Help with decision between Blue Pearl & Blue Diamond

[ryguy]

The booster pump for my Polaris 280 died after 6 years, and I think I'm ready to switch to a robotic. My biggest reservation is the fact that typically when something goes wrong with the Polaris I can generally fix it with some (overpriced) parts at the pool store. However, I'm guessing that won't be the case with the Blue Pearl/Diamond. Does anyone have assurances one way or another about that for me?

Although my Polaris was OK in general, I want the fine filtration that a robotic can offer, as well as the scrubbing of the pool walls (since I don't brush it as often as I should). My pool is 15x36 inground, gunite/plaster, 24,000 gallons, rectange with corner steps & a ladder. My polaris always got caught in the ladder and never cleaned the steps, but I'm guessing most robotics are the same in that respect.

The main differences I see between the Pearl & Diamond is the speed, the warranty, and the price. I really don't care about the speed difference, but the warranty difference kind of confuses me (4yrs versus 1 yr). If it's basically supposed to be just a slower version of the Diamond, then why the inferior warranty? Though I've seen good reports on the Pearl on this site, I've seen other sites where they've reported motor problems in the first few months or right after the warranty expired. To save money, does Watertech use some lower-quality parts in the Blue Pearl? Any idea what a typical motor repair out-of-warranty would cost on a Pearl? I'm just wondering if the price difference on the two is justified by the longer warranty and longer potential life of the Diamond. Any thoughts others could share would sure help in the decision, as my pool is getting dirtier by the day since my Polaris went out.

Also, for a backup (in case the robotic dies), what would you recommend to have on-hand, temporarily, that won't break the bank? It sounds like Pool Blaster/Buster is the type of thing that might work out until the robotic is fixed, but it sounds like they are quite unreliable after the first year. Is there anything comparable that could handle that task?

[JohnT]

I can't advise you on the difference, but you can get an extended warranty on the Pearl from Sam's Club for a fairly reasonable price.

[cleancloths]

This is the second season I have had my Blue Pearl in my 20 x 40 IG Vinyl pool. It works great and does the entire pool in three hours with not problems. It does not get caught on anything and I am very pleased with it. It makes my old Polaris 380 look like a joke when you compare how well it works.

On of the plus features you may not have considered is that these units can run when the main pump is not running - potentially saving you a lot of electric costs.

[ryguy]

Thanks for the info. The more I think about it, the more important the warranty seems to me. I talked to people at PoolDr, which sell the Pearl for $749 right now, but they said they think they're out of the free filter bags you are supposed to get with the special. They also said extended warranty not available from them or Watertech. I told them about Sam's extended warranty and they were surprised and didn't really put too much stock in that warranty, since they apparently aren't an "authorized" dealer. I started wondering myself how that would work and if I would get 2nd class treatment going thru a big-chain retailer for warranty work and have to wait months for the unit to come back. I had a 2 month wait on a warranty claim for my generator from Home Depot, because the staff at those places just don't seem to care about service.

But I've done a lot of searching on both units for pricing and warranty. So far, only Sams Club seems to offer an extended warranty (important for the Pearl, but not so much for the Diamond since it's a good warranty already). Sams sells Pearl for $775 + tax and only $79 for 3 extra years (which seems like a great deal on the surface), and $1055 for the Diamond + tax. WalMart has both Pearl & Diamond on clearance for $699 & $995, respectively, + tax. (All are free shipping). Walmart doesn't offer an extended warranty like Sam's though (same company, so not sure why). Based on that if I went w/ the Pearl, I'd use Sam's and get the 3-yr ext warranty, if I thought it was worth anything. Else, I'd go thru WalMart for the Diamond, but again, what kind of service would I get? Also, seems a couple of places online you can get the Diamond out-the-door delivered for about $1,050 for reference.

Lastly, I found one local pool store that's been in business forever, and seems to have a good reputation around here. They said they actually prefer the Diamond over every other model cleaner they've sold over the years. They were pretty frank about discussing the pluses & minuses of it and really felt strongly about it the quality of it. They weren't pushy or "salesman-like", and I tended to trust what they've said, which agrees with what I've read. Plus he said if there's a problem with it to just bring it in to them and they ship it to NJ for repair and said they have a great relationship w/ Watertech and get very good service. That really sounded good to me. They have a sale going on for next couple of weeks as well where I could get the Diamond (Pearl not available thru them) for $1104 + tax, and available immediately (which is a plus).

So, I guess I'm leaning toward buying the Diamond locally for $100+ more than online, primarily because it seems they'll go to bat for me if I have a problem. My second choice would then be buying the Pearl from Sam's with the 3-year extended warranty (to equal the Diamond 4 year warranty) for $854 + tax (including warranty), if I just had some assurance Sam's is good with their warranty claims or return policy. Does anybody here have experience with that? Any opinions based on your personal experience with pool cleaners & warranty claims is greatly appreciated. Thanks for bearing with me on this long-winded post.

[ryguy]

Well, I ended up buying the Blue Diamond locally today. I was sold after talking to the guys at the pool store. They were very candid, and even showed me a BD that was in for service and explained how they cover shipping costs to NJ for any repairs, if necessary. So, got it home and started it up. My pool was EXTREMELY dirty, from 2+ weeks of no cleaning, and fallout from huricane Fay with high winds. Here are some of my observations of the BD:

- The actual unit seems to be fairly well made. None of the parts felt particularly vulnerable to breakage with normal use. The openings on the bottom that suck stuff up seemed a little small to me though. Two skinny rectangles is all. I don't think large clusters of twigs/leaves would be sucked thru it, but it actually did pick up some leaf/twig clusters.

- It seems to only suck up things directly in it's path. It would not suck up anything right next to it or under it's track. Also, though I only had one pine needle on the bottom, it took about 3 passes before it actually sucked it up. Maybe the shape of the needle challenges those small openings?

- The filter bag is a pretty good size, at least twice the size of my Polaris, and it seems to be made well and will hopefully be durable. I found it relatively easy to clean afterward and reinstall. Boy that thing was REALLY dirty after its 90 minute run. I just fill a 5-gal bucket part way w/ pool water; rinse the bag in it; dump the dirty water & refill. I repeated that process about 5 times before the bag was totally clean. I was surprised by the level of tiny dirt particles that were captured.

- I watched the cycle for the first 30 minutes or so. It makes no sound at all and doesn't shoot water in the air like my Polaris did (always soaking my sunroom windows). At first it seemed to zig-zag across almost the same straight line across the width of the pool several times, but soon after it became quite randomized. It actually seemed to head straight for the piles of debris on the bottom, to my surprise. Now here comes my main disappointment, but perhaps someone on this forum has suggestions to address it. It seems that it doesn't like to climb the pool walls, which is a main reason I bought it. When it decides to go all the way up, it does so with no problem. However, it only decides to climb about 1 in 8 attempts. The other times, just as it reaches the gentle curve up the wall and then stops and reverses. I don't get that. Perhaps there's an adjustment somewhere to make it climb more? I had the handle tilted using the second-to-last holes on each side, as they recommend and made sure the power cord wasn't restricting it. I sure hope that can be remedied. Also, I noticed a few times, mostly in the deep end, it would do wheelies and not pick up the debris in its path. It didn't happen all the time, but happened enough that I noticed it repeatedly while watching for 30 minutes.

- It can't seem to climb my steps to clean them, but then again, neither could my Polaris, so no big deal. I just sweep it to the bottom before the cycle. I noticed it does NOT get stuck on anything in the pool. Did not get stuck in the ladder (maybe it didn't hit it, not sure), didn't get stuck on my main drain, light, or returns. It seems if it hits an obstacle it just reverses in about 15 seconds or so. So that is good.

- Bottom line, in 90 minutes when it shut itself off, it had cleaned the entire pool bottom, but I'm sure it missed a lot of the walls, and did not get the steps. It caught many small particles of dirt that I didn't even know were in the pool. So bascially, it did a good job cleaning. That amount of dirt would've taken my Polais 5-6 hours on the booster pump to pick up, assuming I unstuck it from the ladder right away whenever it got stuck (which it did many times in its long cycle). So, basically I'm quite happy with the purchase, and feel very good about the service I will get if I have any problems in the future. Now if I can just get it to climb the walls consistently and stop it from making wheelies I'll be happy. On a side note: It has a 4 year warranty, but it's only 2yr "bumper to bumper" and 4yr on the motor they said, plus it's limited to 400 cycles (there's a built in timer that counts up every time you power it on). I keep my pool open all season, but don't have to clean much in the winter, so I figure if I average 2 cleans per week for the year, that would pretty much carry me for 4 years, so not a big deal on the counter thing.

One final note -- I put the caddy together for the unit but I don't really get how to store it on there. It doesn't seem to fit in it really.....just kind of rests on top precariously. So when I wheel it over rough surfaces it wants to fall off. I'm not sure what the secret to that is. Also, I don't see a spot to store the transformer on the cart. Am I missing something? Surely there's got to be a way to securely attach it to the caddy. Maybe tomorrow I'll take a closer look at those things. Didn't spend much time today trying to figure it out. Hope this info is useful to those of you thinking to purchase a BD soon.

[CarlD]

You can program your BD to do a more thorough 3 hour cleaning, which I do. In that time, it will "polish" your water, filtering it as it if was a full filter cycle.

I had a Dolphin but the BD's suction and speed is far greater. Why not? The 3 drive motors (tracks and suction) are 3x bigger than the Dolphin's.

The remote and s/w is cruder than the Dolphin's but it still is overall a far superior unit. I haven't had to manually brush my walls in a couple of years.

[ryguy]

How exactly do I program the BD to use the 3-hour cleaning cylce? (I don't have the Remote model -- just the regular BD). I re-read the owner's manual and I don't see any mention of it at all.

[CarlD]

How exactly do I program the BD to use the 3-hour cleaning cylce? (I don't have the Remote model -- just the regular BD). I re-read the owner's manual and I don't see any mention of it at all.

Oops...I don't know. I have the Remote model.