Can a robot work under a closed pool cover?

[Rocket J Squirrel]

I have an automatic motorized vinyl safety cover which is always closed unless someone is swimming. My Polaris 3900 pressure-side cleaner runs 2 hours/day and remains in the pool 24/7 unless we have guests. It runs fine under the closed cover.

Can a robot work under a closed pool cover? Guessing the power cord would preclude this, so I’m asking.

 

[cfherrman]

A robot will have significant water pumped straight up and might mess with the cover. The cord floats as well. Does your cover touch the pool?

 

[Rocket J Squirrel]

A robot will have significant water pumped straight up and might mess with the cover. The cord floats as well. Does your cover touch the pool?

Yes, the cover rests on the water. And only one end is open enough for a power cord. So guessing a robot is impractical. The 3900 works pretty well.

 

[cfherrman]

I certainly do not know, I would find a friend with one and try it out if no more replies

 

[bmoreswim]

I’ve never wanted to run our Active 20 under our autocover. When it cleans the waterline it would be in constant interaction with the cover. Though I’m not sure any damage to either would occur, it’s just something I choose to avoid.

As for the cord, yes only the leading edge end is open but you could also feed the cord up through the skimmer before plugging it into the power unit, being sure to keep the plug dry.

If you have a cleaner that can be set to floor only, then I’d be in favor of that.

My thoughts are likely on the conservative side but I’ve also not really had the need to do so either.

 

[riley00dog]

I have to remove our solar cover for our robot. I wasn’t to start with but then I found him trying to clean the underside of the cover [emoji15] He’d get half way across and fall off. It’s annoying as I loose so much heat when I open it for him to run.

 

[Rocket J Squirrel]

As the OP of this thread, I thought I'd circle back to finish it. The Polaris 3900 works quite well under the auto-cover, and the auto-cover keeps out most debris anyway. So I'll stick with the Polaris and keep things simple. Thanks for the replies!

 

[kywildcats]

My solar cover is cut into 3 pieces, and my dolphin doesn't have a problem running under it.

 

[santacruzpool]

I run my robot with the cover closed most of the time. Our coping, and the under mount tracks for the cover, are 3" or so above the waterline, so our Dolphin can still scrub the waterline tile on 3 sides without hitting the cover. It does hit the cover where the vault is as the vinyl drapes over the slanted tile area and rests on the water surface. I never thought much about it being a problem, but that is the only area we have some scale/calcium build up in our entire pool - I guess it just misses getting scrubbed like the other 3 sides of the pool do...hmmm

When we close the cover the cord gits pinched a little against the coping. However, since our cover bar is never really perfectly lined up and square to the coping all the way across the end of the pool when we close it, it seems like the 1/2" gap the cord creates at one corner isn't much of a problem...Our adjustment seems a little off to that side anyway so it fits nicely...