I like the idea of the clean surface and not having to stay on top of the pool several times a day to have that (I also have multiple live oaks, plus a couple palm trees that just love to dump leaves, pollen, and palm nuts into the pool. Unfortunately, spending $2-500+ / year just to maintain these things just isn't something I can afford. Why can't someone make one that can withstand the environment it's supposed to be in 24/7? I understand it might cost a couple hundred more, but I'd rather pay $700 now and not have to worry about it for 5 years than $500 now, $200 next year, then start the cycle over with a new machine when it completely dies in year 3.
Solar Skimmer robot - has anyone purchased this model - scam ?
- Thread starter Riddler0520
- Start date
- May 23, 2015
- 25,704
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Wow, a warranty repair on the Ariel already?? Didn’t they just start shipping them back in May??
For me, that’s a deal-breaker. I’ve gotta have something that I know is top-notch and (mostly) trouble free. If I had to initiate a warranty repair so soon, I’d feel like I was be taken advantage of. But I get it, some like to be the beta testers for stuff like this and enjoy seeing the product get better. Not my cup of tea but I’ll be happy to purchase a solar powered skimmer in another 3-5 years when they are problem-free, have infinite battery cycle life, are indestructible and gives you a foot massage while floating. If they offer a built-in espresso maker, I’ll buy two!
Orion7319
Bronze Supporter
- Jul 1, 2020
- 1,442
- Pool Size
- 19775
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
I don’t particularly enjoy feeling like a beta tester, but the amount of pine straw I get can be unbelievable sometimes. I can’t cut down the offending trees as they are my neighbors. Add to that, I only have one skimmer and my pool really needs at least two. It’s way cheaper then busing up my pool deck, trenching in a new pipe etc. I wouldn’t really recommend one of these to anyone who isn’t in a fairly extreme situation in regards to the amount of debris that gets blown into the pool and who doesn’t really have any other feasible options to deal with it. The beta has had its problems, but I’m hoping they work them all out soon. They do seem to make revisions very quickly and have excellent customer support. I don’t expect it or any of these types of robots to last more then 3 years. It would be great to get 5 years out of it. I have an expensive dolphin robot, I don’t expect that to last forever, nor will my salt cell. I wouldn’t want to maintain my pool without either of those though. However, because I found this site and because I have a salt cell, I haven’t spent one red cent on pool chemicals so far this season (all I’ve really needed to use so far are two bags of salt, about 5lbs of CYA and half a gallon of MA, all stock left over from last year) The way I look at is worst case scenario, the money I’m saving there will go a long way towards offsetting the cost of replacing this robot once every couple of years or so.
