Auto/robot cleaner for AGP with deep end?

[S-Merry]

Our new 28" doughboy is finally in, and using the vac with the deep center area is a huge pain (or so I'm told - DH does it, not me ). The original plan was to wait until year two to think about a dolphin cleaner (or similar), but if we're going to spend the money anyway I figure we might as well get an extra season out of it (Happy Father's Day, DH!).

Before we run off and buy the first thing the pool store recommends, we were hoping some of the experienced AGP owners here might have some pool cleaner advice to share.

- Which pool vacs work well climbing in/out of the deep area, but are still safe for an AGP?
- Can you put a wall climber in an AGP?
- How long do we have to wait to put it in on the nice new sand base? Our installers said to wait a week to walk on it, but our base is/was super wet (clay soil under the sand and lots of rain this week and last). Should we keep taking it easy for a while and/or wait on putting a cleaner in there?

TIA!

 

[zea3]

Since you have a dished out AGP any cleaner safe for a vinyl liner pool will work. Most cleaners designed for AGPs pools are designed for flat surfaces and do not climb the walls. If the dished out area is not very steep you should be able to use an AGP cleaner.

That pool is pretty heavy. I would think that it has compressed the ground beneath it pretty well by now, and I have never heard not to walk in an AGP for "x" time after install.

 

[S-Merry]

Thank you! Does it matter that it's an overlap liner, rather than beaded - it won't pull it down or something? We are total pool newbies, other than a couple Intex pools, so please forgive the dumb questions.

Interesting about the not walking on it - both the installer and the pool store we bought it from told us to stay off the floor for at least a week or we'd have dents. We caved and went in yesterday, and it does feel pretty soft - maybe just because of all the rain we've had and the clay that takes forever to drain? Or maybe that's just what it's supposed to feel like? We had 4-5 inches a couple days after it went in, and steady hard rain for a few hours yesterday too (feels like a rainforest in Mpls right now - ugh!). The ladder left dents after two adults and a child. I think we're just going to have to accept a few bumps.

 

[brunnesa]

I just bought a Dolphin Active 20 for my AGP. It climbs the walls great and cleans amazing. I highly recommend it.

 

[azide999]

On the ladder dents (not sure what kind of ladder you have), get a clear vinyl bath mat and put it under the ladder - it will help with divots and increase liner life under the ladder.

- - - Updated - - -

On the ladder dents (not sure what kind of ladder you have), get a clear vinyl bath mat and put it under the ladder - it will help with divots and increase liner life under the ladder.

Nothing wrong with overlap liners at all, I prefer them in concept as they are more forgiving of imperfections during pool assembly and commissioning.

 

[S-Merry]

Thanks for the tips! I really thought after lurking around this forum for a year I was better prepared than I am - oops!

As for the overlap liner, my concern was that maybe it could pull down a bit from the weight of the vac? Sounds like that's not an issue. We're happy with the overlap - it was necessary to be able to have the deep part of the pool, and we really wanted that.