Pool Cleaners for Vinyl Liners

[JohnT]

Many discussions about cleaners, but most don't distinguish between using them in plaster pools which are relaitively immune to cleaner damage and vinyl pools that are much more susceptible to damage.

I'd be interested to hear from people who have used a cleaner for more than a season or two in a vinyl lined pool.

Which cleaner?

Were you happy with the way it cleaned?

Did you have any problems with it damaging the liner?


I'd really like to have a suction side cleaner like The Pool Cleaner, but not at the expense of liner damage. I'd expect I'd use it more as a weekly clean up than leaving it in every day.

Thanks in advance for your input!

 

[Isaac-1]

I used Kreepy Krauly style suction cleaners in my pool for many years before switching to a robot a couple of years back never saw any liner damage.

Ike

 

[duraleigh]

I have a vinyl liner.

I have used a Blue Diamond, a Dolphin premier, a Dolphin HD and a Polaris 9300xi........all robots. Also a "lil shark" (suction side) and "great white" (suction side) I currently use the Dolphin premier.

1. Wear and tear. Hang-ups always seem to be the biggest issue. If any cleaner can find a way to get stuck, I think you will wear a hole in the liner, possibly do some small damage to a plaster finish, or prematurely wear one of the traction parts on the cleaner.

The design of the treads or drive wheels seems to have little, if any, influence.

The hang up can be because of some unique angle or obstruction in your pool or it can be just the nature of the cleaner itself or some combination of the two. Regardless, any hang up will almost surely result in damage.

2. Cleaning power. I think this is closely related to the cost of the cleaner. More power = more cost. A smaller cleaner (perhaps the size of The Pool Cleaner ) will probably do fine on a small to mid-size pool and, barring hang ups, will do great. The suction sides just don't do too well on really large pools.......they don't have enough cleaning power.

3. Pressure sides - In my opinion they are on the way out. Robots do the same thing on far less power consumption and are the wave of the future for medium to larger pools, IMO.

4. Suction sides are a really good value and, from reports here on the forum and my limited personal experience, seem to have two persistent negative issues.........air leaks and twisting hoses.

Overall, I would not buy a cleaner of any type unless it was clearly understood by the supplier that I could return it within 30 days for any reason. The hang-up issue would be the biggest reason for that but twisting hoses or some other surprise might render your cleaner close to useless.

 

[Gregd]

My pool has a vinyl liner. I bought a maytronics dolphin diagnostic cleaner from my pool builder when the pool was installed in 2002. Just for reference were I live the pool season is really only 4 months a year, so please take that into account . I have not noticed any damage to the liner from the dolphin and am very happy with the job it has done. My manual vacume is packed away and I never use it. Both the liner and the dolpin will have to be replaced soon. The dolphin is pretty much worn out. And the liner has seen better days. I suspect my next liner will last longer than the first...