Looks like my motor went out on my Prowler 920 after 3 years. It's only running for a few minutes before it stops and subsequent attempts to start it has no effect (the light on the robot won't even turn on). I'd prefer not to drop $650+ on a new motor and would rather go another route if possible. The pool doesn't really get all that dirty, we just primarily use it for maintenance. Piping photo included for reference.
Replacing Prowler 920
- Thread starter nuke_twidget
- Start date
- May 3, 2014
- 58,551
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
- May 23, 2015
- 24,450
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Pentair Rebel V2 seems to be the most talked about lately. I have a Kreepy Krawly Sandshark. I use mine with an inline leaf trap on the suction hose and it works great for keeping the pool clean. Way cheaper to rebuild a suction side cleaner.
I suggest looking at the Rebel …
I suggest looking at the Rebel …
Dumb question. When we built the pool, we already had a robot so they never showed us how to use the suction cleaner. What do the valve positions need to be in order to use it? Is there a way I can prevent what it picks up from entering the filters? I've gotten used to not having to clean those things monthly.
- May 3, 2014
- 58,551
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Everything a suction cleaner picks up, excluding leaves if you use a leaf trap, go to the filter.
- May 23, 2015
- 24,450
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
If you use the smaller version of the Hayward leaf trap with the hard plastic strainer insert, the W580 I think, then you can line the strainer with a hairnet and it will capture all the sand and grit the cleaner picks up as well as leaves, bugs, and larger debris. There should be almost no impact on your filter cleaning frequency.
- Nov 12, 2017
- 11,896
- Pool Size
- 12300
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
I have the Rebel 2 and it works great in my pool. Like yours, my pool does not get particularly dirty, and with the Rebel it is always clean.
I only clean my filter once a year, and have skipped a year once. So depending on what is falling into your pool, this might be a non-issue.
Much like you have to clean the collector of a robot periodically, same with a pressure-side cleaner, or a suction-side cleaner with a leaf trap, you'll have to pop off the lid of the pump and pull the basket and dump the leaves. Of all varieties of "dumping the junk" I believe the pump basket is the least trouble. For the other cleaner types, you have to pull the cleaner (or leaf catcher) out of the pool. You may or may not get yourself wet doing so. And with a robot, that's quite a bit of weight to haul out. You know what that's like. You also have the issue of having to pull those devices out of the pool just to check to see how much crud they have. When leaves collect in your pump basket, it's right where you can see how much is in there, and you just pop the lid and pull out the basket.
For me, if there is any more actual filter cleaning, that extra work is by far offset by not having to pull up the cleaner out of the water every few days, even if just to check on it. For all of off-season, and for most of swim season, I don't even think about my cleaner, at all. I pull it out of the water when guests swim, and am grateful it is so light.
I don't mind the look of the hose in the water. But I sure would be bothered by an electrical cable running across my deck.
Robots are supposed to be able to brush your pool surface and even scrub your edge tile. You'd have to get a robot owner to weigh in on if that is actually true or not, and if they actually make a difference.
Some will claim that a robot uses less electricity, because you don't need to run your main pump for them to do their thing. But my cleaning run is part of my circulation run time. The pool is still being filtered when the vac is running, so while it's true I must run my pump to clean my pool, I clean my pool while the pump would be running anyway. Now I do have to run my pump higher while the cleaner is active, so it is using more electricity. But not as much more as some robot owners would have you think.
I could not optimize the flow through my cleaner while also sucking water from my skimmer. That might be an issue for your setup, because you have two skimmers and a main drain (I just have one skimmer). I don't know if all suction-cleaner owners have this issue. I solved for that my putting an actuator on the valve that controls flow from the cleaner, so when it's cleaner time, my pool automation tells the actuator to turn and draw 80% from the cleaner and only 20% from my skimmer. Works great. It will remain to be seen if your setup will drive a suction cleaner adequately. Be prepared for some manual valve turning if not.
And lastly, if you activate the cleaner valve, you now have an additional suction port in the pool. Just be aware of that. You have many now: each skimmer, two drains, and whatever is in your spa, but those are generally protected. Skimmer suction ports are down below the skimmer baskets, and drains are much safer these days (assuming you have the dual drain setups and/or safety drain covers). But when you have a suction cleaner valve open, you have an active suction port exposed, in the pool. Either in the wall, which is supposed to be rendered safe by a special safety port cover, or in the bottom of the suction cleaner, which is not particularly guarded, at all. For this reason, I never run the cleaner during the day, when inquisitive children might be in the pool, and my actuator disengages my suction port the rest of the time. Even when active, as I mentioned, my suction port is only drawing 80% of the flow. I left if like that in the hopes that if by some chance someone got sucked onto the port, or stuck their fingers into the hole in the vac head, that the 20% of flow coming from the skimmer would keep them from getting injured (much like how dual drains work). I've never tested this theory, but it's gotta be safer than running 100% through the vac head.
The point of all that "sharing" was to give you some idea of what you're getting into with a suction cleaner. I wouldn't use a robot if someone gave it to me. I believe my particular setup, for my particular pool, is the right choice.
Marty's statement needs a little explaining. Yes, without a leaf catcher the debris collected by a suction-side cleaner goes to the main pump. But the pump has a basket that collects all the large things, including leaves. Particles that are smaller than the holes in the pump's basket do get to the filter.
I only clean my filter once a year, and have skipped a year once. So depending on what is falling into your pool, this might be a non-issue.
Much like you have to clean the collector of a robot periodically, same with a pressure-side cleaner, or a suction-side cleaner with a leaf trap, you'll have to pop off the lid of the pump and pull the basket and dump the leaves. Of all varieties of "dumping the junk" I believe the pump basket is the least trouble. For the other cleaner types, you have to pull the cleaner (or leaf catcher) out of the pool. You may or may not get yourself wet doing so. And with a robot, that's quite a bit of weight to haul out. You know what that's like. You also have the issue of having to pull those devices out of the pool just to check to see how much crud they have. When leaves collect in your pump basket, it's right where you can see how much is in there, and you just pop the lid and pull out the basket.
For me, if there is any more actual filter cleaning, that extra work is by far offset by not having to pull up the cleaner out of the water every few days, even if just to check on it. For all of off-season, and for most of swim season, I don't even think about my cleaner, at all. I pull it out of the water when guests swim, and am grateful it is so light.
I don't mind the look of the hose in the water. But I sure would be bothered by an electrical cable running across my deck.
Robots are supposed to be able to brush your pool surface and even scrub your edge tile. You'd have to get a robot owner to weigh in on if that is actually true or not, and if they actually make a difference.
Some will claim that a robot uses less electricity, because you don't need to run your main pump for them to do their thing. But my cleaning run is part of my circulation run time. The pool is still being filtered when the vac is running, so while it's true I must run my pump to clean my pool, I clean my pool while the pump would be running anyway. Now I do have to run my pump higher while the cleaner is active, so it is using more electricity. But not as much more as some robot owners would have you think.
I could not optimize the flow through my cleaner while also sucking water from my skimmer. That might be an issue for your setup, because you have two skimmers and a main drain (I just have one skimmer). I don't know if all suction-cleaner owners have this issue. I solved for that my putting an actuator on the valve that controls flow from the cleaner, so when it's cleaner time, my pool automation tells the actuator to turn and draw 80% from the cleaner and only 20% from my skimmer. Works great. It will remain to be seen if your setup will drive a suction cleaner adequately. Be prepared for some manual valve turning if not.
And lastly, if you activate the cleaner valve, you now have an additional suction port in the pool. Just be aware of that. You have many now: each skimmer, two drains, and whatever is in your spa, but those are generally protected. Skimmer suction ports are down below the skimmer baskets, and drains are much safer these days (assuming you have the dual drain setups and/or safety drain covers). But when you have a suction cleaner valve open, you have an active suction port exposed, in the pool. Either in the wall, which is supposed to be rendered safe by a special safety port cover, or in the bottom of the suction cleaner, which is not particularly guarded, at all. For this reason, I never run the cleaner during the day, when inquisitive children might be in the pool, and my actuator disengages my suction port the rest of the time. Even when active, as I mentioned, my suction port is only drawing 80% of the flow. I left if like that in the hopes that if by some chance someone got sucked onto the port, or stuck their fingers into the hole in the vac head, that the 20% of flow coming from the skimmer would keep them from getting injured (much like how dual drains work). I've never tested this theory, but it's gotta be safer than running 100% through the vac head.
The point of all that "sharing" was to give you some idea of what you're getting into with a suction cleaner. I wouldn't use a robot if someone gave it to me. I believe my particular setup, for my particular pool, is the right choice.
- May 23, 2015
- 24,450
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Most inline leaf traps have clear plastic bodies. It’s very easy to see just standing at the deck if the trap is full or not. If your doing chemical testing just look at the trap, if it’s not full than ignore it. I personally would rather empty a leaf trap and skimmer basket than open up my pump lid. The Pentair IntelliFlo has one of the most annoying lid designs IMHO and if I can avoid opening up the pump, I will.
Another reason for a leaf trap is that I once got a suction line clog because of debris build up in the pipe. I can tell you from that experience that I NEVER WANT TO DO THAT AGAIN. Suction clogs are a royal PITA to clear and if I can use a trap to avoid it, then so be it. Also, with a hair net in the leaf trap, all the fine sand, pebbles, dog and girl hair, etc, gets stopped before going into the pump and filter. The less crud going into the pump means the less chance of getting an impeller clog - small stones trapped in the impeller can seriously reduce pump efficiency. Low probability that it will happen with the correct strainer basket in the pump but I also thought that way about a suction line clog … and we know how “lucky” I was with that one.
Another reason for a leaf trap is that I once got a suction line clog because of debris build up in the pipe. I can tell you from that experience that I NEVER WANT TO DO THAT AGAIN. Suction clogs are a royal PITA to clear and if I can use a trap to avoid it, then so be it. Also, with a hair net in the leaf trap, all the fine sand, pebbles, dog and girl hair, etc, gets stopped before going into the pump and filter. The less crud going into the pump means the less chance of getting an impeller clog - small stones trapped in the impeller can seriously reduce pump efficiency. Low probability that it will happen with the correct strainer basket in the pump but I also thought that way about a suction line clog … and we know how “lucky” I was with that one.
Nuke,
Everyone is different, and some like robots and some do not.
I have no idea what you are like, but I know what I am like.. I am not the kind of guy that likes to see junk in my pool 24/7. I did not buy a pool, so that I'd have a place to store my suction side cleaner.
Like you, my pool does not get a ton of debris all the time. I run my robot about two or three times a week, most of the time. It runs and then I take it out and put it away. I do not normally leave it in the pool, because I just don't want to see it there.
I don't smoke, drink or chase fast women (They are faster than me..)
I suspect that many pool owners spend much more on their vices than I spend on my robots. Neither have much of a ROI, but many things in life do not have an ROI, except for enjoyment.Dirk says he would not use a robot if given too him. Well, I am the opposite, my two rent house pools came with suction side cleaners that are now in a landfill somewhere. This does not make me right, or wrong, it is just how I want to spend my money to make me happy.
You need to decide what makes the most sense to you..
If you do decide to look at robots again, I suggest the EVO 604.. See this review..
New EVO 614i Robot Pool Cleaner Review
About a month ago I needed a new robot pool cleaner and I contacted Margaret at Marina Pool and Spa. My initial goal was to buy another S200 "style" robot as I have been happy with them so far. Margaret suggested that I might want to look at a new line of robot cleaners that Marina is now...
www.troublefreepool.com
Thanks,
Jim R.