My Dolphin: Now I'm getting rid of it

[cruzmisl]

I too am interested in the Blue Diamond/Aquabot Turbo T4. I have been a Dolphin user for the last 3 years but if it's better I'd buy one. It doesn't look well thought out though. The cart looks cheaper, the power supply has a big antenna on it and no joystick on the remote are just a few of the things I noticed. I'd also like to see a video of how it changes direction. I look forward to more reviews.

[CarlD]

Well,
I've given up. Too many people are experiencing too many problems and I'm tired of the BS (Barnyard Slush) from Smart Pool and Maytronics. Maytronics, in Israel, has TRIED to help, but what they haven't done is tell Smart Pool "Stop screwing around. Fix this guy's machine, even if he has to pay for stuff besides the motor."

Too many people are reporting Dolphins, even new ones going back and forth and not climbing walls.

I'm too darn tired of "It must be your water--lower your pH to 7.0-7.2" What??????? Everything's wrong except that all of a sudden it stopped working.

So today I decided to order a Blue Diamond with remote control. I'm done with Dolphin and their unwillingness to REALLY help.

I think I'll put it up on eBay and try to unload it. Waste of money.

IN MY HUMBLE OPINION, DO NOT BUY ANY DOLPHIN PRODUCTS. THEY DO NOT SEEM RELIABLE AND THEIR SERVICE SEEMS TO BE DESIGNED TO DISCOURAGE YOU FROM USING IT!

[CarlD]

I need to re-title this thread so I'll do it by merging. I'm done with Dolphin and I'm going to get rid of my Dolphin Dynamic. The US rep, Smart Pool, claims there's nothing wrong. The Maytronics rep can't figure it out--and told me to contact Smart Pool.

But it won't clean my pool properly.

Good-bye Dolphin!

[cruzmisl]

Carl, where did you get your Blue Diamond? How much was it? When is delivery scheduled?

Surely a full report will be written after the 1st hour of cleaning:)

[CarlD]

Carl, where did you get your Blue Diamond? How much was it? When is delivery scheduled?

Surely a full report will be written after the 1st hour of cleaning:)

Pool Doctor--the same people who support Pool Buster. With Remote and delivery $1499 (and they're tossing in an extra filter bag). A lot cheaper than the list $1899!

[Rescue30]

If someone can host pics or video I'd be happy to take some tomorrow of the Blue Diamond in action

[CarlD]

Cool!

You can attach pics to a post--see the Manage Attachments button below when you are writing a reply. Just be sure to make them fairly small or they won't be accepted.

[Rescue30]

Ok Carl,
As long as the weather holds up here in NJ tomorrow , I'll post some pics .I just threw it in before and it cleaned the whole deep end in 20 minutes .My main drain broke 3 years ago so instead of fixing it for $10,000.I opted for this cleaner to clean up all the junk that collects there.

[CarlD]

I'm with you Rescue! I'm in NJ as well and we are HOPING the T'storm predictions are wrong!

[cruzmisl]

Rescue, I can host the pics and video for you. Send them via Email and I'll get them up asap. After tomorrow though I won't have access until Saturday.

[hzz]

Carl, could you post a link to Pool Doctor?
Couldn't find it with google.
PM it to me if you feel its not appropriate to post it.
Thanks
Zane

[Rescue30]

You'll have the video/pics by tommorow ! I should have done them tonight when the pool was filthy after last night's severe thunderstorms and shown how good a job it does.I must say I have not had a problem with the cleaner in the last 2 seasons or this one yet .I did forget and left the power supply out this past whole winter and it developed a little rust on it , nothing major and totally my fault , as well as the antenna breaking off the power supply, I called water Tech and they told me send them the whole power supply and they will replace the antenna or buy a new one for $20 , and they'l ship it to me, wasn't to happy with the options but went with the $20 way and had it the next morning via FedEx .

[CarlD]

Carl, could you post a link to Pool Doctor?
Couldn't find it with google.
PM it to me if you feel its not appropriate to post it.
Thanks
Zane

Here it is:
http://www.pooldrstore.com/index.htm

I'm not recommending the Blue Diamond yet-I'm merely buying it and I'll test it for the 14 trial period. I won't recommend a robotic cleaner again until I've used it for three years without a problem. Or at least I will always add a caveat.

Meantime, I have gotten Maytronics' attention finally to how serious this is. They are upset, seriously upset, which is wise. I wouldn't be so upset myself if I hadn't sent the unit to SmartPool and had it sent back saying NOTHING was wrong.

[Unabomber007]

Carl or anyone else,

If you are interested: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=015&item=250003346333& If this doesn't work the seller is superaqauaman or search for Aquabot Viva

This is the clone of the Blue Diamond Remote Control. This auction is for a scratch and dent model with a full warranty. I did the "make an offer" thingy and he bit for $1100. That's a DAMN good deal considering you can't touch a Blue Diamond Remote Control for less than like $1500ish in my fanatic price shopping.

Cant wait to play with my new toy and I'll post my review when I get it and find the time to use it.

[CarlD]

Thanks, but I don't think so.

I've already ordered mine, and gray market purchases frequently won't have the warranty honored by the manufacturer. I got a VERY good price on it anyway.

For those of you with dolphins with problems, I'd contact Maytronics directly. You'll have to eMail them. If the service guy for them says "OK", I'll post his name and eMail at Maytronics.

[jimwnola]

Interesting thread. As an owner of an Aquabot and Pool Rover Plus in the past, I always wondered if I would have done better with a Dolphin or Tigershark, etc. The Tigershark intrigued me because of the filter cartridge sounded easier to deal with than a filter bag, but haven't ever read from someone who has used both to compare.

As for the "computer" controlled steerign, I am also very skeptical. As far as I can tell from the aquabot, all it really does it go back and forth, and relies upon the weight of the handle to move sideways at the waterline before, going down in a different area. Then, as it fills up with crap in the filter bag, it spends more time cleaning the bottom of pool due to added weight. I see no sign of anythign sophisticated. Anyhting that disrupts its movemetn on water line, like steps or certain corners can disrupt its "plan." That said, when it didn't get stuck, it did have a better chance of coverign pool than my pool rover plus, which apparently can't handle an oval pool.

[brent.roberts]

If you read the advertizing on all these units the BS becomes self evident.

The travel speed of a Dolphin is supposed to be 50 feet per minute.
a 16 x 32 pool would work out to less than 50 feet long including slope up and down, and end walls.

The width inclujding sides would be about 24 feet.

If the cleaned area was only 1 foot wide, allowing a generous amount of overlap on each pass, the surface should be cleaned in less than half an hour.

1 length of 50 feet at 50 FPM takes 1 minute
24 lenghts = 24 minutes.

So why does the average model come out of the box with a 6 hour cycle and the programmable units have settings up to 8 hours ????

It would seem they have absolutely minimal intelligence and rely on random patters with about as much programming and learning as a Kreepy Krawly.

[hzz]

Guess I should chime in here with a defence of the dolphin. I have both the dolphin and the aquabot turbo.The aquabot is going on 7 years old...I bought the dolphin expecting the aquabot to die but so far it has survived all my abuse.

My dolphin is still going strong, into it's third year now.It cleans my 20x40 pool overnight easily,without missing any spots.

Maybe I have just been lucky so far. The blue diamond looks interesting...it will probably be my next cleaner if and when I need one and providing Carl gives it a good review.

[CarlD]

Hey, "Defense" isn't the issue.

I would DEARLY love to never have started this thread because my Dolphin was STILL doing a bang-up job. But it's not. It's messing up after just under 2 years.

I would really, really like to NOT have to be buying ANOTHER cleaner, when this one should run forever. Barring that, I wish I had gotten appropriate support from Smart Pool. I haven't. I sent it to them once and they didn't do or find anything.

I hope your Dolphin runs forever. I'm not being sarcastic either. I hope that my communications directly with Maytronics will light a fire under Smart Pool's saddle and get them doing the job of customer support better.

[KirstenHW]

What's a pool buster??

[CarlD]

What's a pool buster??

It's just like a Dust Buster only underwater. Rechargable and goes on the end of a standard pole.

[KirstenHW]

Awesome!! I was just thinking yesterday how I need something just like that for the crushed rock particles left over from redoing the pavers around the pool edge. They are everywhere. Can this thing be hand held under water too -- like I could dive into the deep end and use it? And where do you recommend getting one? Sorry - I know its a tangent to this thread.

[jimwnola]

hzz, as an owner of both an Aquabot Turbo and Dolphin, any great preference between 2?

[jabre]

CarlD, I'm still very curious about Maytronic's position on this. Are they still doing nothing to resolve this problem and leaving it to their contracted service company? Are you going to continue to post updates on what is being done, if anything, to resolve the problem?

[hzz]

hzz, as an owner of both an Aquabot Turbo and Dolphin, any great preference between 2?

Good question.
Here are some of the differences between the two:

Aquabot-lighter, works well even in cold water,which is great for when the pool is just opened, cord easier to manage(doesn't tangle)
Had some climbing issues at the beginning but I was sent climbing rings which solved the problem

Dolphin-heavier of the two.....a factor for my wife when she has to remove it from the pool,cleans the pool much faster than the Aquabot, has the remote feature(which is why I bought it), has a caddy that is not well made but is better than nothing,does not work at all in cold water

I have a soft spot for the Aquabot.....I throw it in the pool right when I remove the cover....water is sometimes as cold as 40 degrees,pool is full of worms, and the Aquabot just keeps cleaning...it is a real workhorse.

Hope this helps

Zane

[CarlD]

CarlD, I'm still very curious about Maytronic's position on this. Are they still doing nothing to resolve this problem and leaving it to their contracted service company? Are you going to continue to post updates on what is being done, if anything, to resolve the problem?

Maytronics has said they will prod Smart Pool to do something. We shall see.

In the meantime I expect the Blue Diamond to arrive today or tomorrow and if it lives up to half the hype, the Dolphin is going up for sale.

After all, Smart Pool says there's NOTHING wrong with it and it has no visible signs of wear...:cool:

(must be me. pH of 7.5 instead of 7.2 makes it my fault. If only I had worn a tinfoil hat and started it at midnight under a gibbous moon...Do I sound jaded and cynical????:confused: )

[brent.roberts]

The entire problem with your dolphin is your fault.

You have your tongue in the wrong side of your cheek when you start the dolphin and you need to stand on your left foot and push the button with your right pinkie.

===========

After some thought I sent off an email to Maytronics as well and challenged them to log into the forum and become proactive. I just plunked down $ 1000 for the dump lump of plastic.

I don't expect a real eureka on how to make it work. I do beleive it is over hyped in the advertizing.

But I would love to have it work for a couple year like yours did. By then there will be some available that will figure out where they are in a pool and how to set up a reasonable pattern and clean a pool in an hour or so instead of taking a whole night.

Fingers crossed. I hope the new toy gives you better results.

[hzz]

Since mine is still working I assume it must be because I am in Canada.

Does anything work in New Jersey?

Good luck with the Blue Diamond. Looking forward to your review of it.

[brent.roberts]

Carl

when you sent the unit back to SmartPool, did you send the cleaner AND the power supply ????

The symptom sounds to me like a partial failure of the power supply. The slow speed makes me think the power supply has lost a / some transistors / rectifiers and is simply not putting enough voltage out to the motor. With a single motor driving the whole thing, the speed would be slow and the water flow would be slow. Without the water flow the cleaner would not generate enough thrust to get traction to climb the walls ?? Sound like your situation.

I'd love to dig into mine to see how it's put together. My day job is running a machine tool business and we analize and repair AC and DC servo drives on the CNC machines. This should not be a major issue to sort it out. SmartPool should be up to speed on this and be able to fix it in about an hour flat.

[CarlD]

Right now not much is working in New Jersey--the Gov. shut down the state to force the leg. to finally balance the budget. The casino operators are FURIOUS, but helping Don Trump and Harrah's get richer isn't high on my agenda.

The hardest thing, though, is reading that Camp Marcella, a camp for blind kids, has to shut down. We used to live within walking distance of Camp Marcella--and it's a real special place.

Of course I sent back the power supply and the remote to Smart Pool. I KNOW it's working perfectly--after all you plug it in and the motor runs....Right?;)

Gotta run--sad duty this morning--the husband of a lady in my office dropped dead on the 4th--he was only 50 years old (my age) and it was totally unexpected. So I'm off to the funeral.

[jimwnola]

That is helpful Hzz.

One issue I also found annoying about my Aquabot (regular model) was that the tracks would slip out of their place, which would then stretch them even more before you noticed to push them back. With more stretching, then they would be even more likely to do it again, and the tracks would get looser all the time and more problematic, long before they ever should have worn out. I had the old model with the floats on it compared to the new floating cable, which were really bad for being eaten and then damaging the aquabot if you weren't there.

One thing good about pool rover plus was it did have the floating cord they all have now, but it also didn't have any tracks to eat the cord or to stretch or break. As posted by me elsewhere, the problem was with coverage on an oval pool. If I thought it would cover my new pool, which is more rectangular in shape (but larger and with inlet for wide set of steps that might be a problem), I might get it again. My pool rover plus never broke, but I had it a short time before washed away in Katrina. On an oval pool, it was bad. No matter how long I fiddled with the cycles, it always ended up cyling in same spot. It relies on somethign like a "y-turn," which relies upon the pool rover goign straight in 1 direction, and turning in the other. In oval pool (with stright sides), the pool wall curve would make it also curve, throwing it off, and it would do same exact path over and over once it got to the deep end.

[hzz]

The tracks haven't been a problem for me,yet.

You are right that they do slip out occasionally,but not too often on mine and I am still on my original tracks after 7 years.

Actually, everything is original on my Aquabot except the black socket on the power supply which cracked this year. Part was only $9.00

I think luck has something to do with it!

[brent.roberts]

Of course I sent back the power supply and the remote to Smart Pool. I KNOW it's working perfectly--after all you plug it in and the motor runs....Right?

Well, apparently Smartpool think so. Speed on a DC motor is very dependant on the voltage of the power supply ( I'm not sure it is DC )

[CarlD]

Yeah, according to Smart Pool my unit is working perfectly. According to CarlD, Smart Pool is full of it.

[jimwnola]

On your Turbo, HZZ, did you have the regular tracks or the ones that are bigger, that you only see on some Turbos, I think "H" models or something like that. Aqua products charges more for the bigger track ones, but some seller was telling me the regular tracks (which is what I have on regular Aquabot) stay on better. Anybody have an opinion on that. I'm semi-tempted just pick up a refurbished Turbo since you can get them for about $500 on ebay.

[hzz]

As far as I know, I have the regular tracks. I certainly didn't pay any extra for the tracks and I don't recall it being an "H" model.

[CarlD]

Well, the Blue Diamond arrived last night and the jury is still out on this thing. Somethings are upsetting but OK--the foam brushes are hard and look messed up--they just have to soak up water. The brown stains also concerned me but they test them in water in Israel, then they have to dry out and there can be mold or other stuff:

http://home.earthlink.net/~dashmanc/pool/Roller%20%231.jpg

The chipped clip below the port may get it replaced. In the water, the brushes got big and soft.

It didn't seem to want to climb the walls consistently, but they tell me it only does it on the 1st, 3rd and 7th time it hits a wall. Again, that makes sense.

They tell me with my pool to be VERY wary of wear on the liner just above the bottom of the pool--where the unit bumps into the wall--they don't recommend this usually for an A/G pool, especially round or oval. Mine is rectangular so it's more what the unit is designed for--they'll get back to me.

But MOST disturbing is that 5 minutes after being dropped in the pool last night it got jammed under the ladder. This morning I left it to go eat breakfast it was jammed again. It shuts down, which is good, but the pool wasn't clean yet, which is bad.

Here's the ladder it can't negotiate:

http://home.earthlink.net/~dashmanc/pool/DeepEndHopper.jpg

So, the jury is still out and it may be going back really, really soon!

Meanwhile, Maytronics and Smart Pool have gone silent on me.

[Davenj]

CarlD,
Did you notice any scratches on your liner from the Dolphin. I have 6-8" scratches around the end on the bottom. Looks like where the Dolphin runs along the side (oval) against the wall. Thought it maybe pieces flakes of Kooldeck in the pool? Disturbing none the less.

[mr.bbq]

CarlD,

Thanks for the review so far, i would agree looking at the pics the less than new looking condition would have me concerned. Of course if it works no worrys. But for that kind of money i would think it would be in shiny new condition even if it was water tested.

Best of luck hope it works out for you!!

R

[cleancloths]

The pads are just fine. My Blue Pearl has similar sort of pads - two big ones rather than 4 small ones and they are rock hard when dry, but get nice and soft and spongie in the water quickly.

As far as getting caught on the ladder I used to have that problem with my Polaris. What I did was get a couple of sections of 2" (or maybe it was 1.5" - I forget) PVC pipe and I cut out a section of the pipe longitudinally that was maybe an inch or an inch and a half wide so I could force the pvc pipe over the verticle sections of the ladder. This made it a smaller opening between the ladder edge and the pool wall so the cleaner would not get stuck in there.

[CarlD]

The pads are just fine. My Blue Pearl has similar sort of pads - two big ones rather than 4 small ones and they are rock hard when dry, but get nice and soft and spongie in the water quickly.

Yeah, they did that on mine too. As I said, I was less concerned--first, there was a notice wrapped around them saying expect them to be hard and let it soak in the pool for a few minutes before the first run. The brown concerned me but, while ugly, it's not critical.



As far as getting caught on the ladder I used to have that problem with my Polaris. What I did was get a couple of sections of 2" (or maybe it was 1.5" - I forget) PVC pipe and I cut out a section of the pipe longitudinally that was maybe an inch or an inch and a half wide so I could force the pvc pipe over the verticle sections of the ladder. This made it a smaller opening between the ladder edge and the pool wall so the cleaner would not get stuck in there.

What a GREAT IDEA! I have plenty of 1.5" stock--and with a cap glued to the bottom to keep from scratching the liner...WOW! That could really work well! Form a picket! Completely different from the barrier I had in mind. Maybe bungee them to the ladder, too. Easy!

THANK YOU!

BTW, has anybody got any experience with a Diamond in a vinyl pool with perfectly vertical walls? Is there abrasion on the liner where the unit turns to climb the wall?

[Unabomber007]

And a slight correction Carl. The Blue Diamond is made in the USA. ;) Maytronics' stuff is made in Israel. Please keep your opinions coming as you see them happen.

[CarlD]

This morning the guy at the AquaTron International service center (for Blue Diamond) told me that the Blue Diamond is made in Israel.

Maybe HE'S wrong, but that's what he told me.

I'm, of course, aware that Maytronics is in Israel (on some kibbutz over there).

[Rescue30]

The brown stains on the brushes should come off after a few cleanings, as far as wearing on the liner goes, it happened it 2 spots in my pool . nothing major, just a drop of rubbed off pattern, no noticle difference in texture or strength in those areas.It is a great a great cleaner, I'm on my third season.

[Unabomber007]

Is there some Israeli swimming pool cleaner mafia going on here or what? ;)

[VOLDADDY]

Carl,

Good luck on the Blue Diamond. I have had an Aquabot Turbo for 3 years now and love it. If it gets stuck somewhere, it will back up in a minute and keep on cleaning. If you send your Diamond back, I highly recommend the Aquabot Turbo. Their customer service is fabulous as well.

[CarlD]

Right now, I pulled out the ladder and it seems to be working just fine. I cut one "picket" to clip on the ladder but it doesn't help--it tried to climb the vertical 1.5" PVC! I think with 2 it will work better--or a cheap 1/2" wrench hung nearby to loosen the two ladder bolts.

It has a weird pattern of only climbing the walls every ood number of times. But if that's how it's designed, that's how it's designed.

An Israeli mafia for pool cleaners? Apparently that's the fact. But that's NOTHING next to the Taiwan mafia that makes EVERY motherboard in every PC in the world--all in a strip about 10 miles long and a few miles wide.

[cheshamjim]

I got my Dolphin back from a SmartPool repair depot. Put it in the water in the shallow end, and after a pass or two, it settled in the deep end and there it stayed. I tried ths thing for two days and it never came close to covering the whole pool. Just went back and forth across the width of the pool in the deep section.

I got the O.K. to return it and it is going back Monday.

I talked to a couple of guys at the pool store who have Dolphins and they love 'em. Oh well ...

-Jim

[cleancloths]

All these Dolphin problems are starting to sound like they have a problem in the microprocessor that they claim controls these beasts. I wonder if they go a batch of bad chips?

[CarlD]

It sure sounds like a bad microprocessor or a bad batch of ROM chips, doesn't it.

I'm sorry to hear the Smart Pool keeps sending people's Dolphins back without fixing the problems, claiming they are fixed.

Meanwhile I haven't heard from MayTronics in Israel. I will send the reference to this thread along and let THEM see what they think!

But I WISH I could catch a break..:(

The Blue Diamond works perfectly if I loosen the 2 bolts and pop the ladder out. I tried using just one picket on the ladder but that didn't work--I need to have 2 but I havent cut the 2nd yet.

So I let it run during the night with the ladder out. This morning I'm coiling up the cable--and there's a slash in it! Luckily it's not all the way through the insulation, just the surface, but it means when it came up the wall it gobbled the cable and damaged it! D*** thing is BRAND NEW!!!!! The cable does NOT uncoil as smoothly as the Dolphin's and does not get straight the way the Dolphin's does, and isn't as tough or as hard-shelled. The Dolphin NEVER did this.

The power supply stores UNDER the Diamond--How stupid is THAT??? and isn't nearly as sealed as the Dolphin's. For a device that costs a lot more, some more thought should have gone into parts of it.

But it works. Still, how come I can't catch a break???:eek: