Comments on my XtremepowerUS Automatic Suction Vacuum-Climb Wall Pool Cleaner

[mmcwhorter]

Robot Check

So, right off I will say after 4 years (3 complete seasons and so far in 2019) I like this cleaner. A lot.... I never expected it to last into the 4th year for $90. It's still going strong.

When I moved into my house in 2013, there was a completely spent broken down Zodiac type supply side cleaner that I could not get to work, gears busted it was a mess. Throw away value only, so I don't know anything about it.

I have two skimmers. One I use for the Cleaner at the shallow end by the steps...., the other at the deep end I use with a standard Weir door and strainer basket. The drains are set to return (not suction) water to the pool, or it's likely the cleaner will get trapped on the drain.

One really cool thing about this cleaner...it is an alarm to let you know WHEN to backwash the sand filter. When the filter is clean it makes a clickig sound at about 4-5 Hz. You can hear it from 20 feet away and it's loud underwater. When the clicking gets to 2 Hz, time to backwash. Clockwork. So if I were a Marketing Guy, I'd advertise it as a Backwash Notification Device... LOL

OK, all the love: But I have three ticky tack issues with the suction cleaner, only the last one is a pain.....

1) minor point but sometimes the male hose end that goes into the bottom of the strainer return with basket removed comes loose overnight when the pump is stopped (no biggie at all), If I push it in really hard when installing it does better and will not usually fall out

2) Any leaf or small item (mulch) on the bottom of the pool larger than 2-3 inches needs to be removed manually.....either by flipping it up off the surface and capturing with my pole skimmer or while swimming, grab it and toss it. But the cleaner might choke on it and stop working. When no clicking heard, it's usually a piece of mulch/leaf or rock bigger the 2 inches. Just pick it up off the pool floor 1-2 feet, the debris usually falls out, and it starts clicking away again. Happy again.

3) This is my only "real issue": See the pic. Sometimes, too often, it gets hung up int he shallow end at the steps. It will sometimes do it over and over again.
What I find is that I can drag it down to teh deep end using my brush or skimmer on extension pole.....and more often than not it'll come right back and hang on the steps. Seems one way around this problem is to stretch the hose with no loops and drag the cleaner all the way to the deep end...AND before installing the male end of the hose in to the suction return to revolve or rotate the hose 4-5 times AWAY from the steps. Puts a few loopty-loops in the hose....In this case, for a few days or at least many hours it will make a lot of trips to the deep end and come back to the shallow and miss the steps. I've thought about putting a barrier / barricade at
the corner of the steps...but I don't want the hassle to remove it.... I thought about tying the hose from the skimmer ot a point away from the steps, like the corner of the waterfall in the picture.

Any ideas for 3)?

But I really like this cleaning device....mostly becuase it was $90. I want to see how many years I can get out of it....and it's still chunking away. So, if you are in the market, I would definitely buy one. Again.

 

[Cincicobra]

I have this same cleaner, which was included from my pool builder and I have kept it as a backup for my robot. It has the EXACT problem of sticking on the corner of the steps, and it is FRUSTRATING. I played with adding hose sections, twisting loops into the hose, and the best option I found was removing enough sections so that it would be forced to turn before getting to the corner. But this of course means it doesn't get other sections of the pool. If it weren't for the steps, this thing would have been a rock start of a suction cleaner for sure, in terms of suction cleaners in general. However, it does not remotely clean as well as my dolphin of course and will always leave debris on the pool floor. I were buying another suction cleaner I would definitely consider getting another one.

Gorgeous pool BTW!

 

[mmcwhorter]

The cleaner has run three days straight w/o getting stuck. I need to run it from the shallow side (shown in pic) becuase msot times the wind blows leaves to the deep end, where the second shimmer is located. I think I figured it out....The solution is to install the unit with the cleaner at the deep end, straighten the hose with no twists or kinks...plug the hose in the shallow end skimmer (no weir door) and then (The Key) rotate the hose at one of the couplings 4-5 times AWAY from the steps, toward the Jacuzzi. CCW looking out from the shallow skimmer to the right int he pic. In this case, the skimmer stays away from the steps, which is fine by me. Brushing the debris over to the area where the skimmer lives most of the time is easy, and the pool floor is clean. One or two "big" leaves that sank on to the floor occassionally must be retrieved with the pole skimmer.

Thank you for the compliment, we had the pool retiled and new coping in 2017. The prior owner hated the pool. He didn't take care of it. The rumor was he wanted to bulldoze it. There were about 9 missing tiles, one per month would fall off.... and we decided that was enough. When we moved in, my neighbor's 10-year-old son came over and wildly exclaimed: Wow...that's the first time I have ever seen the pool when it wasn't green"...LOL. We had a very good experience with the Pool Contractor in Annapolis named Sunrise Pools.

 

[mmcwhorter]

I broke down and bought a Nautilus Dolphin CC robot cleaner. I must admit: Love it. Had it two weeks now and It's Amazing. So far, no issues at all.

I bought a little Suncast Plastic Resin box for the Power Supply, sits near the pool. Keeps it nicely dry. That is one design flaw with Nautilus for sure, it can't get wet!!!! Well, I used every bit of my Engineering Degree (LOL) for that solution.

My 5-year-old grand-daughter will be coming over soon, and she gets to name it.

 

[KDpoolguy]

I’ve never been more frustrated with a cleaner than that Xtremepower one, but it was a semi-decent stop gap cleaner when I needed it. The suction flapper broke, stuck on everything,any broken pieces tied together by zip ties and (did I mention getting stuck), and added a hose rotator, and 3 types of hose to little avail. I still have it, though I’d rather manually vacuum if I needed to. That cleaner was a lesson in diy jury rigging techniques. If it works, that’s great, but I was happier rebuilding my IFCS and then my A20 robot blew me away.