Cheap suction side cleaner

[kelemvor]

I've had a zodiac G4 suction side cleaner for 3 years. It came with the pool when I bought my house, so I'm not really sure how old it was. I had been putting $50+ in parts into the cleaner every season. Diaphragms, various plastic and rubber parts that had worn out. This spring when I checked it out I found it was going to need around $150 in parts so I started considering a replacement. I also needed some new hose for the cleaner - which seems to run $10 per section, and I'd need around 10.

I stumbled across a cheap Chinese suction side cleaner that came with hosing for under 100 bucks. I don't usually get the knock off stuff, but I figured if the cleaner sucked (err.. didn't suck) then I still had a new hose for about the price of buying a hose locally.

I was pleasantly surprised. The cleaner seems to work every bit as good as my zodiac brand name cleaner used to work. It takes the same diaphragm so I don't even have to throw away the spares sitting in my pool shed. It came with some gadgets to let the hose rotate and some handy hose weights that let me take the rock out of the leaf catcher.

Anyway, if anyone needs a cleaner - this one is worth every bit of what they're charging (about $100). The hose seems to be a bit more rubbery than the harder plastic I had before. I'm guessing that will translate into a shorter lifespan. Even if it lasts 1 season, it's less than 1/3 the cost of the name brand units I was thinking about.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I don't have anything to do with the company or anything. Just thought I'd share my good experience with the product.

[PoolDoc]

Had to look. Aaron's found a good deal . . . if you can afford the risk.

That's definitely a no-name unit. It, and other Chinese knock-offs, are being distributed in the US on a no-warranty basis by http://inspiredepot.com/ .There are definitely some possible good deals there. BUT this is strictly buyer-beware territory: don't buy anything if you can't afford to 'eat it' if it fails.

The unit Aaron got is available widely, and is being sold by NewEgg and others. The seller on Amazon is a 3rd party, so you do NOT get the Amazon warranty. I'd recommend purchasing it from NewEgg or some established seller who is selling it directly, or who will take it back if it breaks the first week.

Thanks, Aaron!

[kelemvor]

Just over 1 year old now. I'm starting to have some minor problems. The large plastic ring you see near the top of the cleaner is cracked. It's still working but only a matter of time before that piece falls off and will no longer function. 1 year of solid operation isn't bad for $100. The cleaner has been in my pool every single day of the year. I take it out when we swim and return it when we're done.

Also, I had to replace the diaphragm once. I had extras from my old zodiac, and the zodiac diaphragm fit perfectly.

Unfortunately, I can't find another one of these units available from the same seller at the moment. I'm hoping newegg still has them.