Time to replace the Dolphin Dynamic

[beantown]

Got 7 years out of my Dolphin Dynamic.

In the market for a new robot.

Want to keep the price closer to $1,000 than $2,000.

Things I liked about the Dolphin:
1. It last 7 years.
2. It cleaned the pool very well.

Some of the things I didn't like about the Dolphin and would like to avoid in my next purchase:
1. Had new tracks on it when it broke. ;-)
1. The cord needs a swivel on it dang nabbit. Really would like a swivel cord to avoid twists.
2. The remote is nice, but I barely used it.
3. Takes a bit too long to git r done. 1-2 hour unit is preferred.

Looking at the Blue Diamond and Aquabot T2.

Am very open to any other unit that will fit the bill.

Thanks for any input.

Cheers.

[CarlD]

Awesome! I had two dolphins in 3 years--the second under warranty after I fought with them.

Blue Diamond's warranty service is awesome--far better than Dolphin's.

Leisureliving was discounting them with remotes for 1k. I don't know if they still have them. The Blue Pearl lists for less than 1k, I think.

[beantown]

Does the Blue Diamond have a rotating cord connection point at the vac?

Or is it similar to the Dolphin Dynamic?

Even changing the angle of the float bar each time....I still had annoying twists.

[CarlD]

It's the same as the Dolphin. The float bar controls the direction it moves when cleaning at the waterline.

All the robots, Dolphin, BD, Aquabot, etc, all use the same fundamental design. But the BD motors are 3x the size of the Dolphin's, yet the unit weighs less.

[beantown]

Still researching here...

I called Pool Solutions and they are out of the remote control units they had discounted for 1K. Bummer.

So, I still am a little unsure on a few things regarding the Blue Diamond.

Half the pictures I see show a split brush pad, the other half show a single brush pad that extends across.

Also, still unclear if the cord connection point to the unit has a swivel to relieve twists.
Again, half the people say no, half say yes. Confused.

Double brush here:
http://watertechcorp.com/products-BlueDiamond.htm

Single brush here:
http://www.pooldr.com/Categories.bok?category=Robotic+Pool+Cleaners

Which is it?

[beantown]

Watertech responded to my questions...

Adding here in case it may benefit someone else:

There is a swivel on the end of the floating cable (plug end) that will help remove twists and kinks in the cable. How it works:
Hold the swivel in your hand and walk away from the machine in a straight line, the the cable will turn inside the swivel and the cable will straighten out; with the cable completely straight and no slack, give the cable a couple of shakes.

To avoid the cable from tangling in the first place, always switch the direction of the unit's handle (mirror image) every time you use it.
What causes the cable to twist on any robotic machine (this is true for Dolphins, Aquabots, etc.) is the machine running the same pattern every time it's used. Switching the direction of the handle causes the machine to run it's pattern in the opposite direction.

There are two different residential Blue Diamond models, a standard machine and a remote control machine:
The R/C model uses two drive motors and a split wheel tube so the machine can turn one set of wheels one way and the other in the opposite direction to make turns, so this unit has four brushes/rollers.
The standard machine uses only one drive motor and navigates turns using a completely different method; this machine only has two brushes/rollers, on on the front, one on the back.

[CarlD]

BT:

You figured it out. Split brushes are for remotes--on all the brands. The swivel is really just a loose handle near the plug end--and does not work as well as they would have you think, but it does no harm. Sorry LL is out of the remote models. It was a great price while it lasted.

The BD does a better job than the DD, and is far faster, but I have to pull my ladder out or it gets tangled. That's easy enough. Plus the bag is far easier to clean but just as fine. Also, if you have a problem, Dolphin will give you a hard time, BD is just the opposite. The DD has more float controls, but you never need them on the BD as its suction is so much greater. The DD's remote is more sophisticated than the BD's, but, for me, it's not enough to justify a DD again.

Carl

[hzz]

I have the aquabot viva and it has that swivel. I find the swivel useless.

I have never been able to straighten the cord out that way, but like Carl says it does no harm.

I think the viva is aquabot's version of the blue diamond. Have had it for a few years now and it works very well. A much better machine than the dolphin was.

[CarlD]

All of the brands work pretty much the same way. Apparently there was an Israeli company where the owning family members had a spat and each opened their own company with a version of the basic design. Not sure how the patent process worked.

I do know that my Dolphin Dynamic worked great for 3 or 4 years then stopped working and the company gave me a TERRIBLE time about repairing it, sending it back "repaired" but not working twice, sending me raw lead slabs to tape to the handle for extra weight (As if I'm putting raw lead in my swimming pool water where my kids swim!). They finally sent me a replacement that worked OK but never better than OK. I ended up selling it to a buddy for $500, with full disclosure. He had no trouble with it.

Disgusted, I bit the bullet and bought a BD. When I had troubles with it after 3 years, I waited too long to get it to them and bought another (from LL) and that one ran a half-dozen times and failed. So I brought it to them, and, it turned out the old one was still under warranty, and they fixed both and had them back to me in days--the newer one was on my doorstep less than 48 hours later and has been fine since. The older one was a couple of days longer--and it's fine, too. No hassle.

[beantown]

CarlID,

Do you have the remote or standard Blue Diamond?

I'm curious how the standard one turns.
Can't picture it.

[CarlD]

Remote.

I'm not sure how the others turn.