So.Done.Researching. Which Dolphin (or other bot) to get...

[Suz.E.Q]

Hello all-
I'm sick to death of researching and want to just make a decision. I want a robot for my new fiberglass pool that has a lot of ledges and steps, but is otherwise rectangular. The robot MUST do wall and waterline duties - steps would be nice, but I can deal without that. Really don't care (I don't think) whether or not I can control with my phone, and I don't want to take out a mortgage to buy the thing - but I'm willing to spend over $1k if necessary to get the right one, but over $1.5k, meh. I was considering the Dolphin Nautilus Pro (CC Pro? - sooo many model names that I can't keep track!), but is this an older model or something? There doesn't seem to be a lot of info about this one compared to others.

Tell me what you have and if you are happy with it!

 

[proavia]

Call Margaret at Marina Spa and Pool

Home - Marina Pool Spa & Patio

RoboticPool CleanersResidential PolarisPressure SideReplacement Parts Maytronics RoboticPool CleanerReplacement Parts Polaris RoboticPool CleanerReplacement Parts Treasure Garden Patio Furniture Covers Pool and SpaChemicals Commercial Pool Products Above GroundSwimming Pools Hot Tubs Ledge...

marinapoolspaandpatio.com

She will suggest the robot that will meet your needs (or as close to it as possible).
I doubt you will find one that will clean your steps/ledges or climb the walls above those items.
You probably don't need all the fancy bells and whistles - a basic unit will work just as well.

If no one answers, leave a message and also email them. They can get quite busy and it may take a day or two to get back with you.
If you chose one from them, you will need to order it by phone to get the brick and mortar warranty coverage as internet sales don't have that.
A number of people here have ordered from them and are happy with their service.

Also, maybe @JoyfulNoise will swing by with a link to his robot experiences.

 

[Suz.E.Q]

Call Margaret at Marina Spa and Pool

Home - Marina Pool Spa & Patio

RoboticPool CleanersResidential PolarisPressure SideReplacement Parts Maytronics RoboticPool CleanerReplacement Parts Polaris RoboticPool CleanerReplacement Parts Treasure Garden Patio Furniture Covers Pool and SpaChemicals Commercial Pool Products Above GroundSwimming Pools Hot Tubs Ledge...

marinapoolspaandpatio.com

She will suggest the robot that will meet your needs (or as close to it as possible).
I doubt you will find one that will clean your steps/ledges or climb the walls above those items.
You probably don't need all the fancy bells and whistles - a basic unit will work just as well.

If no one answers, leave a message and also email them. They can get quite busy and it may take a day or two to get back with you.
If you chose one from them, you will need to order it by phone to get the brick and mortar warranty coverage as internet sales don't have that.
A number of people here have ordered from them and are happy with their service.

Also, maybe @JoyfulNoise will swing by with a link to his robot experiences.

Thank you for the quick reply. I see Marina Pool and Spa has been mentioned in other threads. Perhaps I will try them tomorrow.

 

[proavia]

You may be pleasantly surprised that their price is very competitive also.
Mention you heard about them on TFP.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

If you’re committed to robot ownership I’ve got little to say. TFP had gotten it’s fair share of “my robot just died” threads that seem to indicate you’ll probably get 3 to 5 years if useful life out of them. Your standard Dolphin warranty is 2 years. You might be able to extend that by a year with a good credit card. Outside of the warranty, if the motor fails, and they do, they are often too expensive to repair/replace and it makes more sense to buy new. So if that’s something you can handle financially (new robot every 5 years roughly), then go for it.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

I'm quite happy with my Pentiar Warror (which is actually a Maytronics S20) and it runs less than $850 last I checked?

 

[Suz.E.Q]

If you’re committed to robot ownership I’ve got little to say. TFP had gotten it’s fair share of “my robot just died” threads that seem to indicate you’ll probably get 3 to 5 years if useful life out of them. Your standard Dolphin warranty is 2 years. You might be able to extend that by a year with a good credit card. Outside of the warranty, if the motor fails, and they do, they are often too expensive to repair/replace and it makes more sense to buy new. So if that’s something you can handle financially (new robot every 5 years roughly), then go for it.

Yikes! Ok - thanks for the input.

 

[PoolBrews]

I'm quite happy with my Pentiar Warror (which is actually a Maytronics S20) and it runs less than $850 last I checked?

Two up on the Warrior. I have the Warrior SE, and it works great. Zero issues so far (going on 4 years old now).

 

[rcs29]

I can only speak to the Dolphin line.

Ok so I personally have a similar setup as you with fiberglass, steps, ledges etc. and I have the Dolphin Advantage Ultra. This particular one is the exclusive to Doheny's. If you go on maytronics website and check specs of each robot you'll soon find that there are about 5 robots that do the exact same thing but just branded differently. Mine is the equivalent of a Proteus and a few others (forget all the names). It performs as follows:

Floor - Great
Walls - Great
Ledges - Good/Great (depends on depth of water)
Steps - Mediocre/Poor (again water depth)
Tanning Ledge - Non existent so Very Poor
Water Line - Poor (it tries but I think this is a gimmick for all robots)
Cost - $700 on sale regular like $900 range

Bottom line is find one that has features that are important to you and then you've narrowed your search. For me swivel, cord length and wall climbing were very important. Also make sure you get filters that will catch what you're trying to catch i.e. a fine filter isn't likely to catch fine dirt and pollen.

 

[Suz.E.Q]

I can only speak to the Dolphin line.

Ok so I personally have a similar setup as you with fiberglass, steps, ledges etc. and I have the Dolphin Advantage Ultra. This particular one is the exclusive to Doheny's. If you go on maytronics website and check specs of each robot you'll soon find that there are about 5 robots that do the exact same thing but just branded differently. Mine is the equivalent of a Proteus and a few others (forget all the names). It performs as follows:

Floor - Great
Walls - Great
Ledges - Good/Great (depends on depth of water)
Steps - Mediocre/Poor (again water depth)
Tanning Ledge - Non existent so Very Poor
Water Line - Poor (it tries but I think this is a gimmick for all robots)
Cost - $700 on sale regular like $900 range

Bottom line is find one that has features that are important to you and then you've narrowed your search. For me swivel, cord length and wall climbing were very important. Also make sure you get filters that will catch what you're trying to catch i.e. a fine filter isn't likely to catch fine dirt and pollen.

Thank you for the details. We previously owned a home where someone had installed a liner pool and I was sick to death of the waterline "scritches" I felt. This makes waterline scrubbing a top desire of mine - and it seems some models are better than others on this front. I actually don't mind brushing the floor, it's scrubbing the walls and waterline that make me unhappy. And vacuuming manually is not my dream either, so I do want something to suck dirt off the floor for sure, since brushing alone doesn't make it all go away...

 

[The-Russ]

I have the Dolphin Alpha. I love it. Throw it in, push a button, 2:45 later the pool is clean. It doesn't do steps and ledges, but everything else is clean. I have not really followed it to see the water line, If you are interested, I can evaluate it tonight.

 

[Mdragger88]

I have a nautilus cc - it’s a refurbished one from poolpartz - the only authorized refurbished seller that I know of.
The warranties there are 1 year with my cc extending that to 2 just as if I had bought new. I went that route because of the cost/roi considering those devices don’t live forever & it allowed me to get the features I wanted for the price of a base model bot.
If you don’t have a tile line you may not need to make the jump to the waterline bot category (they have an extra pump that propels them horizontally).
The nautilus cc doesn’t have this extra pump but it keeps my vinyl waterline clean. It goes up vertically & hangs out a bit while scrubbing the waterline then goes back down. I picked the nautilus cc because of its other attributes- longer cable (my pool is 33’ round) & automation mode. Otherwise a lower cost bot (e10/s50) would do the same function as the bot itself is the same. I have wedding cake steps & it cleans the sides as well as all the steps but the top one due to the water level.
Those with tiles or plaster finishes are better served by a bot with 2 brushes & horizontal cleaning but for a smooth finish like vinyl or fiberglass 1 brush is plenty. On the 2 brush mid range models the 2nd brush is not “active” it just rolls along via the motion of the machine.
When buying new be aware that internet models have a 1 year warranty. There are 3rd party extended warranties to be had through amazon & the like but no real feedback here from anyone who has envoked one.
Since Marina does over the phone sales they are considered brick & mortar so the longer 2 year warranty applies to them. Double check the warranty period before purchasing & any possible extended warranty protections available through your cc provider.

 

[rcs29]

I have a nautilus cc - it’s a refurbished one from poolpartz - the only authorized refurbished seller that I know of.
The warranties there are 1 year with my cc extending that to 2 just as if I had bought new. I went that route because of the cost/roi considering those devices don’t live forever & it allowed me to get the features I wanted for the price of a base model bot.
If you don’t have a tile line you may not need to make the jump to the waterline bot category (they have an extra pump that propels them horizontally).
The nautilus cc doesn’t have this extra pump but it keeps my vinyl waterline clean. It goes up vertically & hangs out a bit while scrubbing the waterline then goes back down. I picked the nautilus cc because of its other attributes- longer cable (my pool is 33’ round) & automation mode. Otherwise a lower cost bot (e10/s50) would do the same function as the bot itself is the same. I have wedding cake steps & it cleans the sides as well as all the steps but the top one due to the water level.
Those with tiles or plaster finishes are better served by a bot with 2 brushes & horizontal cleaning but for a smooth finish like vinyl or fiberglass 1 brush is plenty. On the 2 brush mid range models the 2nd brush is not “active” it just rolls along via the motion of the machine.
When buying new be aware that internet models have a 1 year warranty. There are 3rd party extended warranties to be had through amazon & the like but no real feedback here from anyone who has envoked one.
Since Marina does over the phone sales they are considered brick & mortar so the longer 2 year warranty applies to them. Double check the warranty period before purchasing & any possible extended warranty protections available through your cc provider.

Mine from Doheny's did actually come with 2 year warranty so that's interesting about the 1 year you mentioned. Just assumed they all came with 2 year

 

[Rocket J Squirrel]

The robot MUST do wall and waterline duties

Be aware that if the robot climbs to the top of the pool while your auto-cover is closed, the robot can damage the cover.

I have a Polaris Quattro pressure-side cleaner which climbs aggressively. I started finding threads from my auto-cover wrapped around its wheels & axles. Its front scrubber was pulling the threads out of my auto-cover.

I had to reduce the pressure going to the Quattro to cause it not to climb so high. I don't know whether this is possible with any robot or whether you'd have to run a robot with the cover open.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

That wouldn't be the case for my deck tracked cover as that sits about 6 inches over the water.

 

[Mdragger88]

Good warning!
I run my bot occasionally with the solid tarp style cover on but the cover sits on top of the top rails & the bot has never attempted to go higher than the top rails (only in a nightmare I had once ) thank goodness!

 

[Rocket J Squirrel]

That wouldn't be the case for my deck tracked cover as that sits about 6 inches over the water.

Good warning!
I run my bot occasionally with the solid tarp style cover on but the cover sits on top of the top rails

I should have mentioned my cover is under-track and sits on the water. I'd like to have the Quattro clean the tile line, but that's when it hits the cover.

When this first occurred, I phoned Polaris to see whether they had any suggestions. "Maybe this is the wrong cleaner for you" was the best they could do. It took a lot of trial and error to find the right amount of pressure so Quattro would climb the walls but not as high as the tiles.

 

[Suz.E.Q]

I have a nautilus cc - it’s a refurbished one from poolpartz - the only authorized refurbished seller that I know of.
The warranties there are 1 year with my cc extending that to 2 just as if I had bought new. I went that route because of the cost/roi considering those devices don’t live forever & it allowed me to get the features I wanted for the price of a base model bot.
If you don’t have a tile line you may not need to make the jump to the waterline bot category (they have an extra pump that propels them horizontally).
The nautilus cc doesn’t have this extra pump but it keeps my vinyl waterline clean. It goes up vertically & hangs out a bit while scrubbing the waterline then goes back down. I picked the nautilus cc because of its other attributes- longer cable (my pool is 33’ round) & automation mode. Otherwise a lower cost bot (e10/s50) would do the same function as the bot itself is the same. I have wedding cake steps & it cleans the sides as well as all the steps but the top one due to the water level.
Those with tiles or plaster finishes are better served by a bot with 2 brushes & horizontal cleaning but for a smooth finish like vinyl or fiberglass 1 brush is plenty. On the 2 brush mid range models the 2nd brush is not “active” it just rolls along via the motion of the machine.
When buying new be aware that internet models have a 1 year warranty. There are 3rd party extended warranties to be had through amazon & the like but no real feedback here from anyone who has envoked one.
Since Marina does over the phone sales they are considered brick & mortar so the longer 2 year warranty applies to them. Double check the warranty period before purchasing & any possible extended warranty protections available through your cc provider.

Thank you for all the details! This was helpful.

 

[Suz.E.Q]

Be aware that if the robot climbs to the top of the pool while your auto-cover is closed, the robot can damage the cover.

I have a Polaris Quattro pressure-side cleaner which climbs aggressively. I started finding threads from my auto-cover wrapped around its wheels & axles. Its front scrubber was pulling the threads out of my auto-cover.

I had to reduce the pressure going to the Quattro to cause it not to climb so high. I don't know whether this is possible with any robot or whether you'd have to run a robot with the cover open.

Yikes! Thank you for the warning. I don't plan to run the robot with the cover closed - and it won't "live" in the pool. All uses will be on my watch (at least that is the plan)...

 

[bmoreswim]

I've also been really happy with my Dolphin Active 20. Mine was also a refurb from PoolPartz.com about 6 years ago. It fired up again this spring last week so that's good. I don't use mine as much as some people and it's never in the pool for more than 2 days. But mostly it comes out right after it finishes running. It probably averages 1 use a week for the whole season. I always use the fine pleated filters along with the drop-in insert.

Here's my original post in the ultimate Dolphin thread. Doheny's Discovery, S200, Active20, Triton owners club