Carl: Do you recommend your Dolphin?

Carl:

I am in Northern NJ and saw you were talking about your Dolphin and I wanted to know if you got it working right and if you would recommend it. I have a Polaris 380 and you may have seen a recent post where I talked about a leak in my booster line that my dealer wants $500 to cut into my concrete to fix. Seems like it might be sinking good money into bad as the Polaris is 8 years old. Would I be better to abandon it and buy a Dolphin?

What are the pros and cons and what should the Dynamic cost me?

My answer is ambiguous. Right now, my Dolphin isn't working correctly. I just got the RMA and I have to pack it up and ship it to Lakewood. Naturally, I am very annoyed as it's only 2 years old and cost $1200!

But WHEN it's working, it's absolutely FANTASTIC! It brushes the walls, gets. 99.9% of the debris and polishes the water. It's easy to set up each time, fairly easy to clean, and doesn't require a lot of maintenance.

But is it worth it? Only you can decide that. Aquabot makes a similar device, and there are some others as well. Generally, a robotic cleaner is THE best cleaner. Some are even rechargable--no cord needed!

I understand that things do break - just like my Polaris line broke underground. When it was working well, did you have to replace parts often and how expensive was that. How does the capacity for dirt and leaves compare with a Polaris 380. Also, how does the time compare for it to clean the pool and can you use it with a solar cover in place.

As I indicated before I have been very happy with the Polaris 380, but it is 8 years old and to spend $500 or more to cut the concrete to fix the leaking line seems like throwing good money after bad as how much life is left in the pump and polaris anyway.

NOTHING ever broke on it until I started having touble, and nothing appears broken now.

Capacity is very large. The bags are multiple layer so they filter as finely as a DE filter. The ONLY time I ever have to run it more than once is during spring opening--then it's 3 to 4 times.

You can set the time cycles--up to 8 hours. I will just put it in at night and pull it out in the morning. I gather you can run it under a solar cover, but you have to turn off the wall-climbing function. I've never done it.