First Dolphin run

[brent.roberts]

Got a new Dolphin Dynamic yesterday. I was very impressed with it's first run. After 2 hours it had essentially picked up everything off the bottom and most important to me, looks like it will save or delay the expense of a new vinyl liner.
We we got this home a couple years ago the liner was already badly wrinkled and I expected this spring to need a new one. The Polaris ATV got hung up and broke gears inside. The Barracude and another similar impule cleaner hung up too.

The Dolphin cruised over all of it.

I was especially impressed with the fine stuff that was in the filter when it came out. This will cut down on filter backwash and DE additions.

Hope the glow doesn't wear off in time. Love it so far.

[hzz]

Hope the glow doesn't wear off in time. Love it so far.

It won't....I've had my Dolphin for a few years.Still doing a great job.

You can throw it in a clean pool and be amazed at how much fine stuff it picks up.

Also, it really cuts down on the need to backwash.

Now if the water would only warm up.....64 today.

[poolbee]

I ran my Dolphin Diagnostic for the first time yesterday and all I can say is FANTASTIC! It picked up so much small stuff that I couldn't even see that would have probably gone past the skimmer right to the pump basket or filter so I expect it to save me somewhat on the cleaning chores of those.
I vacuumed for the first time Thursday and found it difficult to do in the deep end so this thing is great. We all sat around the deck and watched it for too long! My dog was ingtrigued by it and growled and barked at when it crawled up the walls!

Some things to note: the instructions for the cart are useless. They are just very small drawings -no script. It took 4 of us about a half hour to figure them out.

The CD that comes with it was not for our cart and said it was pre-assembled, which it was not. Not 1 thing was pre-assembled and it had 3 different sets of screws with no direction on which to use where.

The filter bag is very messy to empty. I tried the suggestion here to rinse it in a bucket. That didn't seem to work too well for me. Maybe I need more practice. Next time I am going to let the bag dry out before I empty it. I think it might be easier to do it that way. I'll keep you posted.

Aside from those things it is great. My water is sparkling.
I bought it from Leslies, sold as the Dolphin Deluxe, but it is the diagnostic. List price with cart is 999.99 but with a 20% off coupon I paid 800.00 before tax.

So far, I highly recommend it!

[cleancloths]

Glad to hear the Dolphin works so well, I ordered one from Costco a few days ago. Where did you find a 20% off coupon, maybe I should cancel my order and buy from them if I can find a coupon.

[NullQwerty]

Glad to hear the Dolphin works so well, I ordered one from Costco a few days ago. Where did you find a 20% off coupon, maybe I should cancel my order and buy from them if I can find a coupon.

Go to www.Lesliespool.com and sign up for their email mailing list and their home catalog mailing list (put your email address in there as well and say you want to receive coupons). One of those mailing lists will email you a coupon pretty much right away which will end up being the 20% off one. Least it did for me. Expires July 31.

[poolbee]

Cleancloths,

I bought the Diagnostic. I believe Costco has the Dymanic which is the same price as the Leslie's Diagnostic without the coupon so the Dynamic at Costco is probably a better deal. There are no Costco's near me so I didn't want to spend the extra 40 to get a membership. I got my coupon as mentioned above at Leslie's website.

[ivyleager]

Yeah, will probably use my re-furbished Polaris 160 as target practice, fed up beyond belief. Looked at a Dolphin @ pool store demo, rather hypnotizing. My biggest concern (FEAR!!) is damage to liner from an underwater robotic. I remember someone last year or so posting severe liner damage from a robotic. Don't think it was a Dolphin, though. Anybody's get hung up on steps or ladders?

CaryB
Go 'Canes!!!

[poolbee]

I still have only run it once and I was watching to see if it would get hung up on anything. A few times I thought it was, but then it went into reverse and back down the wall. I didn't see it by the ladder and I saw it climb only one step. I didn't watch it the whole time though.I don't think I would ever run it at night while i was sleeping though just because you never know. I think I'll put it in around 7 am and let it run until someone wants to use the pool or it shuts itself off.
BTW Ivyleager- I'm a Buffalo gal and if it wasn't for our decimated defense ...! Looks like they'll do it tonight. Congratulations.

[CarlD]

When the Dolphin Dynamic runs it's fantastic.

Unfortunately, mine went to the shop yesterday after only 2 years. I hope it's not TOO expensive to fix.

Cleaning the bag:
1) If it's REALLY full, I turn it inside out so what can fall out falls out.
2) then, inside out, I dunk it in a 5 gal bucket of pool water, swish it, squish it, and try to get the gunk out that accumulates in the corners of the bag when it's right-side out.
3) Dump the bucket, refill, and do it again.
4) When it's pretty clean, I either let it dry until I have a couple of bags for the washing machine, or it immediately goes in the washer.

To my mind, the idea is to get enough dirt out so it can go safely in the washing machine without clogging the Maytag.

It's not hard and a LOT easier than turning the bag inside out and trying to wash it with a hose.

[poolbee]

CarlD

That's what I did-turn it inside out and try with the hose! A mess! And the junk in the corners- ack! Then I tried swishing it in the bucket and the dirt just seemed to deposit itself on the inside and outside of the bag. I let is dry and it was easier to shake off the stuff that was left.

[cleancloths]

My Dolphin Dynamic just got delivered by UPS around 6pm tonight, guess I'll start playing with it tomorrow (weather permitting). Any advice on setting it up?

[brent.roberts]

Advise on setting it up ...

I loved mine for the first few hours then noticed it was going back and forth over the same section of the pool.

The instructions say to push down the hand lock and twist it. When you look at the lock from the side you see a perfect semi-circle for the hand to latch into ...
so I used it. It was the wrong decision. After waiting hopelessly for a response from the on-line retailer for some advise I started messing around and then put the handle in the maximum offset position ... opposite on each side.
Now when it hits the surface, the handle stays deal level with the surface and because of the twist in the handle, the Dolphin creeps along the waterline a few feet before reversing and taking off to do a new area. Problem solved.

Good luck with it.

[cleancloths]

Just set my Dolphin Dynamic up and it has been running for about 30 minutes. It seems to be doing a great job. Much better cleaning than my old Polaris 380. I like the remote that lets you manually control where it goes, but it does take quite a while to get used to steering it as it is not obvious which end is the front - so I find I steer it the wrong way at times.

Have not changed the bag yet, but I think this may be a pain compared to the Polaris. The other thing I don't like is the need to take it out of the water when not being used. I kept my Polaris in the pool for 8 years with no harmful effects. Also I would run the polaris while I went swimming, as sometimes I would manually swim with it to spot clean. The Dolphin says you should not have it in the pool while you swim. Is that for fear of electric shocks? Has anyone used it while you are in the pool?

[brent.roberts]

I leave mine in all the time except when I clean the bag, which is once every 2 - 3 days.. will it harm it? don't know. fingers crossed.

[Water_man]

I also just got my Dolphin Diagnostic and I love it.
It cleans my 22k gal IGP.
I found that cleaning the bag is real easy.
I invert it inside out and first I shake all the course stuff out over a garbage can. Then I flatten it on the cemenet goround and hose it down. It comes out sparkling clean.
Mine came with a sample of a disposable filter bag. I used it the first time. It took all the leaves but it seems that the pemanent bag is a better filter.


I ran my Dolphin Diagnostic for the first time yesterday and all I can say is FANTASTIC! It picked up so much small stuff that I couldn't even see that would have probably gone past the skimmer right to the pump basket or filter so I expect it to save me somewhat on the cleaning chores of those.
I vacuumed for the first time Thursday and found it difficult to do in the deep end so this thing is great. We all sat around the deck and watched it for too long! My dog was ingtrigued by it and growled and barked at when it crawled up the walls!

Some things to note: the instructions for the cart are useless. They are just very small drawings -no script. It took 4 of us about a half hour to figure them out.

The CD that comes with it was not for our cart and said it was pre-assembled, which it was not. Not 1 thing was pre-assembled and it had 3 different sets of screws with no direction on which to use where.

The filter bag is very messy to empty. I tried the suggestion here to rinse it in a bucket. That didn't seem to work too well for me. Maybe I need more practice. Next time I am going to let the bag dry out before I empty it. I think it might be easier to do it that way. I'll keep you posted.

Aside from those things it is great. My water is sparkling.
I bought it from Leslies, sold as the Dolphin Deluxe, but it is the diagnostic. List price with cart is 999.99 but with a 20% off coupon I paid 800.00 before tax.

So far, I highly recommend it!

[cleancloths]

Well after reading some of the problems people have had with their Dolphins and the crap service from the company, plus the observation of mine today - tomorrow it is going back to Costco. I find that if I just let it go it periodically gets stuck going back and forth in the same 10' straight area. The only fix is to shut the power off to reset it. This is not acceptable for a $1,000+ appliance.

[brent.roberts]

[QUOTE=brent.roberts;10469]Got a new Dolphin Dynamic yesterday. I was very impressed with it's first run. After 2 hours it had essentially picked up everything off the bottom and most important to me, looks like it will save or delay the expense of a new vinyl liner.
We we got this home a couple years ago the liner was already badly wrinkled and I expected this spring to need a new one. The Polaris ATV got hung up and broke gears inside. The Barracude and another similar impule cleaner hung up too.

This is an old thread buy I wanted to go on the record as having yet another tale of disappointment.

I started steering poorly, then wouldn't go. Emails and calls to Maytronics got me nowhere. I cut off the floating cord ( don't know what I had in mind to use it for ) and trashed the whole thing.

A lot of money for about 2 seasons of auto-cleaning.

I'd love to find a good replacement.