Poolvergnuegen The PoolCleaner ?

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Lake Lurker

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Jun 5, 2008
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First post. I have been lurking for awhile. I have purchased a Taylor K-2006 test kit and converted to the BBB method with excellent results.

I am going to purchase a new pool cleaner. I am 90% sure I want a return side model becouse I have a lot of dust and pollen problems. I also have alot of leaves that makes the return side model attractive becouse of the catch bag on top like a Polaris. I have done alot of research and I'm really impressed with "The PoolCleaner" by Poolvergnuegen.

My question is would I be satisfied with the 2 wheel model or should I get the 4 wheel model?
Are there any negative opinions about The PoolCleaner?

I have had my pool for 8 years and had a Barracuda for the first 5 and it was awful.

This is a great site and thanks for your opinions in advance.

Steve
 
I have a 4-wheel suction side and I like it. IMHO with an 18x36 hopper you are going to want a 4-wheel. You may want to look for a couple of extra hose sections also. Someone with a pressure side poolcleaner will chime in soon. Good Luck and welcome !

P.S. - I was also able to go 'bbb' without asking a question, just reading. (But I asked lots of questions about other stuff) Way to go TFP !!!
 
Thanks Brianspool.

I was thinking a 4 wheel drive model would be better but there web site says a 2 wheel model is sufficient. The word sufficient bothers me. There is a 2 wheel on ebay for $335.00 and I have a 10% coupon to use but I think i will hold out for the 4 WD model.

Steve
 
I have the 2 wheel suction side poolcleaner and a very large chinese elm right next to the pool that drops a lot of leaves for several months a year. I also have several pines which drop a lot of pollen into the pool during certain times of the year.

For the leaves, I use a large leaf trap on the cleaner which I believe is larger than the bag on the pressure side cleaner so I empty it about once a week during leaf fall. Anyway, the suction side has worked pretty well for me for the leaves as well as the large amounts of pollen of which some drops to the bottom. So if you get a lot of dirt on the bottom as well as leaves, the suction side is a pretty good compromise. However, if you do have a lot of leaves, you will definitly need the leaf trap.
 
Lake Lurker said:
Thanks mas985. Does the two wheel model do a good job for you?
Click to expand...

Yes, it does a pretty good job and even climbs the walls. Also, if you have a suction port mid-pool, you may be able to get away with the 2 wheeler vs the 4 wheeler as I did. When the suction is set properly, I can clean the entire pool in 4-6 hours and it seems to get most of the surface plus it climbs most of walls fairly well.

If you have solar, the suction will decrease with the solar on and the cleaner will slow down. However, I have found that I can set the wheel speed to the maximum with solar off, and when solar is on, the cleaner moves slower but still does a fairly good job and even climbs the walls sometimes but less than with solar off.
 
I have thepoolcleaner

I don't believe there's a 2 wheel return model.

I bought thepoolcleaner pressure side 4 wheel last year. Here's my review soon after I purchased it (originally on poolforum... copied here).

This is the cleaner that doesn't require a booster pump. My pool is a a 26KGal IG with 1 skimmer, bottom drain, 2 returns and a dedicated cleaner return that was never hooked up. I bought a Hayward 1HP Superpump + Pro Grid 4800 DE filter this year (replaced a 3/4HP and a EX65A Perflex DE filter) as I wanted enough flow for the cleaner.

I went with this cleaner because I didn't want the cost ($150 initial for the pump + ~$75/season in electricity) of a booster pump. I considered a Polaris 360 or a Letro Legend II but after speaking with customer service for all three companies, I came to the conclusion that thepoolcleaner required less pressure/flow than the other models. Customer service at thepoolcleaner was awesome (speak to a really helpful person in SoCal right away). They explained that flow (not pressure) is what's required for the cleaner to operate and actually overnighted me a coupling and a length of hose to measure the flow out of the cleaner return with a 5 gallon bucket (25~30gal/min desired)... How's that for service! I hooked the hose up, found the flow within range and ordered the cleaner.

I plumbed the new filter pump so I can divert the water from the filter either to the returns or the cleaner return. I used 2x2 way valves instead of a 3 way since I wanted to isolate the chlorinator output to the returns only (so the chlorinated water does not flow throught the thepoolcleaner).

Installing the cleaner was simple. It took less than an hour to unpack, assemble and install. With both the valves open 100% (1/2 to returns, 1/2 to cleaner). I get 12 RPMs on the wheels which is on the low end of the recommended range (11-14RPMs), I went ahead and ran the cleaner this way and while the climbing is less effective (get 1~2 feet up the walls), the cleaner still did an awesome job. I got my pump running 3x3hr cycles and the cleaner is pretty much getting around the whole pool per each cycle.

I'll experiment with diverting more flow to the cleaner but after speaking with customer service and looking at the results as is. It's no big deal if the cleaner doesn't climb the walls high. I think I might leave well enough alone.

I've owned an Aquabot Turbo (nothing but headaches) and a Pool Rover Plus (Awesome). There are the good and bad with each type of cleaner. I have a fairly leafy pool and I like the fact that thepoolcleaner "lives" in the pool and cleans 3x/day so the pool is always ready to go. The robotics were better for deep cleaning 1~2x/week. My problem with the pool rover plus was that my wife (petite woman) could not easily lift it out of the pool. To empty the bag on thepoolcleaner is simple.

So here's my update after 1 year... I'm still happy with the poolcleaner. Here are some notes/issues that I've found over this period (keep in mind here in the Northeast our seasons are ~3 months so I'd say my cleaner has had a total of 4 months running time.

General Movement/Cleaning - works like new. gets around the entire pool on a 2~3hr cycle and pretty much picks up everything. The wall climbing is supposed to get better as thepoolcleaner gets older since the threads wear and the vacuum port gets closer to the pool surface. With only ~4 months runtime, there's hardly any wear in the threads.

problems - no real problems... I did make the mistake of leaving the cleaner in the pool all the time... even after I shocked the pool and during opening. While this caused no harm/damage to the cleaner itself, I'm wearing out the bag faster (probably another season or two left).

now the issues...

I mentioned the bag. I don't like how it opens and closes with velcro. The velcro got fouled up with debris and I basically took it off. I went and bought a few blind handles from the hardware store and installed them in place of the velcro and it works like a champ. I think the other units (polaris, hayward) use a plastic zipper setup which I think is better.

My main drain is a bit high and the cleaner got stuck on it once in a while. I got a polaris cover for the main drain and hadn't had a problem since. This would be a problem for just about ALL cleaners.

The robotics with their micro-filter bag indeed do a better job of "polishing" the water. Even with a DE filter. I do notice a slight difference between my old Robotic and thepoolcleaner.

The cleaner has trouble getting around the pool with the solar cover on... kind of expected since the hose floats on the surface and the added friction does introduce drag. So with the solar cover on, there are corners of the pool that don't get cleaned. I got the solar cover last year after thepoolcleaner and realized quickly that the two don't play nicely together.

That all said... since I do leave my cover on now I will probably be retiring/ebaying thepoolcleaner at some point and going with a combination of a robotic and the poolbuster.

So I can recommend thepoolcleaner under these conditions...

make sure you have plenty of flow (notice I said flow, not pressure).
you do not leave the solar cover on
you are OK with taking it out of the pool once in a while (shocking and such)
 
I will go ahead and give a one day report.

Opened the box put the hoses together attached the cleaner threw it in the pool and wahlah 3 hrs later clean pool.

A by-pass valve did not come with the unit and you really need one if you do not have a dedicated suction port. I called Poolvergnuegen and the very helpful lady I spoke with said she would put me one in the mail at no charge. Good customer service.
 
Well its been a month and I am very pleased with this purchase. The by-pass valve I had to order came in 4 days after I ordered it, free of charge. I did not order any aditional hose and it cleans every square inch of my pool except the steps.

After a months use I would give it a perfect 10 rating.
 

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Lake Lurker said:
Well its been a month and I am very pleased with this purchase. The by-pass valve I had to order came in 4 days after I ordered it, free of charge. I did not order any aditional hose and it cleans every square inch of my pool except the steps.

After a months use I would give it a perfect 10 rating.
Click to expand...

Just curious? Do you still have and like The Pool Cleaner?
 
O/B here in Vegas. When I went to buy my equipment at the pool supply house, everyone that worked there said that "The Pool Cleaner" is the one to get. Period.. Several full time pool guys came in and the counter guy asked them all, which pool cleaner do they like? One guys said that he requires owners to get "The Pool Cleaner" before he will take on their pool. I've talked to several other pool owners who swear by this model. I will find out soon enough if this cleaner is the real deal cause I bought one....
 
Over the years, we've heard good things about that model. Electric robots are quite popular as the new tech, but many are very satisfied with their pressure/suction vacs. Is yours a pressure or suction version of the TPC?
 
It appears your building a gunite pool so it may work. I had one for a week and never could get it to work well. I have a fiberglass pool. Plus it would not clean steps and with those and a baja shelf and an integrated spa it made no sense.

Good luck.
 
I don’t believe Poolvergnuegan exists anymore other than as a brand name. I think that company was bought up by Hayward and it’s now sold by them as “The Pool Cleaner”. No idea if it’s still a good unit or if the acquisition and merger resulted in poorer engineering (as is typically the case). All that talk from the pool store guy about requiring a poolvergnuegan before taking over service is utter baloney .... sounds like the guy is just trying to push a product he prefers to sell.

I switched away from a suction side cleaner last season and was very happy with my Dolphin s300i robot. Cleaner pool and I only run it every 3 days or so. I take it in and out of the pool because I don’t want an unsightly robot in my pool. I used to leave my suction cleaner in all the time and it was an eye-sore I just accepted. Nowadays I get to look at my nice pool without a hose cluttering up the view.
 
My PB included "the Pool Cleaner" when he finished my build. I'm pretty happy with it, but it does not cover my baja shelf, steps, or spa. I did add a Hayward inline basket filter for about $25 from Amazon to collect all the debris before it hits the pump basket, and that works well. I'll get a robot eventually, but for now the pool cleaner does a decent job running about 4 hours a day on my suction port.
 
I had "The Pool Cleaner" and used it for about 10 years and it performed pretty well. I now have a robot and I am much happier as it can run without the pool pump AND it doesn't steal flow rate from the skimmers so skimming is faster and more efficient. Given what you are probably spending on a new pool, a robot can easily be justified and you won't be sorry.
 
Chopjaw said:
Look I get that the this cleaner will not handle everything. Between me, the pool guy, and the cleaner we should be able to handle it..... :)
Click to expand...

I’d ditch the pool guy and the suction cleaner. Between you and a robot, the pool will be fine....
 

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