Another Dolphin?

[ride525]

A bit of background. Five years ago, purchasd a Dolphin Active 30I, based in part about your thoughts here. It lasted about 4 1/2 years. I think bought a returned Dolphin Mercury from Doheny's, it was at a discount because it was a return. It lasted about 7 months, but won't work. It acts like it got some water in it like my last one, except this time it failed much faster. So, Doheny's offered me a credit.

At first I was going to go suction and buy The Pool Cleaner, I bought one 10 years ago, and it's still in operation at my son's house. But, I do like the job the Dolphins have done for me, when they worked. And love the fact that they and my Ariel, and previous Solar Breeze surface cleaners have kept the dirt out of my pool filter.

So, what to do? Doheny Advantage for $629? Advantage Ultra for $949? Or Advantage Pro for $1249. The Doheny Advantage is similar to E20 or Nautilus CC. Or even go with an returned Doheny Advantage for $499? Probably reluctant to go with the returned unit, since last one did not last. One thing aobut the Donheny Advantage is that is has only one active scrubber, instead of two active scrubbers I that are on the other more expensive modes, and my two previous Dolphins.

But reviews of the Doheny Advantage and Nautilus CC seem pretty good, so think of going with the simple less complicated Dolphin robot.

EDIT: Thinking of maybe going with the Advantage Ultra, I think similar to S200 or ACTIVE 20. The Advantage Ultra has a second "scrubbing brush" in the rear. The rear brush goes at track speed, front brush runs at double track speed. So, the question....is the second rear scrubbing brush help it clean better? EDIT2: I'm going to answer my own question. The rear "scrubber" turns at the same speed as the track speed, so it would just be going over the bottom as the robot moves. Not really scrubbing much in my opinion, just tracking the bottom at same speed as tracks. (The 10' longer cord doesn't mean much, as I have 60' cord on my current dead Doheny Mercury, that just plugs in. The anti swivel does not seem to work well, it tangles too.)

Any of your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Jeff

 

[tucsontico]

I own a Dolphin Nautilus CC+. I purchased it in 2016. It still runs great! The great thing about these is they are owner repairable/rebuildable. I've replaced the treads and brushes once about 2 years ago and "Robbie" is till cleaning my pool very well. (I haven't brushed my pool in over 4 years!)

While it may not have all the "bells & whistles" of the Active 30i, I believe you cannot go wrong with a Nautilus CC with the fine mesh filters. Good luck!

 

[jfreeman]

The great thing about these is they are owner repairable/rebuildable.

Can you elaborate more on this? I've sent in my S300 to be repaired, but am not optimistic for its timely and working return. Have you repaired or rebuilt your DNCC+? How was that experience? What makes you say this model is owner repairable in comparison to others? Thanks in advance.

 

[ride525]

Can you elaborate more on this? I've sent in my S300 to be repaired, but am not optimistic for its timely and working return. Have you repaired or rebuilt your DNCC+? How was that experience? What makes you say this model is owner repairable in comparison to others? Thanks in advance.

Well, I know you addressed this to the other poster here, but I had a similar (active 30i) robot, and with Maytronics help took it apart. It leaked water into electronics and motors that were supposed to be sealed. When my Doheny Mecury had similar problem, I took it apart, and it had some water inside as well. I think water affected one motor.). PM me and we can discuss your S300 problems if you like.)

 

[Mdragger88]

I have the nautilus cc (not plus) which seems to be the fraternal twin of the doheny advantage.
It has all the things i need & nothing I don’t.
I use automation mode & needed the 50ft cable for my pool size. I did get the fine filter basket recently & love it.
I also like having 2 baskets incase I wanna run it again after a messy storm.
The maytronics website lists that the advantage has automation mode whereas the doheny site says it doesn’t. Not sure how important that is to u.
All the other attributes of higher priced models weren’t worth the extra $$ to me especially since i have a vinyl pool without any tile so I don’t need the bot to move horizontally at the waterline. Not sure of your needs in that department.

 

[tucsontico]

Can you elaborate more on this? I've sent in my S300 to be repaired, but am not optimistic for its timely and working return. Have you repaired or rebuilt your DNCC+? How was that experience? What makes you say this model is owner repairable in comparison to others? Thanks in advance.

Below is a link to Marina Pools replacement parts for the Nautilus CC+. As you can see there's lots of parts (mostly stuff that wears out over time) that you can replace yourself. Electrics (other than the cable and battery pack) are best left to the experts because they're supposedly sealed against water intrusion. Good Luck!

Robotic Replacement Parts - Maytronics Nautilus CC Plus

 

[ride525]

I use automation mode

Can you explain a bit about automation mode, and what it does. Thanks.

 

[Mdragger88]

Can you explain a bit about automation mode, and what it does. Thanks.

Its a feature that u activate that allows the robot to turn on & begin its standard cycle when power is applied to the control box & turn off when power is removed from the control box.
This allows u to control it via an external timer or a smart plug (most people use a smart plug)
Once automation mode is activated if u touch any of the buttons on the control box it will turn automation mode off & u will have to go through the steps again.
There are some threads here on how to activate automation mode.
I have only ever activated it once - it remained in smart mode over the winter even though I unplugged my power supply
& used my wifi smart plug for something else. I have my plug on a schedule to run daily from 9:30am- noon. This schedule can run to infinity ♾ vs just using the scheduler on the control box which will run “x” days per week & then need to be reset at the end of the 7 day period. My nautilus cc’s cycle is 2 hours long so I have the plug set to turn off 30 minutes after. I leave my bot in the water most of the time during the season - if u happen to accidentally forget to put it back in the pool & the schedule runs the bot will go through its self test & then just turn off (I don’t recommend allowing this to happen on a regular basis). With the built in scheduler the control box (& potentially the bot & cord) always has power - with automation mode the whole thing only has power at the times I set so I feel more comfortable leaving it in the pool with swimmers when it’s resting. I have my control box installed inside a deck box to protect it from the elements as they are not weatherproof.
I like being able to control the bot from the smart plug app on my phone from afar anytime I want vs having to go physically push a button.
I have a camera on my pool so I can see the condition no matter where I am as well as verify the schedules i have set are running as planned.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Funny. Your robot and mine lasted about the same amount of time - 5 years. Same problem. Water got into the motor assembly. I tried rebuilding it but the wheel drive motor is dead and it’s not available for resale. Maytronics wants everyone either buying an entirely new motor assembly ($450) or a new robot ($800+). That’s not a customer/business model I’m happy with so I’ve gone back to a suction side cleaner. Works fine for me and, in my personal opinion, robots are a waste of money when you have other cleaner options available (pressure or suction cleaner). See the link in my signature, last 5 pages, for my rebuild of the robot.

 

[ride525]

Likely calling Doheny today. Probably going for the Advantage, (no Ultra for $320 more).
I may be able reuse my swivel connector, it is 3 prong, and Advantage is two prong, but same connector with two prong just having a empty space for third pin.

 

[ride525]

Funny. Your robot and mine lasted about the same amount of time - 5 years. Same problem. Water got into the motor assembly. I tried rebuilding it but the wheel drive motor is dead and it’s not available for resale. Maytronics wants everyone either buying an entirely new motor assembly ($450) or a new robot ($800+). That’s not a customer/business model I’m happy with so I’ve gone back to a suction side cleaner. Works fine for me and, in my personal opinion, robots are a waste of money when you have other cleaner options available (pressure or suction cleaner). See the link in my signature, last 5 pages, for my rebuild of the robot.

@JoyfulNoise Checking your journey. I was thinking of jumping off the robot bandwagon also, and getting The Pool Cleaner suction cleaner, but had a credit to spend at Doheny's.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

@JoyfulNoise Checking your journey. I was thinking of jumping off the robot bandwagon also, and getting The Pool Cleaner suction cleaner, but had a credit to spend at Doheny's.

Can Doheny sell you a suction side cleaner? The credit should apply to any purchase, no?

 

[ride525]

Ye

Can Doheny sell you a suction side cleaner? The credit should apply to any purchase, no?

Yes, they can sell me suction side cleaner. And I like The Pool Cleaner. But I really like just washing the robot, instead of the tedious job of removing and cleaning out the four cartridges in my Pentair pool filter. And I find it more work assembling the 12 hose sections in and out of the pool for the suction cleaner, than just dumping the robot in. And I don't want $500 of chlorine tabs, I need to spend the credit all at one time.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Ye

Yes, they can sell me suction side cleaner. And I like The Pool Cleaner. But I really like just washing the robot, instead of the tedious job of removing and cleaning out the four cartridges in my Pentair pool filter. And I find it more work assembling the 12 hose sections in and out of the pool for the suction cleaner, than just dumping the robot in. And I don't want $500 of chlorine tabs, I need to spend the credit all at one time.

I use an in-line leaf canister on my suction line and that holds all the debris. I’ve seen no impact on the cleaning frequency of my filter.

Hoses … why disassemble them? I leave mine together and just roll them up. The whole “if the develop a curvature the suction cleaner won’t work right” is a myth as far as I’m concerned. I ran my suction cleaner for 4 years prior to the robot and curved hoses were never an issue for the Kreepy Krauly Sandshark. Maybe it’s worse for wheeled cleaners.

 

[tcat]

I have the nautilus cc (not plus) which seems to be the fraternal twin of the doheny advantage.
It has all the things i need & nothing I don’t.
I use automation mode & needed the 50ft cable for my pool size. I did get the fine filter basket recently & love it.
I also like having 2 baskets incase I wanna run it again after a messy storm.
The maytronics website lists that the advantage has automation mode whereas the doheny site says it doesn’t. Not sure how important that is to u.
All the other attributes of higher priced models weren’t worth the extra $$ to me especially since i have a vinyl pool without any tile so I don’t need the bot to move horizontally at the waterline. Not sure of your needs in that department.

How's cable tangling on the CC? Love my 8 year old Aquabot except for the cable! I only need a 40' cable, but no one makes one with swivel that size.

 

[Mdragger88]

I Loosely coil my cord up pretty much daily after it runs like this

Kinda like u would a water hose so it uncoils as the bot runs.
It doesn’t really tangle too much- if it gets a little twisty i spin the bot a few times in the appropriate direction.