Introducing myself & my pool/asking advice for automatic pool cleaner to buy

[gracelover]

I have a 40 x 20 Clayton Lambert pool built in the 70's, approximately 20,000 gallons, eight feet at the deep end and 3 at the shallow end. The top three feet of the pool is metal, and the rest is concrete. I have a vinyl liner, just installed last year.

I would like to buy an automatic pool cleaner and am looking at the Aquabot T Jet (with wheels, not tracks). The metal walls have rusted and at places dirt is coming through and there are rust lumps, so their are lumps under the vinyl. For this reason, I do not want to have the cleaners such as the Dolphins with the hard tracks cleaning the pool walls, and am opting for cleaners with wheels that stay mostly on the bottom.

I would appreciate any advice as to a good automatic pool cleaner with wheels. I particularly want one that does microfiltration and can pick up dead algae. We have no main drain so one that can stay in the pool and come on several times a week would be great, for recirculation.

[aylad]

Hi gracelover,

I like my Polaris 380--it has 3 wheels. It does climb the pool walls, however, and when the bag is full it sometimes will sit and spin against the edge where the pool floor meets the pool walls before it tries to climb, so I'm not sure it would work for your application.

I'm sure that others will be by to offer opinions--we're full of 'em!! :)

Welcome to the forum!

[PoolDoc]

I particularly want one that does microfiltration and can pick up dead algae. We have no main drain so one that can stay in the pool and come on several times a week would be great, for recirculation.

That requirement is going to focus you on cleaners with built-in pumps and filters. Not sure you want to do that. In most parts of Alabama, you're going to end up with a fair amount of grass and leaf debris in the pool, and the robot-vacs don't do so well with those.

A better plan might be to focus on a decent powered vacuum that collects debris, AND learning to operate your pool without algae.

[GaryT]

Happy with my Hayward RC9730BL. Easy to clean. Good phone support.

[gracelover]

Oh, a pool without algae is a dream at this point. After the liner was installed, the pool guys put our drop in steps back in (they weren't supposed to because the sand bags had not been cleaned yet, although the steps had. We had a liner failure along with a massive pool leak in the return line and our pool was a frog hole for about two months before the work started.

When the weather warmed up the algae took off. We got it knocked down and then it started growing in the open area under the steps again. When I brushed, a green tide went all over the pool.. We had another clog in a line last week, and the pool guy told us it is yellow algae. So it is back to the drawing board for us.

The bottom of the pool was clean - not now. Back to the drawing board - kill algae, remove dead algae, etc.

[PoolDoc]

Get a K2006, so you can manage chlorine levels and raise them to the high shock range, and CLEAN UP that algae. It is NOT something you have to live with!

[Gretzky99]

I love the polaris 9300..used it 3 times now very simple set up and operation...however..it doesn't get every inch and I'm still left with small leaves scattered around. I'll never get them all with the net too. Perhaps i should have gotten the one with the remote