Ariel Surface bot and Maytronics Dolphin Deconfliction

[Orion7319]

@MyAZPool Thanks for the writeup! Another reason I love TFP.

I don't have a surface skimmer yet (only a Dolphin bottom feeder) but I am seriously looking into one. I typically do not leave my Dolphin in the pool 24/7; instead I remove it once its cleaning cycle is done. So...I guess I could turn off the solar skimmer whenever the Dolphin is in the pool and avoid the confliction solution you so eloquently documented .

However, I could see your solution as a great one for times when we are away from home. Being retired we tend to pack up and leave for 2-3 weeks at a time and during these times I would want to have both robots in the pool concurrently.

I am envisioning needing to run the Dolphin less frequently after deploying a surface skimmer such as the Ariel, simply because the debris won't have a chance to sink. Do others find that to be the case?

Depends on what it is at the bottom of the pool. I rarely get many leaves at the bottom of the pool, now that I have a skimmer robot, but after a rain I’ll have hundreds of earth worms. Also when I cut my grass it’s completely unavoidable to kick some dirt into the pool. The skimmer bot doesn’t do anything for worms before they sink. I run my dolphin at least three times a week regularly and every night if it’s raining and after I mow the lawn.

 

[Katodude]

That is the case. If you are away for several weeks, I would just leave the Ariel in to skim. You will less debris on the bottom. When you come back you run your bottom feeder and you are done. Thats what we do.

 

[MyAZPool]

@MyAZPool Thanks for the writeup! Another reason I love TFP.

I don't have a surface skimmer yet (only a Dolphin bottom feeder) but I am seriously looking into one. I typically do not leave my Dolphin in the pool 24/7; instead I remove it once its cleaning cycle is done. So...I guess I could turn off the solar skimmer whenever the Dolphin is in the pool and avoid the confliction solution you so eloquently documented .

However, I could see your solution as a great one for times when we are away from home. Being retired we tend to pack up and leave for 2-3 weeks at a time and during these times I would want to have both robots in the pool concurrently.

I am envisioning needing to run the Dolphin less frequently after deploying a surface skimmer such as the Ariel, simply because the debris won't have a chance to sink. Do others find that to be the case?

@DanF
I too would not leave both robots in the water at the same time if away for so long.
I have still not been able to get them to both play nice together completely.
Every now and then I have to take some action to undo some sort of confliction that was caused by them both being in the pool at the same time.
I'm still experimenting and playing.
I took the weights off temporarily. My new experiment is to go out in the morning (after 9:00 am), which is after the bottom feeder has done his 2 hour morning run, and pull and lay the control cable on the kool deck. I still leave him in the water right next to the side.
Then when he does his 2 hour night run beginning at 8:00 pm, he just drags the cable back into the water on his own. By that time, Ariel doesn't have much juice left anyway so the control cable just seems to drag her along for the ride.
Still playing around to see if I can find just the right solution to get them to co-exist without any problems and little to no human intervention other than cleaning the filter grids.
We'll see...
r.

 

[DanF]

Thanks again r. When I'm not traveling I pull the Dolphin out of the pool, clean the filter basket, and store him in a plastic box on the patio until his next run.
Probably not necessary, buy I figure the more I keep him out of the salt/chlorine/sun, the less maintenance I will have, but who knows. So I really only need a coexistence solution for when I'm away.

By that time, Ariel doesn't have much juice left anyway so the control cable just seems to drag her along for the ride.

Can I infer from this that your Ariel doesn't make it through the night after being in the sun all day?

 

[MyAZPool]

Thanks again r. When I'm not traveling I pull the Dolphin out of the pool, clean the filter basket, and store him in a plastic box on the patio until his next run.
Probably not necessary, buy I figure the more I keep him out of the salt/chlorine/sun, the less maintenance I will have, but who knows. So I really only need a coexistence solution for when I'm away.

Can I infer from this that your Ariel doesn't make it through the night after being in the sun all day?

@DanF
That is correct unfortunately. There are some battery issues apparently with Ariel that the NX2 did not have. I was at Solar Breeze down in Tempe a few weeks ago and had a discussion with them. They are aware and they have been telling folks that they will fix this issue later in the year.
Please check out this thread and you can read more about that issue.
Ariel by Solar-Breeze
r.