Instapark Betta Automatic Pool Skimmer

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Their website says solar only...

instapark.com

Betta Solar Powered Cordless Smart Pool Skimmer

Betta automatically removes various floating debris on the water surface from the pool, such as leaves, dust, pollen, dead insects, etc. It is completely cordless and uses 100% solar power. The underwater brushless motor directly drives the thruster, eliminating the shortcomings of the low life...
instapark.com instapark.com

Very few reviews on Amazon in about a month. I am skeptical how many of those are “friends”. I think the product reliability is unproven.
 
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I'm also curious. Here are some others I've found: Skim Devil, Solar Breeze NX2, SolaSkimmer, Skim King, and Skim Bot. One or move of these may be gone from the market already. The things they all seem to have in common are that they are somewhat expensive and carry only a one year warranty. When I see five years or at least three, I could be tempted. IMO a swimming pool is a hostile environment for electronics and mechanical things. Chlorine, sun, and sometimes salt, any one of which can destroy plastic in fairly short order, plus chlorine and salt will take out metal. I don't leave my Dolphin robot in the pool. If I had one of these machines, it would have to come out and get rinsed off, then left to dry overnight. The Solar Breeze seems to be the most commonly reported here, and for some reason users who have had to replace them seem to like them. I'm still looking!
 
I have two skimmers and they work pretty well. They don't have a weir door. Sometimes we get a lot of debris because we have trees close by and the regular skimmer don't pickup cottonwood and finer particles that well. I was thinking the skimmers paired with an automatic skimmer would be the best of both worlds.

The one year warranty on most units does concern me. I'd love to know if someone has one if they see a noticeable difference. And how long before they had to replace parts.
 
You need a weir door for your skimmer to operate properly.
 
Matt,

Skimmers don't skim well, without weir doors.. Without the door water is drawn from the bottom of the skimmer and there is very little surface water moving into the skimmer..

With an operating weir door, you get much more movement of the surface water which tends to bring with it all the floating junk..

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
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Hello, I’m new here and it’s also only my second season of owning a pool. I took the chance and purchased the Betta off of Amazon. So far... I’m pretty impressed with it. We had a recent explosion of flying ants and this thing gobbles them right off the surface. It’s been running for about a week now and every time I look for it it’s just doing its thing. I see the blue lights floating around the pool well after dark, I have no idea how long the batteries last, it depends on how much sun it gets during the day I suppose. It’s been through 2 rain showers so far. I have 2 ladders that it seems to navigate around just fine. It tried to eat my floating thermometer frog, so they’re definitely not compatible. I have two larger floating chlorine dispensers that it just moves around or pushes out of the way. The filter basket is very easy to remove and clean, especially compared to the hand-me-down Dolphin Diagnostic I have for the bottom with the diaper type filter bag. It’s most definitely made in China, but there is an address for the company in California. As stated above, the big question is how long will it last, I share the same concern but I have high hopes. It does seem very well designed and surprisingly well constructed. My pool has what I’ve been told is an undersized skimmer return, hence this purchase. 20’x30’ Pool surface area for what it’s worth.

Direct answer to first question: no external charge port, charges by solar only.
 
I stumbled on this conversation while trying to troubleshoot my Instapark Betta - which has been a true lifesaver for our pool. About a month ago I posted an Amazon review which said: "So far, this is WONDERFUL! We can't use our built in skimmers because there's a leak somewhere and this skimmer is saving us! It is virtually silent, gets around well, the remote is a nice touch, is effective in picking up both large and fine debris, it ran all night, it looks good, and best of all, it is super easy to clean! I sure hope it holds up because if it does, it deserves more than 5 stars - seriously helpful. Last year we bought another brand - didn't look nearly as nice, was clunky, didn't run as long, was a bit noisy, and much harder to clean. This is a huge upgrade and I'm so glad we took the chance on a new product!"

Unfortunately something seems to be wrong with it now - it turns on but doesn't stay on more than a couple of seconds. The good news - I called the company this morning and after trying some troubleshooting while on the phone, they said they are sending us a new one today. If the honor the warranty, I won't knock the company and the customer service over the phone was great. I'll try and remember to report back when I get the replacement - which can't get here soon enough...
 
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Mine did the exact same once, it would run for 2-3 seconds and die. I’d hit the power button and it would do the same. I just left it off and set in the sun for a few hours, and after that one time it’s still going strong. That was maybe 2 weeks ago and it hasn’t happened again since. I’m hoping for the best. I’ve had it for over a month now and every time I look at it it’s still just boating around in there. If it lasts a few years, in my opinion it’ll be worth every penny. Should it quit working out of warranty, I’d consider trying to resurrect it with an Arduino or something somehow. I haven’t used the skimmer net since I’ve bought this.
 
I just purchased one of these somewhat reluctantly. My pool is surrounded by large mature pine trees from my neighbors property and the pool only has one skimmer. The skimmer can’t keep up with all the pine needles and when it does I’ve had it completely clog and cause the pool pump to start to stutter. After a storm the surface of my pool is always completely covered in pine needles. I was also in a wreck a few years ago and it left me with lower back problems and skimming pine needles all the time with a net really hurts me. Apparently they were having issues with the motors and have completely revamped them. I am hoping the updated version is reliable.
 
mscolvin said:
Any updates on the Instapark Betta? I am considering upgrading from my older Solarbreeze.
Click to expand...
I got mine in last week. Mine is the version with the updated motors that are supposed to be more reliable and rated for salt water pools. So far so good. It seems to work great. My pool hasn’t looked cleaner. It usually runs all day and night, however today it was overcast all day and it only made it until 6:00pm.
 

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