Aiper Seagull Pro Review

[gworrel]

This thing is growing on me. I ran it twice yesterday for walls only and it did a pretty good job. It does a much better job than my Dolphin ever did although my Dolphin was 7 years old and the new ones may be better. It turns a little too far when making the next pass so it often leaves strips that it misses but with two runs it seemed to get everything. It does not handle my steps well at all. Doesn't even do the bottom step. I found it in a straight up vertical position at the foot of the steps spinning its wheels and I'm not sure it would have recovered if I didn't give it a nudge.

Today I am running it for floor only so I'll see how it goes. It does not handle corners well and those areas may need to be cleaned up with my Pool Blaster. I like that it charges up fairly quickly so it is not a problem running it twice in one day. Of course with the Dolphin, you can just leave it in the pool and run it multiple times.

 

[Ahultin]

I've run mine daily since received (and a few times 2x daily) and it continues to perform well using it in floor or wall mode. Auto does a good job on the floor but leaves a portion of the wall undone (though only noticeable at the edge of the "bowl")

In wall mode it does three complete passes. Floor mode does two plus

 

[Planoaggie123]

Ok i do have one question that has bothered me....for your knob.....they have the 4 settings but on mine you do not actually turn the knob to each of those settings....it seems to only turn about 1/2 or so and you just have to count "clicks" to know which of the 4 settings you are on....is that what everyone has or is my knob different? It works but just strange that they show the dial like that but its not actually how things line up to operate...?

 

[tcat]

Ok i do have one question that has bothered me....for your knob.....they have the 4 settings but on mine you do not actually turn the knob to each of those settings....it seems to only turn about 1/2 or so and you just have to count "clicks" to know which of the 4 settings you are on....is that what everyone has or is my knob different? It works but just strange that they show the dial like that but its not actually how things line up to operate...?

Yes, crazy. The light turns on for the one you click to. So know your clicks or watch the light. Always CCW to off.

 

[Planoaggie123]

Yes, crazy. The light turns on for the one you click to. So know your clicks or watch the light. Always CCW to off.

Oh ok. I may need to do this at night. I have only run during the day. I am partially color blind so maybe i have missed the fact that the setting is lighting up....may have the kids look when i run it next

 

[tcat]

Do you guys pull it all the way out by the hook, or just to the waterline then grab the handle? I've only been using the hook, but sure feels like something could break as heavy as this is.

 

[gworrel]

Do you guys pull it all the way out by the hook, or just to the waterline then grab the handle? I've only been using the hook, but sure feels like something could break as heavy as this is.

I have pulled it out by the hook the last couple of times and I get the same feeling that something is going to break. Probably the hook. I have one of those foam interlocking pads used for flooring next to the pool just for something to kneel down on when pulling something out of the pool or getting a water sample. It is kind of awkward when holding the pole with the hook to reach down and also grab the handle without dropping it down back into the water. The last time I pulled it out, I set it down on the edge of the decking and kind of dragged it over the edge. I'm still waiting for these things to get advanced enough to climb out of the pool on their own.

 

[Planoaggie123]

Use hook each time to pull out. Haven’t had any concerns about anything breaking.

 

[Ahultin]

Use hook to pull it at a 45 on the coping, let it drain then pull it the rest of the way onto coping with the hook. I do not encounter the impression its going to break.

 

[tcat]

Just sent this to Aiper:

"OK, I've run about 10 cycles and am very happy. It appears that if the drain is taller than .75" it will get stuck (at least mine does, it's flat pebble top about .875" tall). I added a .25" thick band around the rear wheels, and it doesn't get stuck (this changes wheel diameter from 7⅜ to 7⅞).

My only complaint so far (other than drains) is oddball select switch. One "click" should be 90 degrees. Gets confusing in the sun where LED isn't too noticable. But once you get use to it, it's not a big issue. Touch buttons would be better.

Anxiously awaiting fine filter option. This one doesn't get the real fine silt my corded robot gets, but it's adequate."

 

[CajunCoding]

Just sent this to Aiper:

"OK, I've run about 10 cycles and am very happy. It appears that if the drain is taller than .75" it will get stuck (at least mine does, it's flat pebble top about .875" tall). I added a .25" thick band around the rear wheels, and it doesn't get stuck (this changes wheel diameter from 7⅜ to 7⅞).

My only complaint so far (other than drains) is oddball select switch. One "click" should be 90 degrees. Gets confusing in the sun where LED isn't too noticable. But once you get use to it, it's not a big issue. Touch buttons would be better.

Anxiously awaiting fine filter option. This one doesn't get the real fine silt my corded robot gets, but it's adequate."

Yes I’d definitely purchase a finer filter to use occasionally to really help clean since we usually don’t get to swim as often for as long as needed to keep it stirred up for the filter to get the fine silt.

 

[JackHarkness]

Hi guys



I have this vacuum. I strongly urge against it. I was excited to get it...and all it does is aimlessly bounce around like a Roomba in the water. It misses spots...and overall does a poor job for my 11k gallon pool...shocked at their advert. The smart navigation feature is hooey....seems made up. I wouldn't even buy this vacuum for $150 let alone $750+ w discounts



Currently returning it...which is a nightmare in of itself. Support clearly does not speak English...its like listening to bad Chinese anime where they try to speak English if they ever pick up (which they dont unless you call a billion times) Avoid....

 

[tcat]

Hi guys



I have this vacuum. I strongly urge against it. I was excited to get it...and all it does is aimlessly bounce around like a Roomba in the water. It misses spots...and overall does a poor job for my 11k gallon pool...shocked at their advert. The smart navigation feature is hooey....seems made up. I wouldn't even buy this vacuum for $150 let alone $750+ w discounts



Currently returning it...which is a nightmare in of itself. Support clearly does not speak English...its like listening to bad Chinese anime where they try to speak English if they ever pick up (which they dont unless you call a billion times) Avoid....

Maybe you got a dud. It does walls almost perfectly, definitely smart, just like their picture. The floors will depend on pool shape. Mine is kidney with 18" radii on bottom, so lots of angles throw it off. But it does seem to correct itself and go back and forth about 12" from its previous path. Goes a little crazy at corners. Does the whole floor at least twice in floor mode. Missed 1 leaf at most. 17,000g pool, 380 sq.ft., 3.5-8'. Battery is amazing, less than 2 hours to charge with 3 hour run. If it lasts and I can get a finer filter, my corded one gets sold.

 

[JackHarkness]

Maybe you got a dud. It does walls almost perfectly, definitely smart, just like their picture. The floors will depend on pool shape. Mine is kidney with 18" radii on bottom, so lots of angles throw it off. But it does seem to correct itself and go back and forth about 12" from its previous path. Goes a little crazy at corners. Does the whole floor at least twice in floor mode. Missed 1 leaf at most. 17,000g pool, 380 sq.ft., 3.5-8'. Battery is amazing, less than 2 hours to charge with 3 hour run. If it lasts and I can get a finer filter, my corded one gets sold.

I have 2. Both do the same thing. It also likes to lift itself a lot and turn in random directions. I have a rectangle pool with curved walls in the corners. Neither of them properly do the wall. They seem to stick to doing the floor even when I made sure its the correct Auto mode. I see it sometimes scale the wall...and that scaling is not smart from what I can see. It misses parts.

 

[Ahultin]

They seem to stick to doing the floor even when I made sure its the correct Auto mode.

I think most have found the seagull pro "auto" mode to be heavily skewed to floor. Auto mode does floors until the battery is at 50% then switches to wall. The issue seems to lie in the fact that from a time perspective that ends up being about 2hrs floor, 1hr wall.
I for one have gone to alternating between floor mode and wall mode each time I put it in which seems more consistent.

 

[tcat]

I have 2. Both do the same thing. It also likes to lift itself a lot and turn in random directions. I have a rectangle pool with curved walls in the corners. Neither of them properly do the wall. They seem to stick to doing the floor even when I made sure its the correct Auto mode. I see it sometimes scale the wall...and that scaling is not smart from what I can see. It misses parts.

In auto, it does the floor for an hour or so, then it does the walls. I don't use auto. I do walls once everytime I do floors 3 or 4 times. It doesn't do wheelies, just rotates often.

 

[CajunCoding]

I have 2. Both do the same thing. It also likes to lift itself a lot and turn in random directions. I have a rectangle pool with curved walls in the corners. Neither of them properly do the wall. They seem to stick to doing the floor even when I made sure its the correct Auto mode. I see it sometimes scale the wall...and that scaling is not smart from what I can see. It misses parts.

Definitely don’t judge the wall performance by using only the auto mode without trying the wall only mode…

Mine works great in my 17,000 gal kidney’ish shaped gunnite pool with curved floors up to the walls. Today it ran 2+ full iterations on the walls with one charge.

So far it’s performed very well and 100X better than the Polaris pressure side cleaner that it’s replacing!

As tcat said you must have a dud because it’s actually a good performing robot for the price!

 

[Jriola]

Definitely don’t judge the wall performance by using only the auto mode without trying the wall only mode…

I would have to agree. I have not tried auto mode per the suggestions of others. And although mine has an issue with wheelies in floor mode, wall mode has been flawless. I have a similar size, shaped and spec’s pool to Cajun and have had similar results on wall mode. The Aipers path seems to cover the walls very well and it also makes it around the wall of my pool 2+ times on a single charge.

 

[tcat]

Finally no longer gets stuck on drains! All it needed was an extra 1/4" to radius of rear wheels. Used these, with one side of lip cut off. Perfect fit (with a few dabs of 3M 5200). My drains are a hair higher than the bottom Seagull clearance, these are a good fit.

Amazon.com

Here it is in floor mode. Acts a little crazy the first 5-10 minutes, but after that it just goes back and forth like this:

Betta 2 charging in the sun at the end. Best combo ever!

 

[Kaylee34]

Still waiting for my replacement to arrive