Dolphin M500 vs Active 30i

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Steph11

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May 2, 2014
15
Northern California
We're in the market for our first robot and I've narrowed it down to the Dolphin M500 or the Active 30i. I have already read through both threads pertaining to these robots (the Doheny thread and the M5 owners thread) and I still can't decide which robot will be the better unit. My pool is 17' X 32', quartz, saltwater, 3'-8.5' depth, rectangle shape with a baja shelf and swim steps. I have travertine decking and patio so I get a lot of fine sand that likes to lay at the bottom of the pool. Currently have a Polaris 360 that likes to get itself stuck in a corner for most of the day so it's pretty useless. Help me decide!!

~Stephanie
 
Active 30i is the same as my S300i. M series is more expensive. Features are roughly equivalent.

I'd say you would do just fine with the Active 30i. See my signature for my S300i thread.

FYI, Doheny Discovery is an S200 so it's not the same. The Active 30i will have more features.
 
Call around to pool stores in your area that sell them and ask if they have any loaner models you can demo. Two of the three shops I searched locally all had loaner/demo units for customers to try out.
 
I gave up trying to find an M500 and went with the a30i. All the dealers in my area except one said they only carried the Active series. I have had it a day and so far am happy. It has gotten stuck twice but never on my drain. I have a bench in my pool so we expected that to happen. It was a choice we made to deal with. One question I have is when you are ready to pull it out of the pool do you just use the app to drive it up the side? I kind of assumed early on the M500 had a "home" feature but now I realize I may have confused that with the drone I was looking at buying... ;)
 
You pull it up by the cord (gently) until the handle is right near the surface then you reach in and grab it by the handle and the rear edge. Let it drain for a few seconds and then pull it onto the deck.

I use the manual drive feature to bring it to the side of the pool where I launched it from for easy extraction.
 
The S robots can (many don't) get stuck on the main drains. It's a valid concern. No way to know if it will be a problem with out testing a demo or friends. Any TFP'rs in your area to let you try one?
 
My S300i almost never gets caught on my drain covers (split covers, round, not sure what type). They are slightly raised. When it does bottom-out on one of the covers (has to hit exactly dead-center), it's smart enough to detect that it's treads are spinning with no motion and it will execute one of it power turns (using its side jets) and thrust itself off. Works every time I've ever seen it happen.

I think it's the long rectangular channel drains that are the most problematic.
 

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It gets off mine too but one or two folks have had the issue where it doesn't get unstuck. Probably the ones where they just need more attention. Just like some people.
 
It's the round ones on main drains I've seen mentioned most often, and some owners place those extra covers over them to lessen the drain cover profile. It seems some owners feel like the bottom brush helps the M series out with this, but I don't know honestly. I dont have special covers, and mine has never gotten stuck. I do think the bottom brush is a nice feature, and it definitely makes a difference, especially in a dirty/dusty pool environment. I would have to try one of the other series before giving up my M.
 
My covers the a30i gets stuck on are paramount sdx, they look like this:
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So does it ever get off on it's own? That would annoy me to distraction thinking my bot will be stuck somewhere when I walk off or run him at night on delay. Setting and forgetting is one of the highlights of having a Robot to me.
 
I just went through the same decision process. I was looking at the M400, M500 or the A30i. I kept going back and forth with the longer warranty on the M series and heavier units vs the lighter weight of the A30i. Price difference was only $200 with Marina Pool. After a long decision process, and since I have an unused main drain that has an older style cover, I went with the A30i. I will be testing it in a few days. I asked Margaret at Marina if I could have a few days to see if it worked for me and she said no problem. SO, if it doesn't I will order the M500 from her. I suggest giving her a call and then give the one you want a try.
 
Wow, that's really nice.

Based on the many, posts from members I trust, it doesn't seem like you can go wrong with one of those. Based on my experience with mine, I am very leary of trying anything else as a purchase. I would so love having one for a short to do a fair comparison with.
 
It would be awesome if someone could do a comparison between the two. The whole reason that we're getting rid of the Polaris is because it gets stuck in the corner of the pool and doesn't clean anywhere but there. We have to babysit it and constantly move it to get the rest of the pool clean. It just wants to drive itself right back in to it's corner and stay there. We've tried everything to get it to stop doing that and nothing works. I would hate to end up doing the same with a robot that gets stuck on the drain. Our drains are pretty low profile so hopefully it won't be an issue. I went ahead and ordered the 30i from Marina today. Fingers crossed!
 
Patrick_B said:
So does it ever get off on it's own? That would annoy me to distraction thinking my bot will be stuck somewhere when I walk off or run him at night on delay. Setting and forgetting is one of the highlights of having a Robot to me.
Click to expand...
Maybe 1 in 3 times it can get off on its own, but it never completes a full cleaning cycle because it eventually ends up back there. These covers are like 10" wide and stuck up maybe 3/4" (guess)
 
Its the new modern drains that are the problem. My old house had a single flat drain and no robot got stuck. New house has two main drains of the new raised anti suction type and they all get stuck and then it depends on the robot type how quick it gets off if at all. It seems that with the drains off, it got stuck less frequently.
 
Yea, mine definitely stick up with the anti-suction design, and I dont know the brand, but If I had this problem, I would hace to get those extra "flat dome" things to remedy this. For whatever reason, I have never seen my cleaner get stuck this way.
 

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