Pool Vacuums

[jabre]

I'm in early construction phase on my pool right now, pre-gunite. I'm seriously considering having the contractor plumb & wire for the contracted polaris 280, but not install it. Instead, I'm thinking of picking up the Dolphin Dynamic Plus from Costco. My goal is absolutely least hassle in maintenance and electricity. I'll shell out a couple hundred a year extra if it saves me part of that in power (no daily polaris pump) and numerous hours of tweaking/reparing the cleaner. Anyone have the Polaris 280 or recently switched from it? It would be nice to hear their recommendation on going robotic.

[lukester]

I've been using an Aquabot for the last four years in my 36' IG vinyl liner pool and love it. It costs more than most of the vacuums out there but it has some advantages that made it worth the cost to me.

-It doesn't rely on the pump so I save money on electricity.
-It does a reasonably good job covering the entire pool.
-It sort of scrubs/brushes the liner rather than just sucking up the loose stuff.

Hope this helps.

[chemicalbalance]

We have a Polaris 180 which works off of a booster pump. It works adequately well, but since it cleans to a mesh bag, it is really just driving around stirring debris. It will pick up anything larger than say 1/16" square.

The absolute BEST thing that I have found for cleaning the pool quickly is the 14" RB214 vacuum head that Ben sells for $75 at

PoolSolutions.com....http://www.poolsolutions.com/cart/clean.php

I know it sounds like I drank Ben's Kool-Aid, but this thing works great. It is heavy and steerable so you can vacuum the whole pool in about 15 minutes. Since I bought his vacuum head, I vacuum the pool on Saturday mornings for a few minutes. I actually have become obsessed with how clean it gets the pool.

I am ashamed to admit it, but now I really do just use the Polaris 180 to stir the pool when I add chemicals.

This is no joke. Don't buy any automatic cleaner till you try this head for your vacuum. Make sure the filter is clean too so you have good suction. This thing really works and works quickly. It is obviously a professional grade device that you wont find at your local store of the same quality.

[mwsmith2]

Since I bought his vacuum head, I vacuum the pool on Saturday mornings for a few minutes.

There's one problem though. It's the use of the word "I".

Michael