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I'm new to the forum but not to Pool Solutions ( great site). I've had a IG pool for 15 years and have allways cleaned manually. We have only for months of swim time if were lucky (Ohio). I don't want to spend a lot on an auto cleaner. Does anyone have a recomendation? Looking at the Baracuda or the new Dirt Devil??? Thanks for your help.
Our builder installed ours last week after the month long wait and endless brushing of our new plaster pool. I noticed it wasn't cleaning the whole pool and wasn't climbing the walls at all. After reading the manual and making some adjustments (directing the returns downward and toward the middle of the pool, and adding the proper lengths of hose) it now gets everything with the exception of the stairs and the swimout bench. I asked several pool stores in the area and our pool builder, they all recommended the G4 saying "it's a great cleaner for the price". They also touted the fact that it has "only one moving part".
We bought a Baracuda G3 last year on sale. We use it in an IG pool, with concrete bottom and fiberglass sides. It does a fairly good job of covering most of the pool bottom, but I was never able to get it to cover 100%, regardless of the length of the line or diverting the jets. Also it never climbs the side of the pool. Also occasionally it would get hung up on the stairs.
If you need to rely on the return stream to push floating debris to the skimmer, this type of cleaner is not optimal. In order for it to work, you have to divert the flow from the returns almost straight down, surface flow becomes stagnant and floating debris will accummulate in areas of no flow. It is an additional inconvenience to take the diverters off and on each time you use the cleaner. Also, the diverters are not provided with purchase of the Baracuda. The usual swivel nozzle on most returns is not adequate to divert flow downward to sufficient degree.
But, for the price, it does come in handy. The amount of time needed to vacuum the areas it missed is a fraction of the time it would take to manually vacuum the whole pool.
I would not count on using a Baracuda to clean the sides of the pool....
Hal