisexv6 and Tallcane - great to hear we have this in common. Looks like sales are up! I'd be interested in any tweaks or tips you discover as new users.

I also wanted to state that the manual is pretty good. It even tells how to replace rollers and drive tracks. Many here say their manuals aren't very good. Water Tech even included a flyer promoting the Pool Blaster hand vacs. Those look pretty cool as well. I hate using the net to try and swirl up and scoop those few bits that show up from the kid's feet.

 

[chrisexv6]

Just got my Blue Diamond (non-remote) on Friday. Tried it out for the first time yesterday.

Overall Im mostly satisfied. It missed a few spots in the deep end. Annoyingly, it seemed to want to stay in the shallow end most of the time, whereas the Polaris I tried out had no problem making a bee-line from one end of the pool to another. It also had trouble with the hopper bottom in my pool, mostly at the 3 way "intersection" where the shallow end starts to slope down and the hopper side meets.

The BD also left a couple spots dirty in the shallow end as well, even with the amount of time it spent down there. Im taking this with a grain of salt, however, because I notice it kicks up a LOT less dirt than the Polaris did. The Polaris may have made the pool *look* clean, but for all I know all it did was kick the junk up into the water. Same goes for the 3-way intersection the BD got hung up on.....it could just be the Polaris never hit that exact spot.

Still debating on which one (if any) will win. I do like the BD's slower speed, and the rollers seem a lot gentler on my liner than the paddles on the Polaris. The better filtration is nice too (DE filtration without a DE filter). I didnt think the bag was too bad to clean out....not nearly as easy as the Polaris setup, but nothing that took too long. I know a couple people have mentioned the cart....I agree with what theyve said. Its way out of balance once the cleaner is off and the cord is still wound on it. The Polaris cart has a handle/pole that leans *in* towards the cleaner, so the weight from the cord actually pushes the cart back onto the ground. The BD could use the same setup to fix that problem.

Also, Im not a fan of storing a power supply underneath a (potentially) wet pool cleaner. It seems that its sealed and all, but you never know.

Just had a party yesterday so Ill drop the BD in again today and see how it works. Im going to experiment with exactly where I drop it in to see if it makes any difference.