I went ahead and purchased the Zodiac G3 with leaf canister after being on the fence regarding automatic cleaners for the last two years. I figured if it meant less manual vacuuming and more time floating it was worth the money. Our biggest battle when it comes to junk in our pool is nearby maple trees. I had previously bought the "Generic Kreepy Krauly" from Amazon and it was absolute garbage--the thing sucked air at almost every hose connection no matter how tightly I put them together. The Zodiac feels considerably sturdier and is worth being more than double the price, IMO.
Pros:
-The huge mound of leaves and debris that has been acquired from my pool bottom without me physically doing it
-Did I mention the satisfaction of looking out on a pool free of leaves that you, personally, didn't remove?
-Relatively cheap. I paid about $225 for the Zodiac and the additional leaf canister.
Cons:
-Requires 'babysitting' in the way of frequent tweaks to the return nozzle, pump speed, and removal of caught debris to make sure he covers everything. He REALLY loves the pool cove so you have to remind him on occasion that it's clean enough and he can move on.
-Low speed is enough to propel him around the pool but not enough to keep small debris from getting stuck in it's "mouth". Even maple tree helicopters are big enough that the round portion lodges inside and prevents the flapper from closing and he sits dead in the water until you dislodge whatever was stuck.
-The stems on maple leaves can get stuck inside the flapper like the helicopters but I have found they can also get in between the scrub disk and the body of the Zodiac which ends up decreasing it's movement until you grab it out of there.
-If you have any amount of larger leaves/debris the leaf canister is great. However, it does seem to add one more point of entry for air if it gets turned upside down and one more thing to fiddle with.
-I could NOT get the valve cuff they provided to stay inside my skimmer. It was a smidge too large and no amount of cramming it in there would work, it would just float back up. I spent over two hours trying every combination of the hoses I could think of to get it to stay put, eventually finding a small chunk of hose in my garage that could make the transition between the Zodiac hose and my skimmer. Because of this I can't use the Flowkeeper valve. I am sure I wouldn't have to babysit it as much if I could use the intended connections but whattya gonna do?
Ultimately I would buy it again. I have spent MUCH more time babysitting this thing than I anticipated but at the end of the day I do believe there is a time savings over what I would have spent manually scooping leaves and vacuuming.
This is at opening (my mat for under my stairs is whats rolled up in the middle. Oops!) The picture doesn't show JUST HOW MANY helicopters are in there. Side point: the pool was spotlesss on closing but the cover came loose and dumped it's contents inside mid-winter)
This is after about 12 hours. Hard to see with the reflection but it's about a 50% reduction in the debris.
This is today, after running him off and on for the last month.
And one more because I like my pool water.
Pros:
-The huge mound of leaves and debris that has been acquired from my pool bottom without me physically doing it
-Did I mention the satisfaction of looking out on a pool free of leaves that you, personally, didn't remove?
-Relatively cheap. I paid about $225 for the Zodiac and the additional leaf canister.
Cons:
-Requires 'babysitting' in the way of frequent tweaks to the return nozzle, pump speed, and removal of caught debris to make sure he covers everything. He REALLY loves the pool cove so you have to remind him on occasion that it's clean enough and he can move on.
-Low speed is enough to propel him around the pool but not enough to keep small debris from getting stuck in it's "mouth". Even maple tree helicopters are big enough that the round portion lodges inside and prevents the flapper from closing and he sits dead in the water until you dislodge whatever was stuck.
-The stems on maple leaves can get stuck inside the flapper like the helicopters but I have found they can also get in between the scrub disk and the body of the Zodiac which ends up decreasing it's movement until you grab it out of there.
-If you have any amount of larger leaves/debris the leaf canister is great. However, it does seem to add one more point of entry for air if it gets turned upside down and one more thing to fiddle with.
-I could NOT get the valve cuff they provided to stay inside my skimmer. It was a smidge too large and no amount of cramming it in there would work, it would just float back up. I spent over two hours trying every combination of the hoses I could think of to get it to stay put, eventually finding a small chunk of hose in my garage that could make the transition between the Zodiac hose and my skimmer. Because of this I can't use the Flowkeeper valve. I am sure I wouldn't have to babysit it as much if I could use the intended connections but whattya gonna do?
Ultimately I would buy it again. I have spent MUCH more time babysitting this thing than I anticipated but at the end of the day I do believe there is a time savings over what I would have spent manually scooping leaves and vacuuming.
This is at opening (my mat for under my stairs is whats rolled up in the middle. Oops!) The picture doesn't show JUST HOW MANY helicopters are in there. Side point: the pool was spotlesss on closing but the cover came loose and dumped it's contents inside mid-winter)
This is after about 12 hours. Hard to see with the reflection but it's about a 50% reduction in the debris.
This is today, after running him off and on for the last month.
And one more because I like my pool water.
