Roomba, Dysons, Thermomix and other household appliances

[TheRealTMA]

Does anyone have recommendations for a pool cleaner robot?
I have finally convinced my 83year-old mother to get one.

Local 16 year old?

 

[Quickstatus]

I don't have a pool creepy crawly or robot.
I set the pool level so the floating leaves can fall into the skimmer box which is cleaned out. Not having a pool hose into the skimmer box means that floating leaves can float into skimmer box. I get most leaves that way. A creepy crawly with hose means leaves will have to sink and fall to bottom then sucked up with robot/creepy crawly.

I know when the skimmer box is full because the flow out of the fountain reduced.

Once a month or two, I manually vacuum the bottom using a telescopic brush attached to the pool hose.

I have chlorine and acid dosing pumps which sucks chlorine or acid out of the pool shop drums.

Better than robot or creepy crawly because these things often stop working because of not enough suction or the suction inlet is blocked or it does not completely vacuum every part of the pool

 

[Quickstatus]

3 days of accumulation without a creepy crawly or robot. Leaves float into skimmer. Using a pool hose prevents this. Ensure pool water level allows this - Too high means the water level is above the skimmer inlet and leaves can't float in

Pool thread???

 

[Pushka]

View attachment 423849

3 days of accumulation without a creepy crawly or robot. Leaves float into skimmer. Using a pool hose prevents this. Ensure pool water level allows this - Too high means the water level is above the skimmer inlet and leaves can't float in

Pool thread???

The ability to use this as the only method of cleaning depends on trees located near your property. Our neighbours had a massive eucalyptus that covered our backyard. There was a cycle that lasted 9 months. First Bark. Big peeling strips of it. Did not float but sank to the bottom. Then blossom. That formed a scum on top. Then the hard nut case. They sank to the bottom. Then all the time, leaves, some would sink others would float. We would love to just use your system but our vacuum would get clogged with debris every single day.

 

[Quickstatus]

massive eucalyptus

I have one in backyard 20m from the pool. The leaves are from nearer trees. Luckily never had bark in pool.
Scum on top is best fixed my my above method - it also floats to skimmer.
I still get leaves and carp in the bottom but most are already in skimmer before it sank.

but our vacuum would get clogged with debris every single day.

Thats why I went from vacuum to the above method. The creepy crawly would get clogged all the time.

 

[tgh]

IF pool maintenance was a simple as managing the handful of leaves in Qs' pic.. we would all be happy

 

[Pushka]

I have one in backyard 20m from the pool. The leaves are from nearer trees. Luckily never had bark in pool.
Scum on top is best fixed my my above method - it also floats to skimmer.
I still get leaves and carp in the bottom but most are already in skimmer before it sank.


Thats why I went from vacuum to the above method. The creepy crawly would get clogged all the time.

The bark is the worst as it sets a stain immediately so we have to be vigilant in removing it. The tree was regarded by their arborist as having to be removed as it dropped full on limbs into our place and cracked our pergola. They refused they did 'judicial pruning'. One weekend we spent the weekend removing their tree carp. Went out to the shops Monday morning and it was back to a cess pit.

Of course as soon as we told them we were moving, they chopped down the tree. The RE Agent said that likely many would not have considered purchase because of that tree so at least that's something.

We have always had a pool vacuum cleaner. Some are better than others. Our last one, which around 9 years ago was $1200. But it was a lifesaver.

 

[tgh]

In the forest surrounding our pool we have many very large Libidibia ferrera trees. They are quite magnificent but have deciduous phase in early summer where they shed twice and make the most unbelievable mess. The pool is a magnet and the bottom of the pool will be carpeted daily.
The Polaris driven by a big pump will scoop it all up if one keeps emptying the bag but it is almost a full time job.
The robot is useful for picking up the heavy particles that the Polaris fails to stir into suspension for the filter to remove.

 

[Quickstatus]

IF pool maintenance was a simple as managing the handful of leaves in Qs' pic.

I've got it down to a routine.

In 2023 no green pool

Every 2-3 days
Empty skimmer basket

Every week
Check chlorine and acid tubs and replace as required
Check chemical pump
Check pool filter pressure

Chlorine and acid dosing set to 2 in summer and 1 in winter. The acid is diluted 1:3 and the pump runs at 1:10 compared with chlorine . 5L acid goes into 15L tub and diluted with water. Chlorine pump runs directly off chlorine tub, no dilution.

Every week in summer
Fill up pool to correct skimmer level as required

Once a month
manual vacuum pool.
After vacuuming pump backwash filter
Fill pool to skimmer level

Check timers to coincide with solar depending on time of year

Check pool chlorine level and ph when I go to pool shop to replace chlorine and acid

If heavy rain increase chlorine and acid pumps to double for a day.

In 2023 no green pool

 

[Denali]

Does anyone have recommendations for a pool cleaner robot?
I have finally convinced my 83year-old mother to get one.

 

[tgh]

but is it programmable @Denali ?

 

[SuePa]

but is it programmable @Denali ?

Who cares!

 

[Quickstatus]

@SuePa
It seems the cordless pool robots are not as good as the corded robots.
The cordless ones can only run for short periods (1hr) between battery charging and because of battery they dont have as good suction.

Corded ones are powered from a box which provides DC power. The box needs to be located near the pool. The box is then plugged into a normal AC power socket. This can be a problem if there is nowhere to locate the box which should not be on the ground - mount it on a wall apparently, and there is an issue of a power cord running from house to box in the backyard.

 

[TheRealTMA]

@SuePa
It seems the cordless pool robots are not as good as the corded robots.
The cordless ones can only run for short periods (1hr) between battery charging and because of battery they dont have as good suction.

Corded ones are powered from a box which provides DC power. The box needs to be located near the pool. The box is then plugged into a normal AC power socket. This can be a problem if there is nowhere to locate the box which should not be on the ground - mount it on a wall apparently, and there is an issue of a power cord running from house to box in the backyard.

When leaves get too much for my sunction cleaner, I unplug the filter / chlorinator and run the robot from that plug when I need. Worst situation with takes three of four hours with empty leaves every hour or so after each run.

 

[tgh]

i agree with @Qs , battery power does not suit a pool cleaner
Some pools do not have a convenient and safe power source so a battery cleaner for a small pool might be an option

 

[SuePa]

@SuePa
It seems the cordless pool robots are not as good as the corded robots.
The cordless ones can only run for short periods (1hr) between battery charging and because of battery they dont have as good suction.

Corded ones are powered from a box which provides DC power. The box needs to be located near the pool. The box is then plugged into a normal AC power socket. This can be a problem if there is nowhere to locate the box which should not be on the ground - mount it on a wall apparently, and there is an issue of a power cord running from house to box in the backyard.

We visited Mum's local pool shop (who have been a great help to her since Dad died) and had a long discussion with the very knowledgeable pool lady and a few helpful customers, who added their experience and ideas.
Mum ended up buying a Maytronix Dolphin Active X6.
I got it set up, downloaded the app and showed her how to use it, but I wasn't able to put the trolley together because there was a panel that had to be pulled off to screw the handle on, which I couldn't get off. Mum took it back to the shop on the Monday and they had trouble too (made me feel better ), but eventually got it off.
So it's all working beautifully and Mum is very happy. She does have a little trouble lifting it from the pool, but she takes the basket out and lets as much water as possible drain and can then lift it to the edge of the pool.
Thanks to everyone for ideas and advice!