Another robot rec request: PebbleTec, rounded walls/steps

[StevenP]

New pool owner, overwhelmed by info, looking at robot cleaners. Am leaning toward the S200/Discovery and equivalents, but saw somewhere that they don't work as well with curved walls. My pool has all curved walls and several curved steps (by spa and at both ends), and a Pebble Tec finish.

Any recs for a robot that would handle this curvy pool well? Preferably below $7-800? Any current sales/deals? Thx!

 

[thebombardier]

I haven’t had any customers that had issues with curved walls using an S or Active series Dolphin, and quite frankly you’re not going to get any better unit for your budget. Go for the Dolphin.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Stephen,

Welcome to TFP... A great place to find the answers to all your cleaner questions... no matter what you Lake is Worth...

I can't see why the walls being curved would make any difference at all??? I have a couple of rent houses with curved pool walls, like yours, and the robots seem to work well.. But they are both much older units... and I have no direct experience with the S200 type robots..

Robots, nor any pool cleaner, will do steps.. they might attack the fist one, but not normally any of the others.

Have you looked through this thread? ... Doheny's Discovery, S200, Active20, Triton owners club

Let's see if one of our S200 owners will see this and chime in...

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.

 

[StevenP]

Thx for both replies. And yes, I have read much of that infamous thread! I read somewhere about an issue with curved walls. If that is not a problem for this type of pool shape, then I know which direction I'm heading.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Steven,

Some brick and mortar stores will let you take a Dolphin home for a pre-buy test drive..

You might want to check around..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[robl45]

I'm not sure why it would be a problem with curved walls. Rectangles can be tougher when you don't have dual drive, but a shape like yours should work fine, thats bigger than my pool, but almost the same configuration, the only concern I would have is the robot getting stuck on your main drains as IMHO the robots with the brushes in the center on the bottom or with dual drive do a much better job getting off the main drain regardless of whether the filter is running or not.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

You might ask a neighbor to borrow his and see if it goes up the sides if you can't find a store with a loaner demo robot.

Maddie

 

[mitchellb]

I've been pleased with my Aquabot X4. I have a large, curvy pool with pebble sheen and a similar spillover spa. Mine seems to climb the wall all over my large pool. I've only had mine a few months, so time will tell how it works during the upcoming swim season. I also have a screened in pool, but I'm impressed with what the Aquabot picks up when I run it.

 

[robl45]

Forgot about that design. I bet that has no trouble on the getting stuck on the drains because of the center brush.

 

[skygremlin]

I have a Dolphin Robot cleaner, close to 4 or 5 years old.. the power supply just went out and I'm about to start another thread on if it's worth replacing or getting another suction cleaner. I've spoken with a couple different pool stores / contractors and both recommended I get a suction. The store, local not chain, I do trust as he's been honest and helped with a couple other issues with me...

As far as the curved walls.. My experience is if the cleaner is climbing at an angle and hits one of the curves it looses suction / connection with the wall and returns to the bottom, then repeat. There are times it does reach all the way to waters edge and acts like the promo videos... But for me that was / is not normal.. Generally speaking it gets about half way up, maybe three quarters - then back to bottom... It does clean the bottom pretty good though - Just have to remember to take it out when it's done and clean it.

My pool is curvy like yours with pebble tec floor. Now this might be operating as expected, and the lifetime of the battery is also as expected... That I don't know.. I just came across this before starting my thread..

 

[Jimrahbe]

Sky,

My understating is that the Dolphin robots are not programmed to go to the water line each time.. going up about halfway and going back down some of the time is how they work...

A new power supply is about $200 bucks...

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[skygremlin]

Sky,

My understating is that the Dolphin robots are not programmed to go to the water line each time.. going up about halfway and going back down some of the time is how they work...

A new power supply is about $200 bucks...

Thanks,

Jim R.

hmm that I didn't know that. I was told that it "should", but that was from Leslies.... Actually when I brought it up to them they said if I wanted they could send it back to make sure it was ok. That was the only issue I had/have with mine. And again the putting in and pulling out.

thanx makes me lean even more towards replacing the power supply..

 

[Jimrahbe]

hmm that I didn't know that. I was told that it "should", but that was from Leslies.... Actually when I brought it up to them they said if I wanted they could send it back to make sure it was ok. That was the only issue I had/have with mine. And again the putting in and pulling out.

thanx makes me lean even more towards replacing the power supply..

Sky,

Obviously, you have to take the robot out to clean out the basket, but how often you do that really depends on how much stuff the robot is vacuuming up.. and you...

I have a couple of older Dolphins at rent houses that just live in the pools.. I clean them out about once every two weeks, depending on the time of the year... Other than that they have stayed in the water for about four years.. I bought them used from Craig's list and they were old as dirt when I bought them.. I replaced the bearings and drive tracks and combined parts from two to make one, but they keep hanging in there. I keep hoping one of them will die so that I can buy a newer one for my pool...

The one in my pool tends to go into the pool one day and come out the next day... In the winter I might leave it in a few days in a row... I take it out more because I don't enjoy the sight of it in my pool vs. worrying about any damage...

Robot are certainly not for everyone... A lot of water powered cleaner owner's like the fact that they are much more "set and forget" type of cleaner... There is no doubt that robots need more attention..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[robl45]

hmm that I didn't know that. I was told that it "should", but that was from Leslies.... Actually when I brought it up to them they said if I wanted they could send it back to make sure it was ok. That was the only issue I had/have with mine. And again the putting in and pulling out.

thanx makes me lean even more towards replacing the power supply..

I personally wouldn't replace the power supply. I'd rather get another one with warranty. Potentially you could throw 200 into a power supply and have a drive motor go the next month for another 250 or more.

 

[StevenP]

New pool owner, overwhelmed by info, looking at robot cleaners. Am leaning toward the S200/Discovery and equivalents, but saw somewhere that they don't work as well with curved walls. My pool has all curved walls and several curved steps (by spa and at both ends), and a Pebble Tec finish.

Any recs for a robot that would handle this curvy pool well? Preferably below $7-800? Any current sales/deals? Thx!

Just thought I'd follow up my own query here. I went with a Nautilus Plus. Seems to be doing a good job, hits the water line and even the random curved steps. Cleans great, filter cartridges are easy to clean/rinse. Picks up some long stringy leaves from the bottom too! Thx for the replies.