Fix or Replace-Robotic Pool Cleaner?

[Hugh R]

I bought this one a NC-71 Nitro Wall Scrubber a little over three years ago for $660 delivered. When it works, its amazing. It went in three times for warranty work, in the first two years, and I had to FedEx it to Tempe, AZ, the closest warranty place. Now out of warranty.

Now its crapped out again, the repair guy on the phone "thinks" its probably the $300 non-serviceable pump, so do I, but not positive. Add in shipping $80 round trip, and repair, guess $40-$50, could be as low as $150 or high as about $450, and no warranty. I'd order the part, but he said it could also be the logic circuit, or the cord losing voltage, its all a sealed unit, so I don't want to order a $300 pump and find out that isn't the problem, then order something else and on, and on.

I do run the snot out of the thing, and it will pick up 100s of acorns and dirt like you can't believe.

I'm leaning towards buying a new different brand locally so I can drop it off for warranty work, or at least if it craps out I don't have to ship it somewhere. I didn't realize that there were no local dealers when I bought it online 3 years ago.

Three times in for warranty work in two years should tell me something. I paid shipping out, they paid shipping return. So I have about $120 in Fed-Ex charges during that time period.


Thoughts?

These things go from $600 to thousands.

[carambola]

well, you are going to get a new one

what didn't you like about the last one
what did you like about the last one

could you possibly create your own?

[Hugh R]

I just looked locally at Leslie's Pool Supply (local) and theirs are going for $1,200 to $1,800! I can't imagine they did a better job than my old one. Can't create my own, no economics in it. I really need a pool robot, due to where I live, lots of dust and oak tree acorns. I'm not cutting down the 100+ year old oak trees.

I may just buy a new replacement of the old one. It was excellent, and even with a few warranty repairs, it still averaged about $250-$300/year with life cycle and warranty repair costs to me. Well worth it considering how much time it would otherwise take me to clean the pool, plus it did a much better job.

I'm kind of leaning towards just buying another one of the same unit.

What didn't I like about the old one? It has a fine mesh bag for silt,which I get a lot of due to my locale, it would load up the filter bag and blow the bag off of it frame due to back pressure. It would continue to run with the bag off, which I believe introduced silt/dirt into the pump, hastening its demise. I could ameliorate that by not letting it run its 3 hour cycle and stop it and clean the bag after an hour or so to clean the filter bag. The schmutz that it would collect was amazing.

Hiring a pool guy doesn't work for me. When the wind blows, I'll scoop out several bags of leaves and stuff. Other times not much maintenance. I may spend times three days straight cleaning junk out of the pool and skimmer for 20 minutes and then weeks of no real service, depending on the wind. A once a week pool guy isn't going to work.

[Joe Bob]

Ask the service guy if they will give a credit on a trade in....buy one with a better rep and warranty.

[RWebb]

hire a pool girl

[GWN7]

Mine runs off the pool skimmer and the large debris is caught by the skimmer basket. The small dust is caught by the pool filter.

Hayward Aqua Bug Pool Cleaner | eBay

[lendaddy]

"non-serviceable" is generally not true, crack that sucker open and see if you can get a p/n on the pump. What do you have to lose?

[Hugh R]

Maybe I should look into one of those. Hooks to the suction on the skimmer? Does it climb the walls?


Randy, the wife probably wouldn't go for the pool girl.

[GWN7]

No it dosen't climb walls. Just does the bottom. I've had it for 6 years. No problems except in the fall when it tries to eat too many leaves. My fault for not skimming the leaves often enough. I have a 150 year old Elm, a Maple and two apple trees in my yard.

It's a simple unit so there is really nothing to break. The water suction from the pump activates the scrubber which also makes it move. So you have to empty the strainer often if the leaves are falling.

[RWebb]

you will obviously coordinate so the wife never knows about the pool girl

the pool girl should hook to the suction on the skimmer -- make her climb the walls

and remember the claim that pool girls are "non-serviceable" is generally not true, crack that sucker open

[Hugh R]

Randy, you obviously don't know my wife. "Suction on the skimmer, make her climb the walls, crack that sucker open", yeah, that's going to work. NOT.

[Hugh R]

GWN7 but it still all goes through the DE filter, so it has to be cleaned more often? With the robot that I have it cuts cleaning the DE filter from 4 to 2 times per year because the schmutz never gets to the DE filter. I hose it out of the robot's filter instead. Just wondering and evaluating my options and cost/benefit ratios.

[carambola]

so with your background, i'm thinking pneumatic

with a bag six times larger, maybe floated

[GWN7]

Originally Posted by Hugh R

GWN7 but it still all goes through the DE filter, so it has to be cleaned more often? With the robot that I have it cuts cleaning the DE filter from 4 to 2 times per year because the schmutz never gets to the DE filter. I hose it out of the robot's filter instead. Just wondering and evaluating my options and cost/benefit ratios.

I have a sand filter. A couple times a year I shut down the pump (same time frame I clean out the pump basket) and set the filter head to backwash which when the pump is turned back on pushes the grunge back out of the sand and out the drain hose. Then in the fall when I drain the pool down I pump the water down to below the intake/return lines by backwashing it again.

The only drawback to using this type of cleaner is you have to fill the hose with water before it works. Spring of the year when the water is still cold it's a tad chilly on the hands. You shouldn't have that problem.

[Rick Lee]

There are a lot of guys on Craigslist who get used ones and refurb them, sell them for pretty and with a warranty. I have a Hayward something that climbs the walls. I got it used for $150 and I think they're $600 new. It came with an 18 mos. warranty and then the kid gave me $25 for the broken Poolvergnuegen one I was replacing. I would never buy it from Leslies. If you have a local guy who works on your pool, he probably has an account at the local wholesaler and can hook you up.

[Drdogface]

Dunno what brand ours is but it does climb walls and gets a lot of acorns. We have to replace the wheels occasionally cuz they wear smooth and can't climb. I think a new one would be about $400 to maybe six tops. We have a salt system and tank filter with some kinda multi ply cloth we have to hose down once each season. Our pool is small...only 13K gallons. I'll check the brand of the 'crawler' and post later. It does a good job.

[dennis in se pa]

I have a Polaris pressure side cleaner. Has it's own pump. Has worked great for years. And yes it climbs the walls.

[byfdinky]

I had one for our inground that had it's own filter and I sent it back one week after watching it hang up on the ladder. The cord much always on the pool deck. I will vacuum it myself until my boys get older. Can't wait for Memorial Day!

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by carambola

so with your background, i'm thinking pneumatic pool girl

with a bag six times larger, maybe floated

fixed