Best pool cleaner

[TheNewPoolGuy]

I own a 12' X 20' Doughboy ABG pool. I am interested in buying the BEST pool cleaner that will pick up fine stuff, like sand on the floor. Please email me with your suggestions. I had a Polaris 65 and it was OK, but it did not pick up fine stuff on the floor. Is Wanda the Whale a good product?

jimmybecxxxxxxxx (I actually removed it for you--Lisa is right. PoolDoc is always fighting off "The Barbarians At The Gate"--CarlD)

Thanks,

TheNewPoolGuy

[Watermom]

Hi NewPoolGuy! I also have a Polaris 65 and it does well on the big stuff --- leaves, twigs, helicopters from the maple trees, etc. But, I also found that it would not get the dirt, dust, sand. I recently bought a Wanda the Whale and she does a good job on this finer stuff. She randomly "walks" around the pool slowly and she gets it all. I got it for $100 from Amazon plus $12 shipping.

BTW --- you might want to edit your post and remove your email address. Lots of email harvesters out there searching for emails to pick up off the web and then fill with spam. Probably better to just let people reply to you here on the forum. (You can click the blue EDIT button in the lower right-hand corner of your post.)

Hope this helps.

[CarlD]

What you can do to improve performance in the short term is throw a handful of cotton or sheet cotton, the kind you buy in the First Aid section of drug stores, into the Polaris's catch-bag. Much of the stuff that passes through the bag will get caught in the cotton, improving cleaning.

I used to use a Polaris 165--bigger version of the 65-- and that really helped.

(may be using it again as my Blue Diamond has to go to the shop).

[Watermom]

I, too, used the cotton in my Polaris 65. It did help some but not enough. I still needed something else to pick up the finer stuff. The Polaris 65s "swooshing" around stirred up most of the dirt into suspension which would then get redeposited on the pool floor when the water settled back down.

[PBLsQuad450]

Hi NPG, thanks for the post. Good question. I have an Aquabot turbo gathering spider webs. Expensive machine too. Maybe it is just that machine vs. other products, but it feels like it is the difference between "picked up" and "clean." I kind of figured the brushing you give the pool when you vaccuum the old fashioned way was just as important? Maybe I am wrong? Maybe the Aquabot could get back out there? Although it always misses a spot or 2. Cleaning the filter bag is a big annoyance too. Takes lots of nozzle pressure with the hose. Takes a while. Just vaccuum? Any opinions would be greatly appreciated...

[TomC]

I have an aquabot turbo remote model, that i purchased when I had my pool installed in 2001. It was probably once of the best purchases I've ever made. I put it in the pool probably once a week, right before bed, and I wake up to a sparkling clean pool. It even climbs the walls and scrubs them too. Cleaning the 2 micron filter bag takes about 5 minutes, no more.

It has been trouble free all these years, with the exception of needing new drive belts, which cost 20 bucks and which I installed in about 15 minutes. I live in NY state, and my pool is open from Memorial day to Labor day, so your mileage may vary.

Also, I'd much rather take the 5 or 10 minutes to set it up and put it away, than hauling out all the vacuum paraphernalia. As a matter of fact, even though my pool came with a vacuum set, I have never used it, just the aquabot.

Tom