Question About Robotic Cleaner

[maddie0929]

Hello! I am new to this forum and I have a question. We just purchased a Pool Rover Jr, actually it just came today. We have had alot of problems with out pool the past few years from all kinds of algae. water mold etc. The vaccum that came with the pool did a great job the first year (5 years ago) but since then has slowly declined in performance and year after year with the problems we would have to change out the sand and hoses making sure all the algae was gone. so this year when removing the cover from the pool.. it ripped.. dumping all the leaves and dirt into the pool!!! so needless to say the pool was very nasty!! We put the vaccum in and after a few minutes we would have to pull it out and unclog..... so we decided to research robotic cleaners and decided on the pool roverjr... so we put it in today (we tried to get as many leaves out that we could with the net... our deck doesn't go all the way around the pool so this made it harder) so the rover would go for a few minutes and stop so we would have to pull it out and clean the bag.. we did this about 5 times and it still didn't get everything... so we re read the directions and I even got on the internet to see if I could find out any more info... nothing... so we are wondering are we doing something wrong or is it that it is just so dirty from all that mess on the cover it's just going to take a while to clean?? All the dirt got pushed around so it's green so we really can't see anything yet till it settles back down. It got alot of stuff when it was in there. I just thought I would ask on here before calling the number.. just to see if anyone had any personal advice. I just know I am glad that I didn't have to get in there, I'm the "pool girl" around here... that stuff was nasty!!!

Thanks alot!!!

Missy

[imnay]

Hello! I am new to this forum and I have a question. We just purchased a Pool Rover Jr, actually it just came today. We have had alot of problems with out pool the past few years from all kinds of algae. water mold etc. The vaccum that came with the pool did a great job the first year (5 years ago) but since then has slowly declined in performance and year after year with the problems we would have to change out the sand and hoses making sure all the algae was gone. so this year when removing the cover from the pool.. it ripped.. dumping all the leaves and dirt into the pool!!! so needless to say the pool was very nasty!! We put the vaccum in and after a few minutes we would have to pull it out and unclog..... so we decided to research robotic cleaners and decided on the pool roverjr... so we put it in today (we tried to get as many leaves out that we could with the net... our deck doesn't go all the way around the pool so this made it harder) so the rover would go for a few minutes and stop so we would have to pull it out and clean the bag.. we did this about 5 times and it still didn't get everything... so we re read the directions and I even got on the internet to see if I could find out any more info... nothing... so we are wondering are we doing something wrong or is it that it is just so dirty from all that mess on the cover it's just going to take a while to clean?? All the dirt got pushed around so it's green so we really can't see anything yet till it settles back down. It got alot of stuff when it was in there. I just thought I would ask on here before calling the number.. just to see if anyone had any personal advice. I just know I am glad that I didn't have to get in there, I'm the "pool girl" around here... that stuff was nasty!!!

Thanks alot!!!

Missy

There isn't enough information to answer all of your questions plus I'm no expert. Don't know size of your pool and make and model and HP of your pump, for example.

I would replace a sand filter with a in-line cartridge filter and, depending on pool size and water volume, maybe a more powerful pump plus have an experienced installer at a second water return and also a in-line chlorinator.

I don't think you can use a crawling cleaner for a massive dump of leaves and dirt into a pool - they are intended for regular use to clean light, daily debris. A crawling cleaner is nothing more than a automatic, self-propelled vacuum. If your manual vacuum has lost sucking power replacing that with a crawler won't improve things. The plumbing, pump and filter have to be clear and powerful enough to move the water strongly which is what creates the vacuum effect in your pool.

Whenever we get a lot of leaves or pollen in our pool we depend on using nets to scoop the leaves out along with the skimmer (plus we "cheat" - we have a center main drain.

You should be able to walk completely around a AGP with or without a deck to scoop up leaves and debris from a pool bottom.

So far as your problems spanning years with algae welcome to the world of pools plus if you have a typical AGP with a single water intake (the skimmer) and single water outlet it is very hard to control water conditions so you have to be dilligent with keeping PH and other water chemical levels perfect and then be very dilligent in regular shocking and regular application of algaecide.

We've enjoyed our above ground pool for around 20 years. Gotta say it's maybe been a bit easier for us as our installer/contractor wisely installed a second water outlet plus a main drain in the center of the bottom of our pool with a powerful pump to cycle our 20k gallons of water through the filter about ever four hours.

It's easy to maintain a pool if you are dilligent in your chemistry and scooping and vacuuming.

So sorry you've had such a struggle with your AGP. Hope it works out.

[poolnnevad]

I am no pool expert, but I am the owner of a rover cleaner too and can only tell you what experience I have had with him. We have owned him for 3 years now and I can tell you it will not clean big items or "loads of stuff", including large amounts of algae. He is meant to be used for everyday cleaning once the pool is clear of large debris. I usually use mine after we have used the pool or a storm to get out the fine dust and debris that people bring in the pool or gets blown in. He will pick up some leaves, but his performance lessens as he fills with debris. Also be sure to wash his filter bag out because he picks up a lot of very small debris that may not get picked up in the filter system. You need to wash it in the washer when he seems to slow down really quickly. Your pool will stay clean with rover, but you need to vaccuum with the filter system first and be sure much of the large items are out of the pool otherwise, rover will only make a pass or two in your pool before you have to clean him out.-- Good luck. PS- i too am the "pool girl".

[maddie0929]

well I ending up sending it back...after we got everything back to normal and everything was good.. looking great as a matter of fact, I put it in for regular vaccuming... little or nothing on the floor at all.. and it still wouldn't do it's job!! Maybe it was a defect but anyway I got a refund. Back to the old way for a while!

[Eric W.]

well I ending up sending it back...after we got everything back to normal and everything was good.. looking great as a matter of fact, I put it in for regular vaccuming... little or nothing on the floor at all.. and it still wouldn't do it's job!! Maybe it was a defect but anyway I got a refund. Back to the old way for a while!

I've had my pool now for 12 years, and it's under a maple tree. Early on, I bought a "Zippy" and later a suction type cleaner. I've learned that the only way to remove heavy leaf and seed pod debris is with a "rake" (wide skimmer with a bag) and a leaf eater, a device that connects to your hose and uses water pressure to vacuum up the big debris from the bottom. Once that's gone, the zippy or the suction cleaner will clean out the fine particles left behind.