@PoolDoc: My brother was using it at the time that it broke. He said that it was getting poor suction for a bit before it completely conked out, which could be either a motor or battery problem, but I believe it is more likely to be the motor (which, I've read around the 'net, is what usually goes kaput on these units). Either way, I'm unfortunately not very handy and didn't have much luck tooling around with it.
I did end up buying another Pool Blaster not long after making my last post in this thread. So far so good, but if it only lasts the season like the last one, I'll be done with Water Tech. I did some research into alternatives, which mostly consist of various pool 'robots', which I'm not too fond of and are comparatively very expensive. At the moment, it seems, Water Tech is indeed the only game in town when it comes to non-robotic vacuuming alternatives.
I appreciate your hesitance to recommend the product, Pooldoc. I'm a bit torn myself. On the one hand it has made caring for my pool much more of a pleasure. On the other, the manufacturing quality is questionable at best. I'll have to see how my new PBM makes it through the off-season before giving my final verdict. Hopefully Water Tech is listening and tightens up their manufacturing process; I'd gladly pay a few bucks more for a more reliable product.
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