What's the best pool cleaner?

[drjsparker]

So we just finished building our pool last fall. I have it plumbed for a pressure side cleaner, but my pool builder (who has sinced passed away) later recommended to just go with a robot. I bought a Maytronics Dolphin M600 but have not taken it out of the box yet. I'm considering taking it back and getting a booster pump and pressure side cleaner if that's a better option.

Questions:
1) What's the best type... robot, suction side or pressure side?
2) What's the best cleaner of that type?

Attached is a rendering of our pool, but we did not put in the barstools nor that cleaner on the floor of the pool. The size of the pool is 21,000 gallons... the spa is 515 gallons. The pool is 5' right down the center and flares up to 3'6" at both ends.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Jimrahbe]

Just depends on who you ask. I'd go with a robot before even thinking about a water powered cleaner.

That said, there are plenty of people here that would rather have a pressure side or suction side cleaner.

There is no 'right' answer to your question.

I personally do not like to see a cleaner in my pool, so I have a robot that I can just stick in when I want to and remove it when not in use.

Why do you now want to take the M600 back???

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

There is no “best” only what “works for you”. It’s great that you built a pool with options. That gives you great flexibility.

I have come to dislike robots immensely because they are poorly constructed, cannot be cheaply designed rebuilt when they fail, expensive to buy, and will more than likely fail in the 3-5 year mark. Some people are ok with dropping $1000 on a new pool cleaner every 5 years. I am not. They clean efficiently and usually do a good job for the amount of energy they use. Your M600 is going to be a heavy beast to lift in and out of the pool. I would never recommend the M series except only in rare circumstances.

I am a fan of my suction cleaner and love the fact that it’s cheap to own and can be easily rebuilt for a reasonable cost. It works great in my pool with my setup.

Pressure cleaner owners can tell you all about why they love their pressure cleaners. I don’t have the setup for one so it’s not an option for me. They do use way more power than other methods but there are those that really like them.

Robots - Dolphin S series is the best choice

Suction Cleaners - Pentair or Polaris, lots of choices in models so pick one you like.

Pressure cleaners - Polaris is really the only king of the pressure cleaners.

 

[drjsparker]

Thanks for the input guys.

Jim, I'm not wanting to take my M600 back necessarily.... just wanting to make sure it's the best option before I take it out of the box and use it... sounds like you'd give it a thumbs up?

Matt, after looking at my plumbing, it looks like my pool was plumbed for a pressure side.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Thanks for the input guys.

Jim, I'm not wanting to take my M600 back necessarily.... just wanting to make sure it's the best option before I take it out of the box and use it... sounds like you'd give it a thumbs up?

Matt, after looking at my plumbing, it looks like my pool was plumbed for a pressure side.

Then a Polaris pressure cleaner would be the option .. plus a booster pump.

I would be very wary of unboxing the M600 and using that. That cleaner is really designed for heavy use situations and for pools with very complicated layouts that can use the split-track, zero turn radius feature. Your pool is a Yugo (no offense) and that cleaner is a Ferrari engine. You don't put a 12-cylinder, 800 HP engine in a Yugo ... If you can return it and get all your money back it looks like your pool could easily use a standard S200 type robot. Just because a robot cost more doesn't mean that it will clean better or last longer ....

 

[Laura596]

I’ve owned 2 of the Polaris 380‘s in 25 years. They are a pressure side cleaner with a booster pump.
I do all the repairs on it without any problems. I alway keep all the spare parts from the old one incase I need something to fix a current cleaner.
I just broke down and purchased a replacement from a store on eBay that had a 380 that was a demo and opted without the hose. It wasn’t a BlackMax., it is dark blue and grey with black tires. But it is a lot better than the one with the white wheels and hoses. It was half the price of a new one! Unfortunately, Hayward isn’t making the 380 anymore in a BlackMax, not sure why… My prior ones were the BlackMax because we have a dark grey PebbleTec Finish.
Anyway, I prefer the Polaris over anything else because it’s a work horse. I have mine running almost 6 hrs everyday without a problem.

 

[drjsparker]

Got it… I‘ll see if I can return it… thanks for the input!

 

[pikeman]

So we just finished building our pool last fall. I have it plumbed for a pressure side cleaner, but my pool builder (who has sinced passed away) later recommended to just go with a robot. I bought a Maytronics Dolphin M600 but have not taken it out of the box yet. I'm considering taking it back and getting a booster pump and pressure side cleaner if that's a better option.

Questions:
1) What's the best type... robot, suction side or pressure side?
2) What's the best cleaner of that type?

Attached is a rendering of our pool, but we did not put in the barstools nor that cleaner on the floor of the pool. The size of the pool is 21,000 gallons... the spa is 515 gallons. The pool is 5' right down the center and flares up to 3'6" at both ends.

Thanks in advance!

I have a dedicated suction line for the cleaner. I've owned a few over 20 years. My worst experience was with the Zodiac MX5. When it worked, it was great. But it was always breaking down and the parts were very expensive. In the end, I could not even give it away and my store had stopped selling it. A particularly annoying feature was nonstandard suction line. Any pool appliance ought to use the standard line sold in any pool store, not some special.
A more postive experience has been with the Hayward Navigator. It has some issues though. It's very fussy about water flow since it's turbine driven. My DE filter pressure may be acceptable but the Navigator isn't moving. It's a good prompt to open the filter and wash it out. It also gets stuck on the Hayward pool drain.
I am definitely put-off by the prices of this equipment and based on reviews, high prices do not reflect product quality.