My Dolphin: Now I'm getting rid of it

[hzz]

Carl, could you post a link to Pool Doctor?
Couldn't find it with google.
PM it to me if you feel its not appropriate to post it.
Thanks
Zane

[Rescue30]

You'll have the video/pics by tommorow ! I should have done them tonight when the pool was filthy after last night's severe thunderstorms and shown how good a job it does.I must say I have not had a problem with the cleaner in the last 2 seasons or this one yet .I did forget and left the power supply out this past whole winter and it developed a little rust on it , nothing major and totally my fault , as well as the antenna breaking off the power supply, I called water Tech and they told me send them the whole power supply and they will replace the antenna or buy a new one for $20 , and they'l ship it to me, wasn't to happy with the options but went with the $20 way and had it the next morning via FedEx .

[CarlD]

Carl, could you post a link to Pool Doctor?
Couldn't find it with google.
PM it to me if you feel its not appropriate to post it.
Thanks
Zane

Here it is:
http://www.pooldrstore.com/index.htm

I'm not recommending the Blue Diamond yet-I'm merely buying it and I'll test it for the 14 trial period. I won't recommend a robotic cleaner again until I've used it for three years without a problem. Or at least I will always add a caveat.

Meantime, I have gotten Maytronics' attention finally to how serious this is. They are upset, seriously upset, which is wise. I wouldn't be so upset myself if I hadn't sent the unit to SmartPool and had it sent back saying NOTHING was wrong.

[Unabomber007]

Carl or anyone else,

If you are interested: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=250003346333& If this doesn't work the seller is superaqauaman or search for Aquabot Viva

This is the clone of the Blue Diamond Remote Control. This auction is for a scratch and dent model with a full warranty. I did the "make an offer" thingy and he bit for $1100. That's a DAMN good deal considering you can't touch a Blue Diamond Remote Control for less than like $1500ish in my fanatic price shopping.

Cant wait to play with my new toy and I'll post my review when I get it and find the time to use it.

[CarlD]

Thanks, but I don't think so.

I've already ordered mine, and gray market purchases frequently won't have the warranty honored by the manufacturer. I got a VERY good price on it anyway.

For those of you with dolphins with problems, I'd contact Maytronics directly. You'll have to eMail them. If the service guy for them says "OK", I'll post his name and eMail at Maytronics.

[jimwnola]

Interesting thread. As an owner of an Aquabot and Pool Rover Plus in the past, I always wondered if I would have done better with a Dolphin or Tigershark, etc. The Tigershark intrigued me because of the filter cartridge sounded easier to deal with than a filter bag, but haven't ever read from someone who has used both to compare.

As for the "computer" controlled steerign, I am also very skeptical. As far as I can tell from the aquabot, all it really does it go back and forth, and relies upon the weight of the handle to move sideways at the waterline before, going down in a different area. Then, as it fills up with crap in the filter bag, it spends more time cleaning the bottom of pool due to added weight. I see no sign of anythign sophisticated. Anyhting that disrupts its movemetn on water line, like steps or certain corners can disrupt its "plan." That said, when it didn't get stuck, it did have a better chance of coverign pool than my pool rover plus, which apparently can't handle an oval pool.

[brent.roberts]

If you read the advertizing on all these units the BS becomes self evident.

The travel speed of a Dolphin is supposed to be 50 feet per minute.
a 16 x 32 pool would work out to less than 50 feet long including slope up and down, and end walls.

The width inclujding sides would be about 24 feet.

If the cleaned area was only 1 foot wide, allowing a generous amount of overlap on each pass, the surface should be cleaned in less than half an hour.

1 length of 50 feet at 50 FPM takes 1 minute
24 lenghts = 24 minutes.

So why does the average model come out of the box with a 6 hour cycle and the programmable units have settings up to 8 hours ????

It would seem they have absolutely minimal intelligence and rely on random patters with about as much programming and learning as a Kreepy Krawly.

[hzz]

Guess I should chime in here with a defence of the dolphin. I have both the dolphin and the aquabot turbo.The aquabot is going on 7 years old...I bought the dolphin expecting the aquabot to die but so far it has survived all my abuse.

My dolphin is still going strong, into it's third year now.It cleans my 20x40 pool overnight easily,without missing any spots.

Maybe I have just been lucky so far. The blue diamond looks interesting...it will probably be my next cleaner if and when I need one and providing Carl gives it a good review.

[CarlD]

Hey, "Defense" isn't the issue.

I would DEARLY love to never have started this thread because my Dolphin was STILL doing a bang-up job. But it's not. It's messing up after just under 2 years.

I would really, really like to NOT have to be buying ANOTHER cleaner, when this one should run forever. Barring that, I wish I had gotten appropriate support from Smart Pool. I haven't. I sent it to them once and they didn't do or find anything.

I hope your Dolphin runs forever. I'm not being sarcastic either. I hope that my communications directly with Maytronics will light a fire under Smart Pool's saddle and get them doing the job of customer support better.

[KirstenHW]

What's a pool buster??