Convince me a robot is better...

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Post #122 and following have them -

So this just happened.... - Page 7

I take my robot in and out every time. The repair tech at the shop I bought it from said that it can easily be left in for a week at a time as long as you pull it, clean the filter, rinse the unit off and let the cord warm up and detangle it (mine has no tangles). I recently went on vacation for a week, left it in the pool with a customized daily run schedule and came back to a clean pool with the cleaner happily going at it. No tangles in the cord whatsoever. My S300i makes equivalent numbers of CW & CCW turns every clean cycle so, in theory, the cord should not develop any twists.

In my opinion it's not any more hassle than my previous suction cleaner and probably a little less hassle.

Oh, and it's much more visually pleasing to look at my beautiful pool everyday (especially the mornings) with no hoses or tubes messing up the view -

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Patrick_B said:
They say they can't be left in the pool, and they aren't upposed to be, but we all do it. And who says you have to remove them after each cycle? You might want too if it's a heavy duty cycle, but I don't every time. It just depends on what was in there. Robots actually clean the pool unlike some of the other products or systems, and none of this junk winds up in your filter.
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Well reading through the posts, it sounds like quite a few people clean their robot's filters after every use, or at least every two or three cycles. They clearly have to be cleaned fairly regularly. If you enjoy doing it, great, but I personally would rather not add another pool maintenance task.

I don't have any problem at all with "junk" winding up in my filter... that's what it's for! The DE does a great job filtering the finest silt and dirt. It's always going to need backwashing and cleaning. Guess I'm not seeing the benefit of adding another thing that I'm also going to have to clean.
 
I clean mine out once a week. Other benefits are it picks up fine dirt, sand and junk off the bottom and also brushes the pools surface. So, having the robot greatly reduces how much you need to brush and vacuum the bottom.
 
Here is a good example of what a robot can do compared to a suction cleaner. The other day I pressure washed my pool deck and a lot of the dirt got in the pool. I ran my suction cleaner (mx8) for 3 hours then put in a demo unit of the s300 with the screen filter (not the fine one). I used a demo unit from a local store instead of my more powerful Oasis because I wanted to see the difference. These filters are after one cycle on the s300, and again, that's after the suction cleaner ran for 3 hours. Afterwards, the pool was crystal clear
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Before I owned a pool I had visions of standing on the cool deck with a big prideful smirk brushing away like Marcia Brady with her hair. I HATE brushing. I have a Navigator and I bought the little replacement wings that have bristles underneath. Dramatically reduced my brushing. Cut to: 4 seasons later, an even lazier pool owner, and the Nav. left out in the Tucson sun 24/7. Time for a new cleaner. I loved the idea of a robot and found the lower end models online for less than $500. Im also skeptical, impatient, and cheap (ladies?). So I went to a pool store and spent over $600 on the low end bot. And, although I'm extremely frustrated with the coverage/performance of this model it picks up ALOT that the Nav. doesn't. And this one only has a mesh filter basket, not the fine media options of the bots suited for my pool have. And the time it takes to clean the basket is about 45 seconds longer than it takes to empty your skimmer basket. Still waiting for my Adult robotic cleaner to arrive, so I can't give you a full picture yet. I hope my 2 cents helps you decide.
 
Umpmanjoe said:
Here is a good example of what a robot can do compared to a suction cleaner. The other day I pressure washed my pool deck and a lot of the dirt got in the pool. I ran my suction cleaner (mx8) for 3 hours then put in a demo unit of the s300 with the screen filter (not the fine one). I used a demo unit from a local store instead of my more powerful Oasis because I wanted to see the difference. These filters are after one cycle on the s300, and again, that's after the suction cleaner ran for 3 hours. Afterwards, the pool was crystal clear
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You should have thrown the robot back in with the ultra-fine filters attached and bet they would have come out grey/brown with fine dust and silt. Every time my S300i goes in the pool, the ultra-fine filter is sparkly white. Every time I pull it out, they are grey/brown. The amount of silt they capture can't be understated.
 
Hahaha, I hear ya snowman. The first few years after our pool was built I was fanatic about brushing. I cleaned and vacuumed it obsessively by hand every week. I actually enjoyed it. Then it started turning into a chore. So I got a Barracuda, which didn't really work very well on our pool. Thankfully, it broke after about a year. Then I got the Nav, which has been a real trooper.

I wonder if maybe you Arizona folks get more dust and other crud in your pools than we do here. I don't mean that disrespectfully... your pools are beautiful... but it may be that they're harder to keep clean because of your weather and location. Our pool generally sparkles and feels pretty clean - as clean or cleaner than others I've been in. Maybe it does have some uber fine near invisible micro dust particles that aren't getting picked up by the Nav, but if no one seems to notice them, does it really make a difference? I mean at some point it's gotta be "clean enough", right?
 

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SoCalGuy said:
Hahaha, I hear ya snowman. The first few years after our pool was built I was fanatic about brushing. I cleaned and vacuumed it obsessively by hand every week. I actually enjoyed it. Then it started turning into a chore. So I got a Barracuda, which didn't really work very well on our pool. Thankfully, it broke after about a year. Then I got the Nav, which has been a real trooper.

I wonder if maybe you Arizona folks get more dust and other crud in your pools than we do here. I don't mean that disrespectfully... your pools are beautiful... but it may be that they're harder to keep clean because of your weather and location. Our pool generally sparkles and feels pretty clean - as clean or cleaner than others I've been in. Maybe it does have some uber fine near invisible micro dust particles that aren't getting picked up by the Nav, but if no one seems to notice them, does it really make a difference? I mean at some point it's gotta be "clean enough", right?
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Yes, lots of dust/sand here. Sounds like your set for now. Congrats. Perhaps this forum can help you in other areas now or later?
 
I don't own the s300, but my local store demos them but not with the fine filters. I used that to see how it compares to my Oasis z5. I was pretty impressed considering they weren't the fine filter and it doesn't move as much water as mine. I did finish it off with my Oasis and fine filters.

in the past, when I pressure washed my pool deck, which is patio pavers, it would take at least 48 hours to clean my pool running the filter and suction cleaner for 36 hours straight. This time, it was clean after 6 hours and 3 of those were from the mx8. I have a suspicion that it would have been clean after3 if I started with the s300.
 
It has nothing to do with what brand suction cleaner. All suction cleaners would have left it like that. Suction cleaners only get what's settled on the floor and push it through the main pool filter. Dolphin Robot cleaners separately filter between 3700 and 4500 gallons per hour through their own filter. Some other brands are even stronger. I prefer Dolphins because they have the best reputation as far as reliability, warranty and customer service
 
frogkick said:
Does a robot take the place of manual vacuuming and brushing or do you still need to do that to maintain the pool?
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For me it pretty much does. I will brush at least once a week in the corners and around the edges where the wall and floor meets, but I just walk around the pool holding the pole, takes all but 2 minutes to do. The robot does 95% of my pool cleaning needs. I also have to do the swimout and steps manually.
 
It will be the best thing you ever did.
i have Dolphin S-100 for 765.00 USD with Ultra fine filter basket.
The Unit:
only takes 10 minutes to launch it and clean it afterwards
it keeps all the debris in onboard basket NOT in your filter
allows for significantly less backwashing
backwashing messes up your balanced water
saves on chemicals because you are not flushing them down the waste pipe

I like the fact it keeps all the fine particles in the onboard basket.
I can have my water crystal clear and then let the robot run a cycle and the filter plates will be gray from all the miniscule particles the Ultra gen filter removes from the water.

you don't need the 200 and 300 models, you won't use those fearures.
the whole I idea is to launch it, turn it on and take it out when it us finished.
you don't need the remote control feature you can use from your phone
do you really want to sit there and guide the robot like a video game or would you prefer to set it and forget it?

go buy a robot, you will be glad you did
 
SoCalGuy said:
Our Nav has no trouble sucking up sand and fine dirt, even at its age. It never did climb up to the waterline, or get on steps. Our pool walls are steep and I don't know if any cleaner would be able to. Maybe I'm underestimating robots. .
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The robots that are designed to clean walls/waterline can do any angle up to 90 degrees. Check out the video as it approaches the 1:00 mark:

Robot Dolphin S 300 by Maytronics - YouTube
 
I think thats a very good point you make. Location does make a difference. Some places have lots of dirt getting in the pools, in my location I have tons of leaves. A screened in pool may have next to nothing getting in it. I bought a robot originally because I love electronic toys and with my old pool the jacuzzi would barely work if the filter got clogged so no way I was cleaning that filter constantly after the suction cleaner ran. My friend in same community with screened in pool bought a knock off kreepy krawly for 80 bucks or something and he likes it just fine.

SoCalGuy said:
Hahaha, I hear ya snowman. The first few years after our pool was built I was fanatic about brushing. I cleaned and vacuumed it obsessively by hand every week. I actually enjoyed it. Then it started turning into a chore. So I got a Barracuda, which didn't really work very well on our pool. Thankfully, it broke after about a year. Then I got the Nav, which has been a real trooper.

I wonder if maybe you Arizona folks get more dust and other crud in your pools than we do here. I don't mean that disrespectfully... your pools are beautiful... but it may be that they're harder to keep clean because of your weather and location. Our pool generally sparkles and feels pretty clean - as clean or cleaner than others I've been in. Maybe it does have some uber fine near invisible micro dust particles that aren't getting picked up by the Nav, but if no one seems to notice them, does it really make a difference? I mean at some point it's gotta be "clean enough", right?
Click to expand...
 

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