So I ordered the Smartpool NC74 Scrubber 60 Plus Robotic Pool Cleaner after my Dolphin died. 600 dollars for a dolphin that dies in 2 years didn't sit well with me especially when the power supply went at the 2 year and 2 day mark, covered under warranty thankfully and then 3 months later the cable is bad due to a defective swivel. Seems like the motor might be bad too. Anyway, I was never very impressed with the dolphin primal X3/DX3 model. It would barely climb the walls and basically took two cycles to clean the pool. And while cartridge filters are nice, I had to empty them constantly as they hold next to nothing. I guess I was spoiled by the blue dolphin remote cleaner I had previously.
So the smartpool has dual drive which means like the blue diamond remote cleaner, it can actually truly turn itself on the bottom of the pool which makes a world of difference. I'm a little apprehensive about the 4 year warranty as it only covers bumper to bumper the first year and then second year is just motors. 3rd and 4th year are motors only at 50% and 25% which probably won't be used. That means I could be on the hook for the cable and power supply the second year. However unlike dolphin, smartpool made the swivel a separate component and likely the part of the cable that will break is the part in the robot which is much cheaper.
So upon taking it out of the box, I gotta be honest, it feels cheap, it doesn't feel solid like other pool cleaners so we will have to see how long it lasts as far as that goes.
So how does it clean? Its been in the pool about a half hour of a 3 hour cycle and my pool is better than half clean already and this pool hasn't been cleaned in at least 3 weeks or more. That may be nothing to most people, but my pool has trees all around it with leaves falling constantly. The dolphin wold take two cycles as mentioned previously to clean the pool if I was lucky and I've have to empty the cartridges between cycles. Probably should have emptied them before the cycle ended as I think half the cycle it was full. It spend probably 30 percent of the time or more sitting on my main drains stuck while this one spent maybe 30 seconds until it freed itself. It climbs the walls like a pool cleaner should, the dolphin would kind of go up the wall and drive a long it if it made it up the wall.
For 600 dollars including shipping to my door, I think its a steal. Yes it doesn't have a fancy basket to pull out and clean, but the bag actually holds a good amount and frankly is just as easy to clean. Hopefully it is going to last for a bit. Parts are also relatively inexpensive so if I get 3 seasons out of it, its not a bad purchase.
So the smartpool has dual drive which means like the blue diamond remote cleaner, it can actually truly turn itself on the bottom of the pool which makes a world of difference. I'm a little apprehensive about the 4 year warranty as it only covers bumper to bumper the first year and then second year is just motors. 3rd and 4th year are motors only at 50% and 25% which probably won't be used. That means I could be on the hook for the cable and power supply the second year. However unlike dolphin, smartpool made the swivel a separate component and likely the part of the cable that will break is the part in the robot which is much cheaper.
So upon taking it out of the box, I gotta be honest, it feels cheap, it doesn't feel solid like other pool cleaners so we will have to see how long it lasts as far as that goes.
So how does it clean? Its been in the pool about a half hour of a 3 hour cycle and my pool is better than half clean already and this pool hasn't been cleaned in at least 3 weeks or more. That may be nothing to most people, but my pool has trees all around it with leaves falling constantly. The dolphin wold take two cycles as mentioned previously to clean the pool if I was lucky and I've have to empty the cartridges between cycles. Probably should have emptied them before the cycle ended as I think half the cycle it was full. It spend probably 30 percent of the time or more sitting on my main drains stuck while this one spent maybe 30 seconds until it freed itself. It climbs the walls like a pool cleaner should, the dolphin would kind of go up the wall and drive a long it if it made it up the wall.
For 600 dollars including shipping to my door, I think its a steal. Yes it doesn't have a fancy basket to pull out and clean, but the bag actually holds a good amount and frankly is just as easy to clean. Hopefully it is going to last for a bit. Parts are also relatively inexpensive so if I get 3 seasons out of it, its not a bad purchase.
