Any concerns with a Dolphin in a vinyl pool?

[leejp]

I had an Aquabot Turbo but got rid of it for the Pool Rover Plus.

Both made by the same company:

http://www.aquaproducts.com/apsite/index4_22_05.htm

While other folks have found the Dolphin/Aquabot effective and trouble free, My experience with the Aquabot Turbo was less than ideal. I have a 26Kgal vynil liner pool. (L shape with stairs on the "foot" of the L). For my pool, The Aquabot Turbo was far from drop it in overnight and forget it:

It would climb the walls to the waterline, eat it's own cord and get tangled up
get stuck in the corners, stairs, ladders
get stuck and spin on top of the main drain (there's an $80 cover for the main drain that allows the robotic cleaners to navigate it).

After futzing with the cleaner for ~2 months, I gave up and got the Pool Rover Plus (at ~60% of the cost $475 shipped) after a reading review posted on this forum prior to it going down. I absolutely love this cleaner. It's just so ridiculously simple (just makes timed K-turns). No microprocessors, No cicuit boards in oil bath, no tracks/brushes... SIMPLE! And since it's the same impeller/filter bag design (in fact the same filter bag as the Aquabot Turbo) you get all the "water polishing" benefits. Plus it's a 2 hour clean cycle NOT an 6~8HR overnight cycle. If I really want the water to sparkle, I run it 2~3 cycles for a deep clean. It's pennies/cycle to run this cleaner. I actually don't think I need to run the pump/filter ($1~2 for an 8HR cycle) on days I do the deep clean. You should see the stuff it pulls out of even the cleanest looking pool

Now it doesn't scrub or climb walls to the water line (it'll climb the hopper ramps and almost go vertical). With a plaster pool perhaps the scrubbing/water line cleaning is a big benefit. But with a vynil liner I personally think NOT scrubbing is a PLUS! Why prematurely wear out the liner? I much rather run the brush manually over the walls at the start of the cleaning cycle.

The additional benefit over the pressure side cleaners is that if your pump/filter is broke or down for maintenance, you can drop in the robot and at least filter the pool until repairs can be made.

I should mention that some folks have had trouble with coverage (not enough K-turns in a pool with round floor to wall transitions) but if you have a vynil liner pool with ramps, check out the Pool Rover PLUS (Plus is for IG pools).

Your pool dealer is naturally biased... He sells you the pressure side cleaner, the booster pump, the plumbing, the labor and the service... I think the folks at Dolphin and Aquabot are asleep at the wheel. The Polaris guys have worked into a lucrative niche for themselves by aligning with installers/dealers so booster pumps and plumbing are built into new pool installs. The pool guys install electrical for lighting so all they would need to do is to design a waterproof deck/floor outlet with a remote on/off switch (for the power supply/control unit) and a power supply/control unit that's weather tight. I think anyone would rather deal with this setup vs booster pumps and more plumbing.

[PhantomAndy]

I'm starting my 4th season (3rd with my Dolphin Standard).

I have an 18x36 IG Vinyl - and I have had no problems. I love the Dolphin (or any other quality robotic I would imagine).

The only think I have observed, is that the plumbing outlets in the pool (returns, and rough in for a pressure side) cause the Dolphin to hang when 'scrubbing' the water line. This causes the Dolphin to sit 'spinning it's wheels' on that fixture, which in turn has rubbed very very small spots in the liner. All that it has done is remove the print on the liner, not actually damaged the liner, and these spots are less 1/2 an inch long, and only about 2 or 3 mm wide.

The real nice part of a Dolphin or other robotic is the ease of use. Simply unwind the cord, hook it to the power supply, plug it in the outlet, and toss it in the pool. It takes about 3 or 4 minutes to get it in the water.

8 hours later, I go get it out of the water, pull the filter bag out, and rinse it really well. I let the bag dry until it doesn't drip anymore and then take it inside to complete drying. Removing it from the water and cleaning the bag takes about 10 minutes. I usually use the bag 5 or 6 times before I toss it in the washing machine with a load of whites on warm water (no bleach).

It was well worth every penny ($799 with 20% off coupon at Leslie's Pool).

I considered the pressure side cleaners since my pool had the plumbing roughed in - but cost was virtually the same - and the extra hoses and hassle turned me off the pressure side cleaners.

Good luck - I'm sure you'll appreciate the time savings of either versus manual vacuuming and cleaning.

Oh - I almost forgot - If I had it to do over again - I would choose the Dolphin Dynamic or other 'remote control' robot due to the ability to quickly do spot cleaning of those common accumulation areas. It's an extra few hundred - but worth it versus trying to push the manual model around with the skimmer net and pole.