Anyone tried an Ariel yet?

[Drkitty]

Hi. Has anyone out there tried an Ariel robotic pool skimmer?

Newbie owner of older pool here. We’re experiencing our first few weeks of pool ownership here in southern Ontario and the many nearby trees are welcoming us with a torrent of pollen, seeds, stuff-that-comes-before seeds, stuff-that’s-jettisoned-after seeds, and the occasional unfortunate drowned bird. At first I approached skimming as a meditative practice. In the absence of heartbreaking dead birds, it was peaceful and the water was soothing. There was something so satisfying about seeing the water clear and clean at the end. But now there is no end. The ”stuff” falls as fast as I can skim even after abandoning Zen.

The skimmer weir is broken and I’m on the hunt to replace it, but it works well enough now to know a new one will not magically suck the water surface clean. Searches here on TFP led me to wonder about a skimming robot, in particular, the Ariel skimming robot. A lot of people seemed to be wanting and even ordering one over the past several months. Just wondering if the robots have landed yet and, if so, how are they working?

 

[markayash]

Looks pretty neat, I get a lot of tree junk and shut off the main drain and only use the skimmers for returns. Since doing that it keeps the top fairly clear.

 

[Drkitty]

Ha! I didn’t know you could do that...thanks so much Mark. I guess you just put the plug in the feed from the drain like when using the manual vacuum? I better go have another read about water circulation so I know better what I’m doing. There’s a lot more to know about pools than seemed possible. This site is such a big help.

 

[markayash]

Ha! I didn’t know you could do that...thanks so much Mark. I guess you just put the plug in the feed from the drain like when using the manual vacuum? I better go have another read about water circulation so I know better what I’m doing. There’s a lot more to know about pools than seemed possible. This site is such a big help.

I didn't either but read about it here. I have separate valves and can just turn my main drain off.
If you have a lot of fine dust/pollen add a hair net or skimmer sock to your skimmer baskets. You will be shocked at how much junk they catch and are cheap ( well they were before COVAD

 

[Katodude]

I dont have my Ariel yet, but I do have the NX2 which is the previous model. It skims very well. It has a weak point in the gears on the wheels that the Ariel does not have (they have direct drive motors). Also my pool has a lot of corners that the NX2 gets stuck in. I am hoping the Ariel navigates that better.

But if you have a square pool, or better a round or free form pool the NX2 would do an amazing job. The Ariel should perform better.

A few of them have shipped so you should see some members here report back soon on how well the work.

 

[Drkitty]

Thanks Katodude. The pool is free form and I was thinking of getting an NX2 but they do not seem to be available anywhere. I suspect the Ariel will be on back order for quite a while too, but I thought I’d check out the reviews before getting on the wait list.

I did add a skimmer sock yesterday and it made quite a difference although, just overnight, the pollen accumulation reduced skimmer flow considerably. I also noticed debris right over the main drain which I’ve never seen before, so I guess the pump was drawing more from the bottom. I’ll have to check the gauge next time to see if it is affecting system pressure.

 

[markayash]

Thanks Katodude. The pool is free form and I was thinking of getting an NX2 but they do not seem to be available anywhere. I suspect the Ariel will be on back order for quite a while too, but I thought I’d check out the reviews before getting on the wait list.

I did add a skimmer sock yesterday and it made quite a difference although, just overnight, the pollen accumulation reduced skimmer flow considerably. I also noticed debris right over the main drain which I’ve never seen before, so I guess the pump was drawing more from the bottom. I’ll have to check the gauge next time to see if it is affecting system pressure.

If you have valves you can play around with the flow.
For bottom junk looked at a Dolphin robot!! They are also around that price and you will love it!

 

[BassPlayingDude]

I know some on this forum dislike them, but I have had very good luck with the Skim-A-Round Bernoulli basket. When there is a ton of junk floating around like after a storm ( or on flying ant days .. ), I pop in that thing in place of my regular basket and it usually clears the entire surface in about 20 minutes. The only thing that sucks about it is it is a little too tall to seal against the top flange in my swimquip unless I take my diverter / float valve out first. If it weren't for that, I would use it all the time as my regular basket.

 

[Drkitty]

Flying Ant Day, oh Joy! Something to look forward to Dude. Sounds like the Skim-a-round is worth looking at, although what old Bernoulli might have had to say about a skimmer basket remains to be seen.

 

[MyAZPool]

@Drkitty
I've had Ariel for about a day.
So far, I really like it. Here is a thread with some additional information.
Thanks...
r.

Ariel by Solar-Breeze

For those that have pre-ordered the Solar Breeze Ariel Robot. Originally the ship date had been announced as March 21. After March came and gone, I reached out to Solar Breeze to inquire about my order since I had pre-ordered back in November 20. I received a reply yesterday that I thought I...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[DLip]

I’ll just add that replacing your weir has a pretty significant impact on skimming performance.
I didn’t even know I was supposed to have a weir until I read it on here - ordered a replacement and it made a huge difference.
(Probably not going to take care of dead birds but it will help w the other stuff!)

 

[BassPlayingDude]

I’ll just add that replacing your weir has a pretty significant impact on skimming performance.
I didn’t even know I was supposed to have a weir until I read it on here - ordered a replacement and it made a huge difference.
(Probably not going to take care of dead birds but it will help w the other stuff!)

Agreed.. having the weir door is huge.. the skimmer cannot work correctly without it.

 

[Wntrequinx]

That explains why my skimmer stinks... no weir door. And no idea what the model is... *sigh* My current method of skimming is get the surface trash caught in the solar blanket and temporarily remove it with the solar cover that won't rinse off while we swim, putting it all back in with the solar cover when we are done...

 

[BassPlayingDude]

Look inside the skimmer's mouth from the bucket side. There might be a model number stamped there.

 

[Drkitty]

The search for a weir door turned out to be the easy part of this adventure. It turns out someone had broken not just the weir, but the skimmer wall where it attaches. There was a plug glued in there and it came loose a few days after I replaced the door. Spent 4 or 5 anxious days trying to find the leak after the water level dropped overnight. Through some unbelievable luck, found the plug which led to the hole, reglued it and am hoping for a peaceful summer of pool fun.

I have discovered that the skimming action seems better when the water level is below the halfway point on the skimmer. But, as I look at the Linden tree getting ready to shower the water with yet another volley of something — seeds this time, I think — I am still very interested in that skimming robot...

 

[BassPlayingDude]

Mine stops working when the water level reaches the top of the outlet because there is no place for the debris to go. I usually like to keep my water level halfway up the opening, or right at the center of the rosettes on my tile, but I sometimes let it get a little higher.

 

[SoCal_Pool_Owner]

The search for a weir door turned out to be the easy part of this adventure. It turns out someone had broken not just the weir, but the skimmer wall where it attaches. There was a plug glued in there and it came loose a few days after I replaced the door. Spent 4 or 5 anxious days trying to find the leak after the water level dropped overnight. Through some unbelievable luck, found the plug which led to the hole, reglued it and am hoping for a peaceful summer of pool fun.

I have discovered that the skimming action seems better when the water level is below the halfway point on the skimmer. But, as I look at the Linden tree getting ready to shower the water with yet another volley of something — seeds this time, I think — I am still very interested in that skimming robot...

When I moved into my house, I had a Skim-a-round and no weir door. I e-mailed Skim-a-round and they said its fine to not use a weir door with their product. I was able to replace my weir door and have since pulled out the Skim-a-round. In all honesty I don't see much difference,. They both work. If you can't replace your weir door, I would say a Skim-a-round is better than nothing.