Robotic cleaners

[Sherry1000]

I have an in ground salt water pool and I want one of those robotic cleaners. They are so very expensive though and if I pay an arm and a leg for one of these I want to make a good choice. Can anyone give me any advice?

[PoolDoc]

registered as *general* user.

Re robot cleaners, I have no personal knowledge of residential units. There's now a search link in the PoolForum logo button -- search for "robotic cleaners".

[Toybuilder]

Hi Sherry1000,

My advice may be a little dated, but this is what I researched and decided upon 3 years ago when I was looking. My criteria's were weight, reviews, price, and gallons per hour. The ones I researched were the Hayward Tiger Shark RC9955GR , Pentair Kreepy Krauly 830, Polaris 9550 Sport, Maytronics Dolphin Oasis Z5 and the similar Dolphin Supreme M5.

My main criteria at that time was weight as my wife would be putting it in and taking it out after cleaning, and with the added water, the cleaner would get pretty heavy. The heaviest were the Kreepy Krauly and Tiger Shark, 45lbs and 42lbs respectively, so I eliminated those immediately. Reviews for the Polaris, lightest out of the all at 21lbs, weren't as good as both the Maytronics cleaners.

Now down to the M5 and Z5. According to an email I received from Maytronics, the only difference between the M5 and Z5, is a 3rd roller brush on the M5 and remote control. The price difference at that time was about $200 more for the M5, if I remember correctly.

I ended up purchasing the M5 (at 22lbs btw). 3 brushes are better than 2 plus it was only 1lb heavier than the Polaris . I also bought it for another reason that I didn't mention. The M5 was only sold in brick and mortar shops and the Z5 is internet only. Not sure if that's still accurate. I wanted the piece of mind that I could take it back if there were something wrong with it. For that amount of money, I didn't want the hassle of dealing with a store online or by phone.

So far, I'm very pleased (although my wife still hasn't put the thing in or taken it out). We don't get a lot of big debris, but I've seen it pick up some pretty big leaves and twigs without any problems. Our pool looks pretty clean in about two hours. The only complaint I have is that it doesn't go up walls and do the tile line consistently. But I do still brush manually so that's not that big of a deal for me.

Hope this helps.