Hey Folks,
So after much head scratching, I decided to go with a Dolphin Triton Plus. I ordered from PoolZoom which got the unit to me in about a weeks time. I've only had 24 hour experience with it so far so I plan on updating after I've used it for a while. To begin, I have a 32x16 in-ground with a vinyl liner with some tricky 45 degree angled side walls and 3 steps with only 1 waterline skimmer and no bottom drains. Here in the Northeast, pool season is only about 3 months. I have plenty of oak, maple and elm trees around my yard so plenty of stuff fall in unfortunately.
I went with the Triton Plus because it has Extra Large Filters, Top Loading Filter Doors, Dual Motors, Basic Remote, Caddy and Weekly Timer. It only has a 2 year warranty but I did buy it with my Discover Card which extends the warranty by another year.
Here are some observations:
>Packaging wasn't the greatest by Dolphin...Wished they had used foam in the box to better protect plastic parts. Only the caddy, caddy accessories and manuals were in bags. Shipping mishaps can happen but luckily mine was fine.
>As everybody said here, the instructions were pitiful! A small booklet would have been great.
Pros:
+Cleaned my pool with lots of sediment extremely well after 3 full cycles.
+Turns on a dime with the split wheels.
+Can't believe how easy it is to access and clean the filters.
+Remote is nice but does take a little getting used to.
+Virtually silent when working
+Nice to have both Spring and Ultra Clean Filters
+Picked up tons of sand, inch worms, and dead algae that I couldn't see from above.
Cons:
-Filter Full Indicator ON only after 20 minutes and there's not a ton of junk in the filters but will run till end of cycle just fine (read that many M4 and M5 owners also had this issues....? reality and limitation of Robotic Cleaners)
-Won't climb up 90 degree vertical wall at all once there is a limited crud in the filters after 20 minutes (Read some owners fixed with use of only SINGLE filter or added FOAM). It will climb just fine once filters are all clean. It does much better with the more porous Spring Filters installed.
-Wished the Pro remote was included (I picked up a used one off eBay per recommendation here to get the delayed cleaning and customized cleaning options)
-One tread will spin faster than the other when it is stuck in 90 degree at bottom of wall with low suction. (Perhaps it thinks it's at the waterline and this is how it pulls itself sideways?) I noted that it drives perfectly straight otherwise so hope it's not a drive motor issue.
-Not so sure about the Intelliscan thing as the robot just seems to randomly of about it's work and seems to miss a few spots on the shallow end at the beginning.
This is just a 1st impressions review. This is my 1st ever robotic cleaner so I have lots to learn. Any and all feedback are appreciated to any of my questions and assumptions above.
David in Boston
So after much head scratching, I decided to go with a Dolphin Triton Plus. I ordered from PoolZoom which got the unit to me in about a weeks time. I've only had 24 hour experience with it so far so I plan on updating after I've used it for a while. To begin, I have a 32x16 in-ground with a vinyl liner with some tricky 45 degree angled side walls and 3 steps with only 1 waterline skimmer and no bottom drains. Here in the Northeast, pool season is only about 3 months. I have plenty of oak, maple and elm trees around my yard so plenty of stuff fall in unfortunately.
I went with the Triton Plus because it has Extra Large Filters, Top Loading Filter Doors, Dual Motors, Basic Remote, Caddy and Weekly Timer. It only has a 2 year warranty but I did buy it with my Discover Card which extends the warranty by another year.
Here are some observations:
>Packaging wasn't the greatest by Dolphin...Wished they had used foam in the box to better protect plastic parts. Only the caddy, caddy accessories and manuals were in bags. Shipping mishaps can happen but luckily mine was fine.
>As everybody said here, the instructions were pitiful! A small booklet would have been great.
Pros:
+Cleaned my pool with lots of sediment extremely well after 3 full cycles.
+Turns on a dime with the split wheels.
+Can't believe how easy it is to access and clean the filters.
+Remote is nice but does take a little getting used to.
+Virtually silent when working
+Nice to have both Spring and Ultra Clean Filters
+Picked up tons of sand, inch worms, and dead algae that I couldn't see from above.
Cons:
-Filter Full Indicator ON only after 20 minutes and there's not a ton of junk in the filters but will run till end of cycle just fine (read that many M4 and M5 owners also had this issues....? reality and limitation of Robotic Cleaners)
-Won't climb up 90 degree vertical wall at all once there is a limited crud in the filters after 20 minutes (Read some owners fixed with use of only SINGLE filter or added FOAM). It will climb just fine once filters are all clean. It does much better with the more porous Spring Filters installed.
-Wished the Pro remote was included (I picked up a used one off eBay per recommendation here to get the delayed cleaning and customized cleaning options)
-One tread will spin faster than the other when it is stuck in 90 degree at bottom of wall with low suction. (Perhaps it thinks it's at the waterline and this is how it pulls itself sideways?) I noted that it drives perfectly straight otherwise so hope it's not a drive motor issue.
-Not so sure about the Intelliscan thing as the robot just seems to randomly of about it's work and seems to miss a few spots on the shallow end at the beginning.
This is just a 1st impressions review. This is my 1st ever robotic cleaner so I have lots to learn. Any and all feedback are appreciated to any of my questions and assumptions above.
David in Boston
Last pic shows her handy work after 3 complete cycles. Sorry it isn't more detailed. But I cleaned out tons of sand, silt, leaves, and worms.
