Would you repurchase your dolphin?

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C

consoleman

0
Feb 18, 2014
191
Houston, TX
moved and am in the process of building a new pool.

I used a maytronics dolphin s300i for 3 to 4 years. It started to have issues after 2 years. I fixed it by opening the motor box and replacing the bearings. It worked but never really ran at 100 percent. I am considering going with the TR28P with a pentair booster pump.

If you have had issues after 3 years with your robot and you repaired it, would you ever go back to buying one if the one you had the choice?
 
C,

It depends on if you are an ROI guy or an enjoyment guy.

As an example.. there is not a lot of ROI in going to Disney World, but there is a lot of enjoyment.

I look at Robots the same way I look at my salt cells. I buy them knowing they are consumables. They last so long and then you throw them away,

My last Dolphin lasted 7 years. I have three Robots now and they are all of the newer S200 "style". I hope they last longer, but whenever they die, they will be replaced with more robots.

There is no right or wrong answer here. It is your pool, and you should get what you want. I know what I like and that is what I buy. If you think you will like a pressure side cleaner better, then that is what you should get.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
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If you're building a new pool I would recommend adding plumbing for either a suction side or pressure side cleaner. After all it's just PVC piping and valves.

As to your main question, it's subjective on these forums so you won't get a consensus. Recently there have been several posts about S200 based robots failing just outside of warranty. On the other hand you don't typically hear from those with robots that are still working just fine. I think the main gripe is that robots aren't designed to be user serviceable as parts aren't made available by Maytronics.

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Add a suction port to your pool build. It costs next to nothing but allows you to use suction side cleaners which do as good a job as robots in most cases and are cheaper to own and repair. A suction port also allows you to manually vacuum if necessary.

Like you I had an S300i and it died after 5 seasons. Paid a lot for it and did not get the longevity I had hoped for. Like you I also rebuilt the impeller motor but the drive motor failed as well and they are not repairable. I considered it to be a terrible waste of money and not at all worth the investment.

I went back to using my suction cleaner and it works just fine. You should add on the suction port. I would not recommend a pressure side cleaner because they are extremely energy intensive.
 
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Matt, my understanding was that suction side cleaners are better for smaller pools and pressure side cleaners for larger pools, is there any truth to that? There is also the Polaris 360 pressure side cleaner that doesn't require a booster pump, but I don't know how well that works. There are also more energy efficient booster pumps like the Polaris PB4SQ and Hayward 6060 which would reduce running costs. I'm not advocating for anything in particular, but the OP has a few options he could explore if he decides against using a robot.
 
guinness said:
Matt, my understanding was that suction side cleaners are better for smaller pools and pressure side cleaners for larger pools, is there any truth to that? There is also the Polaris 360 pressure side cleaner that doesn't require a booster pump, but I don't know how well that works. There are also more energy efficient booster pumps like the Polaris PB4SQ and Hayward 6060 which would reduce running costs. I'm not advocating for anything in particular, but the OP has a few options he could explore if he decides against using another robot.
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I don’t really think the size of the pool matters. As long as the suction hose is long enough to allow the cleaner to reach all the extents of the pool, I don’t see size or depth as much of an issue.

A suction cleaner, when paired with a variable speed pump, an automation system and it’s own separate valve automation, can be programmed to run at the same time that the pool pump is running the skimmers. Basically, you can fine tune it to run when you will be running the pump anyway so the additional cost is non-existent. In my own setup, the suction cleaner runs when the pool pump is running to generate chlorine and skim. There is no difference in speed with or without the suction cleaner running so it’s basically running “for free”. Perhaps a non-booster pressure cleaner can be setup in the same way but I’ve not heard of many pool owners using those. Almost all the pressure cleaners I’ve seen use a booster pump. Efficiency aside, a booster pump is going to add to the electric bill whereas a suction cleaner can be setup to just “tag along” for the ride.

Even if someone were to go with a pressure cleaner, I’d still recommend a suction port over using a skimmer plate. There is literally no downside to having a suction port and they give the pool owner flexibility to vacuum manually should that become necessary. You never know when you might need to vacuum and not having to fiddle with skimmer plates makes it easier.
 
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I think everone makes a good point. So I'm going to go ahead and get the polaris with booster pump and look to also buying a dolphin or in line cleaner.

I though all in line cleaners or vacuums just pluged into the skimmer suction line. I didnt know they need a dedicated suction port to work. Is that installed on the 2nd port of a skimmer that is normally plugged?
 
consoleman said:
I think everone makes a good point. So I'm going to go ahead and get the polaris with booster pump and look to also buying a dolphin or in line cleaner.

I though all in line cleaners or vacuums just pluged into the skimmer suction line. I didnt know they need a dedicated suction port to work. Is that installed on the 2nd port of a skimmer that is normally plugged?
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Suction cleaners don’t “need” a dedicated suction port. It’s just a more convenient way of attaching a suction cleaner to the pool then messing with skimmer adapters and it allows you to run a suction vacuum without losing the skimmer action. It’s nothing more than a separate wall port, the size and depth of a standard return, with a spring loaded closure door for safety. The pipe typically runs back to the equipment pad as one of the suction lines going into the pump. You typically put a shutoff valve on the line at the pump inlet manifold to control the suction flow or shut it off completely when not in use.
 
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I second the recommendation to add a dedicated suction port regardless of the type of cleaner you settle on. The incremental cost should be very near zero, just a pipe and a valve as Matt describes, and when you do need to manually vacuum it is much quicker and easier to connect the hose to the dedicated port than pulling apart the skimmer and fishing the hose in there.

My new pool came with Zodiac MX6 and it does work well, but I'll admit my pool is small (16'x9' swimming area) and normally covered so there is not a lot for the robot to deal with, just the small number of pine needles and oak leaves that manage to fall in when the cover is open. My routine is to drop the robot in the pool early Saturday mornings and let it do it's thing until it's time for a swim at 3-4 pm, at which point it gets pulled out and put away till next week.
 

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guinness said:
How many years did your old one last? Also did you remove it after use or leave it in 24/7?
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It was four years old. We remove it because we are an over 55 park in deep south Texas. It saw some heavy use and went through at least 3 operators. I think the power supply died but it was near its end of life so not worth fixing. Our indoor pool and spa have in floor sweepers and those work great, indoors.
 
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BoHpool said:
It was four years old. We remove it because we are an over 55 park in deep south Texas. It saw some heavy use and went through at least 3 operators. I think the power supply died but it was near its end of life so not worth fixing. Our indoor pool and spa have in floor sweepers and those work great, indoors.
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Our issue down here is dust. All we have is palm trees so not much tree litter. I use the extra fine filters and trap plenty of dust.
 
consoleman said:
Could still run a polaris if I only get a dedicated suction line or just in-line cleaners/vacuums?
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Aside from the fact that one is suction side and the other return side, I think you need separate piping for pressure side as it requires a smaller diameter pipe. Maybe somebody more knowledgeable can chime in, but that's my understanding.
 
guinness said:
Aside from the fact that one is suction side and the other return side, I think you need separate piping for pressure side as it requires a smaller diameter pipe. Maybe somebody more knowledgeable can chime in, but that's my understanding.
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I was going to ask about that. I have the pipe for a pressure side cleaner but sometimes wonder if a suction cleaner would be less hassle and work as well as a robot. The pressure cleaner I had was just useless.
 
Poolskool said:
I love my premier
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P,

My last Dolphine was a Premier... It lasted 7 years. I too loved it.

Then I bought the S200 and (at the time) it was half the price and twice as good as the Premier.

I hope my S200s lasts as long as my Premier, but based on several reports here about early failures, I'll just have to wait and see.

The S200 is a completely difference design than the Premier. The Premier was designed around the old Diagnostic models, which had the bag filters. The Premier did not have the bag, but it still has bottom side filters and small ones at that.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Jimrahbe said:
P,

My last Dolphine was a Premier... It lasted 7 years. I too loved it.

Then I bought the S200 and (at the time) it was half the price and twice as good as the Premier.

I hope my S200s lasts as long as my Premier, but based on several reports here about early failures, I'll just have to wait and see.

The S200 is a completely difference design than the Premier. The Premier was designed around the old Diagnostic models, which had the bag filters. The Premier did not have the bag, but it still has bottom side filters and small ones at that.

Thanks,

Jim R.
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Jim
Good to know, I’m replacing the wheel floats and some belts for maintainence. I’ve done this once already want to say mine is 5 years old. Do you have a video for disassembly would be awesome. If I replace down the line I would look at s200. I run a bag in my dolphin now, cleans everyday very tree heavy area.
 

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