Skimbot First Impressions

[z3540i]

When my Solar Breeze NX-2 died (stripped gears), I looked for a replacement. I considered the Betta2, Ariel, and Skimbot. I decided to go with the Skimbot for its features that the others didn't have and its price. It arrived yesterday, Friday, August 4th. Since it was raining, I couldn't charge in the sun. No rain today so set it out in the sun for charging. I installed its Pool Robot app and the Skimbot easily paired it with my phone. Lots of information and settings for the robot. It came with 50% charge on the battery. It also says the outside temperature and the wattage it generates from the sun. It took about 3.5 hours to fully charge with the wattage varying from 3-12W. The robot seems to run faster than the NX2. I tried the manual control from the app and the Skimbot was very responsive. I put it in front of my skimmers (we have only 1 speed) and it did not get stuck. It did not beach itself on the steps (water level at middle of skimmer). The edge cleaning feature seems to work well. It plays well with my Polaris 360 corrugated hose. It usually detects the hose and avoids it. When it did go over the hose, the robot's metallic ring around the paddles protected them. The sensors work well and prevents the robot from hitting the wall hard (the NX2 would slam into the wall).

There is a section in our pool where the NX2 would get stuck: it would wedge itself under the coping and the wheels would turn against the wall and strip its gears. The Skimbot does not get stuck on any parts of the pool so far!

I kept the settings at the factory default and will adjust as needed. One negative I noticed is the bluetooth connection with the phone is very limited. You have to be within 3 feet to pair phone and robot. However, I was able to control the robot via phone standing at the pool edge (can't control from my deck). I estimate the BT range is 20-25'. I also noticed that the robot will work for 20 minutes and resume cleaning in 10 minutes during the day and 20 minutes on and 1hour off at night, I assume to preserve the battery. 1 hour into cleaning and the app says charge is at 100%. It's fairly cloudy today so the sun is in and out. The debris tray is narrower but deeper than the NX2. Also, the mesh in the tray has larger holes than the NX2.

So far, I am impressed and happy with its performance. The true test is the durability of the unit. I don't see a reason why the gears on this will get stripped since there are no wheels on this unit like the NX2.

By the way, since I owned the NX2, Solar Breeze offered me a "legacy" discount (what they called it). Purchase price was $399.00 USD and I got the extended warranty for $65.00 USD (2 years total). Full price with 1 year warranty is $758.00, currently on sale for $548.00.

I know people recommend the Betta2 but at this price, I decided to try it.

 

[z3540i]

I forgot to say that the debris tray is held in place with magnets. This seems to work better and no chance of breaking. The NX2 had 2 plastic "bumps" that held it in place that broke. I had to jerry rig a solution.

 

[salinda]

@z3540i great review. The skimbot was recommended to me because it plays well with the floating vacuum hose. It definitely does. My pool is clean to boot. I get a lot of pollen and see no difference from the larger mesh. (Ariel and Betta have finer mesh.) it’s also quiet.
It did get jammed a bit when we had a stiff breeze and a “raft” of floating silk tree flowers amassed on my pool. The front paddle stopped working when the flower mat was thicker than the space between the paddle and the skimmer tray. Pivot support offered to send an Ariel in its place but I ended up keeping the skimbot with the knowledge that we’ll have to occasionally hand-skim larger debris, which is not unreasonable.
One issue I have left is that sometimes I find it not working and the app says “no function selected…” I don’t know why this happens and I am going to contact them to find out what is going on.

 

[z3540i]

@salinda, thanks for the added information (and the other replies on other treads). I also had problems with debris getting stuck at the opening and stopping the front paddle (small twigs). I hope that the gears (if any) don't get stripped. It was easily cleared by removing the twigs. I suspect the paddle is turned via magnets (wishful thinking)?

I have not had the No Function Selected problem. Note that the Stop/Start button is touch activated and very sensitive. Have you heard anything from support? You may have lightly touched it and stopped (actually paused) the bot? Long touching the button with shut it down completely. Also, if you have a waterfall where the water will cascade over the Stop/Start button, it will pause the bot. Note that there is a Key Lock setting in Setup that locks that button out so touching it won't do anything. Finally, I remember there was an update to either the firmware or the app (sorry, don't remember which) when I first set up the Skimbot.

More observations after owning for almost a month:
The bot exterior is easily cleaned of stains/"black marks" with soap detergent. The NX2 was harder to clean.
I feel that the bot does a fair job of skimming. The NX2 is slightly better in getting the edges.

 

[salinda]

@z3540i thank you so much for your perspective. We also settled on Skimbot over Ariel because it navigates our vacuum hose much better. It does get clogged when we have breezy days. It is easily cleared. I also hope the gears don't get stripped, but the paddle doesn't seem to be stuck down hard or anything when it chokes. We'll see...
Although I don't think the battery life is as good as the Ariel's, my pool is very clean and that's really the goal. The No Function thing may be a quirk. It seems to wake up and go to work eventually, but I'm keeping my eye on it.

 

[buckslivin]

Question to Skimbot owners... I just switched from the Ariel to the Skimbot (waiting for shipment) because the Ariel sensors kept on getting scratched by my coping. Does the Skimbot have the same issue? The sensors seem to be unprotected and I am worried that they might be the first to hit the coping and get scratched as well... Curious about owners' experiences...

 

[salinda]

Yes. Those sensors are protected much better on the Skimbot. There are 4 sensors—2 above water and 2 just below or at water line. The ones above water line are protected by a thin rubber bumper and the ones below are recessed since they are on the front of the pontoons.
I do want to note that I have abandoned the Skimbot for now. I really did like it. I had a warranty issue and a performance issue.
The warranty issue was that after a few weeks, the skimbot malfunctioned—it was never charged enough to really work. It turns out that one side of the solar panels was no longer charging the battery.
The performance issue is that it could not handle the specific debris found in my pool at certain times of year. My neighbor has a tree from (I think) the locust family. The debris is flower petals, brown fluff, or pods that come down on windy days. The flower petals and fluff were just simply getting plowed by the Skimbot or it would choke on them very rapidly.
I ended up switching back to the Ariel but I HATE how it interacts with the pool hose.