Well, after making it through my typical episode of over-researching things, I decided to buy, sight unseen, the 2-wheel Poolvergnuegen suction-side cleaner. My final decision was made based on the overwhelming number of good reviews online. The cleaner arrived a week ago, and I unpacked it, put it together, and in the pool it went. I must say, it couldn't have taken more than 5 minutes from factory sealed box to running in the pool. Impressive! It also didn't take long to adjust my variable speed pool pump to get the right wheel RPM.
The manufacturer states that the cleaner will work with a wheel speed as low as 8 RPM's, which I can achieve running my pump as low as 1,350 RPM's, which means energy savings. 11-14 RPM's is evidently the ideal wheel speed, which I can easily accomplish at 2,350 RPM's on the pump.
So, watching it operate in silence (rather than the hammering sound of my old Baracuda G3), it was actually fun seeing it make its way around the pool. It cleaned up the deep end in no time, but after about 20 minutes however, I ran into a snag. My pool has a fairly sharp rise to the shallow end, and the cleaner is just not making it up to the shallow end of the pool. I've tried different hose lengths, different float positions, different speeds, etc., to no avail. What happens is, as it's trying to "drive" up the slope, it curves off to one side, which breaks the "pattern" it follows by rotating. As such, when it does it's swivel motion, it heads straight back to the deep end. I was actually watching it from my home office, and only once in a 2 hour period did it make it to the shallow end. It made one pass, and then proceeded to head right back to the deep end.
Anyone run into such an issue? If so, how did you address it?
I'm wondering if I would have been better off with the 4-wheel version, which makes a longer run before swiveling, and it might track straighter up the slope with 4 wheels...Problem is, my pool isn't that big (30x15 free-form).
Thoughts?
Thanks!
The manufacturer states that the cleaner will work with a wheel speed as low as 8 RPM's, which I can achieve running my pump as low as 1,350 RPM's, which means energy savings. 11-14 RPM's is evidently the ideal wheel speed, which I can easily accomplish at 2,350 RPM's on the pump.
So, watching it operate in silence (rather than the hammering sound of my old Baracuda G3), it was actually fun seeing it make its way around the pool. It cleaned up the deep end in no time, but after about 20 minutes however, I ran into a snag. My pool has a fairly sharp rise to the shallow end, and the cleaner is just not making it up to the shallow end of the pool. I've tried different hose lengths, different float positions, different speeds, etc., to no avail. What happens is, as it's trying to "drive" up the slope, it curves off to one side, which breaks the "pattern" it follows by rotating. As such, when it does it's swivel motion, it heads straight back to the deep end. I was actually watching it from my home office, and only once in a 2 hour period did it make it to the shallow end. It made one pass, and then proceeded to head right back to the deep end.
Anyone run into such an issue? If so, how did you address it?
I'm wondering if I would have been better off with the 4-wheel version, which makes a longer run before swiveling, and it might track straighter up the slope with 4 wheels...Problem is, my pool isn't that big (30x15 free-form).
Thoughts?
Thanks!