Doheny's Discovery, S200, Active20, Triton owners club

[chiefwej]

I don’t like the look of a cleaner left in the pool. I love the fact that, instead of vacuuming and brushing the pool, I can just toss Kokopelli (my robot) in for two hours. He will vacuum and scrub the pool right up to the waterline. It then takes 5 min of my time to properly coil the cord (over & under) and put it back on its cart. This process takes very little time and effort and is repeated every few days as needed.

What I never liked about a suction side cleaner was that, in addition to doing a lousy job of cleaning, it also spoils the look of the pool. If you use a leaf canister to strain out the debris, that takes more time and effort than a robot. I’m not lazy enough to leave a cleaner in, if it’s only needed once every few days, and only needs 5 min of my time.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I take my robot out after each use, clean the basket out and rinse the robot off. Takes about 10mins of my time to set it up and 10mins to pull it and clean it off. But, because it does such an excellent job cleaning, I only use my robot a few times per week (2-3 days between cleaning). I also have the high end unit (300i) with all the bells and whistles; while I don’t use every function every time, having the weekly cleaning schedule is nice for when we go on family vacations. As well, sometimes I just want to do a quick clean in Floor-only mode and so I use the phone App to make those changes.

I had a suction side cleaner for four years that was left in the pool 24/7/365. It only did a so-so job and was a nuisance to take out every time the kids wanted to swim. Now, with the robot, the pool is always swim-ready and there’s no need to run out and pull the cleaner out of the pool while they’re getting their swim clothes on.

 

[gq_wolf]

JJ - Like you said in your questions, there is no way (simple fast answer) way for someone to tell you a ballpark percentage. It may take someone willing to buy multiple robots and set up control vs multiple tests to give you the answer you are looking for. At the end of the day, you'd have to trust your gut or decision - after all it is your money. It sounds like you've already come to your own rationalization. Whatever the outcome, I'm sure it will be a worthy investment, and with Maytronics, it's probably the best bet in lasting the longest regardless if you leave in or take out (compared to others). Wishing you the best of luck!

 

[ctrav]

Right on point chief!

 

[kchinger]

Personally, I put mine in every couple days (less often if the cover is on and we haven't used it and aren't planning to). Sometimes I'll leave it in overnight occasionally, but I try to take it out most of the time. I don't beat myself up if I don't get a chance to get it. Sometimes I'll put it in and have it run a cycle, then I'll hit it again for another cycle before I take it out and clean it.

It takes me probably 10 minutes round trip to get it from the pool shed, put it in, start it, take it out, clean it, put it away. If it does one 2.5 hour cycle it saves me about an hour at least of vacuuming, and it does a better job. So I've saved at least 50 minutes (probably more like 90 at least). Totally worth it for me.

 

[El Matarife]

OK, so somebody tell me honestly, is this advice (see my post above) in the S200's manual just a CYA their attorneys make them put in there and it's really just bs, or is it to be taken seriously? Please chime in and let me know if you leave your robot in the pool 24/7, or close to it, and how many years you have been doing so with out the robot falling apart and breaking. Or do you all take it out after each cleaning as the instructions say to do? I really do want to be sold on getting a robot because I like the idea of not having to brush my pool, or at least not as much, but not if I have to babysit the thing.

Lifting your robot out of the water and emptying the filter seems like a lot of work? Wouldn't you rather spend two minutes doing this than an hour vacuuming it yourself?

 

[CajunGuy]

I am on the fence right now between just sticking with my old suction side pool vacuum powered through the pool pump or getting a robot. One of the things holding me back from getting a robot is that in some ways it seems like it would be more work. I mean, with my vacuum right now, it stays in the pool all the time and I don't really ever have to clean it. I have read conflicting things regarding robots, some say they can stay in the pool 24/7 however, this is a copy and paste from the S200's owner's manual:

• After each cleaning cycle take the Dolphin out of the water to prevent accelerated wear and tear on its plastic parts.
• After each cleaning cycle wash the filter bag or cartridge. Clogged filter bags reduce scanning and cleaning efficiency. Once every two months, wash the filter bag in a washing machine, using a regular synthetic cycle.

The S200 kind of sounds like a lot of work to me if you have to clean it daily and take it in and out of the pool daily. Am I missing something?

So you'd rather manually vacuum your pool rather than drop a robot in and have it do it for you? All it requires is about 15 seconds to drop in the pool.

It takes me all but 5 minutes (if that) to pull it out the pool, place on caddy, roll up cord, then empty/hose down filter basket and place back in unit. It really isn't much work at all and it WELL WORTH IT for how phenomenally clean it keeps my pool compared to my old/obsolete Polaris. I'll usually leave mine in, for at most, 3-4 days at a time (usually 1 or 2 days though). Then clean out the filters and save until next time I need it. Having the caddy makes everything extremely easy and fast, I highly recommend it.

 

[Killer95Stang]

Two year birthday for my Doheny Discovery and the last day of my warranty. Has a few battle scars, but still just chugs along. Also, five years since the build and five years "Algae Free".... Thanks TFP...

Don't mind the marks on the coping... three year old loves her chalk..

 

[jeremyjohnolson]

Lifting your robot out of the water and emptying the filter seems like a lot of work? Wouldn't you rather spend two minutes doing this than an hour vacuuming it yourself?

I do not manually vacuum. My suction side vac is hooked up to the pump and it's all automated. But I get what your saying, it's not much work, doesn't take long to do...all I am saying is even if it's just 5 min, or 10 min, whatever, it's still one more thing I have stop and think about each day. To me it would be nice to be able to just set it and forget it.

 

[blueman2]

I do not manually vacuum. My suction side vac is hooked up to the pump and it's all automated. But I get what your saying, it's not much work, doesn't take long to do...all I am saying is even if it's just 5 min, or 10 min, whatever, it's still one more thing I have stop and think about each day. To me it would be nice to be able to just set it and forget it.

jj, I strongly recommend you get a robot such as the S200. I did and would never go back to anything else. I do leave mine in 24x7x365 and will just live with the need for maintenance on the robot as needed. I also have mine connected to my pool computer so that I can turn it on and off whenever I want to and not have to go outside to turn it on. The advantages have been so, very far above the downsides, it is a simple decision in my mind.

 

[hal2814]

Thanks everyone for all the info you are posting here! I don’t think I’d be able to navigate buying a robot without you.

So I’m a few days in on the Doheny Discovery. It does a much better job overall than my Polaris 280 but does not pick up dirt as well as a hand operated suction vac. I left a small patch of dirt that collected near a corner to test with. It took the Discovery 3-4 cleanings with the pleated filters to get it all up. At least it’s not just moving dirt around the pool like the Polaris would do (even with the fine mesh bag on), but I do wish I could specify a longer cycle.

With the size of my pool (40x20) and the amount of dirt I collect, I don’t think I’ll ever be done with hand vacuuming but I do think the Discovery + Solar Breeze combo will help me significantly cut my pump run time and the time I spend skimming and vacuuming.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Thanks everyone for all the info you are posting here! I don’t think I’d be able to navigate buying a robot without you.

So I’m a few days in on the Doheny Discovery. It does a much better job overall than my Polaris 280 but does not pick up dirt as well as a hand operated suction vac. I left a small patch of dirt that collected near a corner to test with. It took the Discovery 3-4 cleanings with the pleated filters to get it all up. At least it’s not just moving dirt around the pool like the Polaris would do (even with the fine mesh bag on), but I do wish I could specify a longer cycle.

With the size of my pool (40x20) and the amount of dirt I collect, I don’t think I’ll ever be done with hand vacuuming but I do think the Discovery + Solar Breeze combo will help me significantly cut my pump run time and the time I spend skimming and vacuuming.

The S300 or S300i might have been the better, albeit more expensive, choice. It has longer cleaning cycles, floor-only mode, ultra vac mode (doubles the internal pump speed) and you can manually drive it over to a pile a debris to do spot cleaning. The i model also comes with the integrated basket (coarse screen insert and fine pleated panels) which helps to improve filtration efficiency.

Overall, in standard clean mode, Dolphin says the bots are designed to spend about 80% of their cycle time on the floor and 20% on the walls and tile line. So you may just need to do an extra cleaning cycle to cover your entire pool.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

The Maytronics bots come with something called "Cleverclean". Does anyone know exactly how that actually works? I sit and watch my Dolphin Discovery clean the pool (very nicely indeed) yet can see now rhyme or reason in how it decides to move around. It is a mystery!

Maddie

 

[JoyfulNoise]

The Maytronics bots come with something called "Cleverclean". Does anyone know exactly how that actually works? I sit and watch my Dolphin Discovery clean the pool (very nicely indeed) yet can see now rhyme or reason in how it decides to move around. It is a mystery!

Maddie

99% marketing fluff & 1% technological ingenuity. The “clever” part is them figuring out a way to separate pool owners from large amounts of their personal savings

Like the Coca-Cola recipe, the clever clean technology is locked away in a vault and any one individual only knows a small piece of the technological recipe.

 

[jeremyjohnolson]

jj, I strongly recommend you get a robot such as the S200. I did and would never go back to anything else. I do leave mine in 24x7x365 and will just live with the need for maintenance on the robot as needed. I also have mine connected to my pool computer so that I can turn it on and off whenever I want to and not have to go outside to turn it on. The advantages have been so, very far above the downsides, it is a simple decision in my mind.

Thanks blueman2. I think I will get one in the next few months. Waiting for my company's stock price to go up and will exercise some options to buy one when it does I may go for the S300i though, because I like the idea of having more options for how long it cleans and being able to spot clean.

 

[needsajet]

Strictly a theory about the cleaning pattern algorithm... I tried the Triton in three different pools. Each time it did a long run, then halfway back, then 90 degree turn, then another run, then went up a wall, then back down, all within about 5 minutes. After that, it became random. It did a very good job after the 3 hours on all three pools. (one rectangular, and two free form)

My theory is that the cleaning pattern algorithm is designed for demos, to make it seem like it's scanning and figuring out the pool, have it go up a wall, and the potential buyer will believe it's smart. Quick play with the remote, and the sales person is in and out quickly. After that it can do whatever it likes, the pool will be clean, and everybody's happy.

I doubt it's possible to achieve what's in the marketing videos anyway, and they can explain it away by referring to water currents, drag from the cord, "your unique and spectacular pool", or maybe the Coriolis effect. If the pool's clean, buyer is happy

 

[ctrav]

Thus the reason I run 2 cycles and I always choose a different entry point...

 

[Megarms]

I just ordered an active 30i from Marina and it will be here on Tuesday. ​

This may have already been covered, so please point me towards the thread if it has. One of the reasons I went with the 30i is the flexibility of scheduling and being able to clean just the floor, walls, etc. If you are not supposed to leave the robot in the pool when not in use, then what good does scheduling cleanings do for the user?

I am going to feel like I wasted $250 if the answer is that is works while you are on vacation and not at home.

 

[MannyT]

It will work whether you are on vacation or home it doesn't matter. With the app you can schedule what time it runs and on what days. Without the app it will run everyday, every 48 hrs, or 72hr at the time you turn it on.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I just ordered an active 30i from Marina and it will be here on Tuesday. ​

This may have already been covered, so please point me towards the thread if it has. One of the reasons I went with the 30i is the flexibility of scheduling and being able to clean just the floor, walls, etc. If you are not supposed to leave the robot in the pool when not in use, then what good does scheduling cleanings do for the user?

I am going to feel like I wasted $250 if the answer is that is works while you are on vacation and not at home.

You can leave it in the pool all you want. Eventually it has to come out for the filter basket to be cleaned. The downside of leaving it in the pool 24/7 is that service pros have noticed that the bots with the most frequent repairs are the ones left in the pool all the time. Now some of that could be due to lousy water chemistry (weekly shocking, pH all over the place, algae filled water, etc) but bots that come out of the pool regularly and are cleaned are ones that stay the “healthiest”