Hoping to get some feedback on peaples experience with how long these gadgets generally last.

I have a dolphin s200. About to start third year. It is having some issues (again) of starting moving a bit then stopping. In the past this has been fixable by taking some of the slop out of the tolerances around the front drive wheel and related bushing and gears. Unfortunately, this time my typical fix hasn't seemed to work. Ordered a new wheel and couple related parts that are relatively cheap and will see if that help. Not willing to spend a whole lot on repairs, as I feel the general quality is kind of poor and these are not made to last all that long.

Overall I have been happy and all along I have thought if I got 3 or 4 years out of it, I would be pretty satisfied. Trying to get a feel for whether the higher end units are better made and will last longer or if they are all basically the same and the best bet is to buy the basic cheaper unit and just replace as needed.

I've have my Dolphin M400 for about 4 1/2 years. It's been great, but I did have to replace the power cord. The swivel connection crapped out. That was $200.

I'm sure I will have to start replacing parts and pieces soon - maybe the floats and track. It' worked well, but like anything else, you have to do some maintenance on them.

Just hit 5 years on my Polaris 280 and it looks good. Previous one made it at least 5 years.

I have the Pentair Warrior SE, which is a rebranded S200 that started give me the same issue right outside of the 2 yr warranty period. Fortunately I had used a Mastercard to purchase the robot, and Mastercard offers extended warranty protection for one more year. I processed the claim through them and they paid out for a new motor unit assembly and I am back in business. Something to consider if you are still within 3 years (I think Visa has a similar extended warranty).

To address your issue of longevity, I read on a few forums and also talked to the pool store that I bought the robot from, and it sounds like its not an uncommon issue with these robots. With a new motor unit, hopefully I get more than another 2 years out of it.

Thanks for the reply. I had rounded up on the 2 years part and actually have a few more months. Reached out to Marina Pools to see if they could help.

Yeah talk to Seth at Marina. He was really helpful in troubleshooting and ultimately helped process my warranty claim.

For you guys who have robotic units and are starting to have trouble - can you comment and how many days/week you would leave the unit in the pool and how many cleaning cycles/week you have it running?

I just switched over to a Dolphin S20 Active from a Polaris....night and day difference in pool cleanliness so far.

Absolute said:

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Thanks for the reply. I had rounded up on the 2 years part and actually have a few more months. Reached out to Marina Pools to see if they could help.

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I'm terrible at pics but I was about to say check the timing of your purchase as I think we bought around the same time. My first was an out of box fail.

https://imgur.com/a/7Joyzks

I pretty much leave mine in the pool and run it daily.

That is the failure point of mine on all the issues I have had up to now. The bushing intersection with the larger wheel allows way to much slop which causes the gap you show in your picture with the motor gear. I tried buying new bushings and they were the same. My solution was to wrap the bushing with Teflon thread tape to make it bigger and then the large wheel stays in place and engaged.

This time that didn't seem to fix it. But I did not have a lot of time to mess with it. Found a source for replacement large wheel online for 8 bucks. Ordered a couple to try.

Unit seems to run through its test cycle when out of the water, but stops in the pool. Will play with it again when the new parts get here. Will also see what type of response I get from marina pools.

Have also noticed that the plastic cap that holds the wheel in place has warped. Which is allowing a wooble in the wheel which could also be a problem. Not sure if I am getting new caps. Found a whhel "kit" online at marina pools that had them but it was out of stock.

Not sure of a diy way to fix the cap. Would be a great thing for a 3d printer I guess.

I leave mine in the pool and run it daily. It only really comes out when we are using the pool.

Not many trees around me, so I run about once a week. I only keep the robot in when cleaning and then take out to clean and store in my deck box.

I leave mine in the pool all summer. Run at least one cycle four or five days a week, maybe more if I know for sure we will have a lot of people in the pool on the weekend.

I take it out and store it in September/October.

New wheel parts did not fix my issues, though it did significantly improve the slop in the fitting at the wheel/motor gear.

Contacted Maytronics CS and so far they have been pretty responsive and helpful. Tried their troubleshooting suggestions and they didn't fix it. Sending it in for warranty service. Have to pay to ship it to them, but they cover everything else.

rme said:

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Just hit 5 years on my Polaris 280 and it looks good. Previous one made it at least 5 years.

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Mine's 22 years old and still going strong. Easy to repair. Unless the main body gets cracked or broken for some reason, there's really nothing that can't be replaced.

texsn95 said:

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rme said:

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Just hit 5 years on my Polaris 280 and it looks good. Previous one made it at least 5 years.

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Mine's 22 years old and still going strong. Easy to repair. Unless the main body gets cracked or broken for some reason, there's really nothing that can't be replaced.

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Bought my house with existing pool with a Polaris 280 approx 4 years old. Put a rebuild kit on it last year and runs like a champ. Stays in the pool 365. Runs for 1 hour twice a day. (I have two large trees near pool)

ETA - the hoses are a whole 'nother thing. Always replacing hoses. Probably because it stays in the pool. Just a minor aggravation.

For those with the Polaris 280, what do you do about dust/pollen that settles in the bottom of the pool? Mine does great at picking up leaves and dead bugs, but there's always a fine layer of brown sediment at the bottom of the pool. Even if brushing daily, it remains. It'll get a little better, but as soon as we have rain or a windy day, it's back. I want to switch to a robotic cleaner with a very fine mesh strainer to actually pick it up and remove it, instead of just brushing it towards my main drains and hoping for the best (most winds up mixing with the water, swirling, and resettling elsewhere, only to repeat the process again). However, if there's another way that I'm missing, I'll gladly save the $900 and put it towards more pool furniture or whatever.

I have similar model Polaris. I switched to a fine mesh bag which solved that problem of "leftover" sand and silt on the bottom of the pool. You can find them at most pool supply stores online and Amazon.

555-PINF said:

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For those with the Polaris 280, what do you do about dust/pollen that settles in the bottom of the pool? Mine does great at picking up leaves and dead bugs, but there's always a fine layer of brown sediment at the bottom of the pool. Even if brushing daily, it remains. It'll get a little better, but as soon as we have rain or a windy day, it's back. I want to switch to a robotic cleaner with a very fine mesh strainer to actually pick it up and remove it, instead of just brushing it towards my main drains and hoping for the best (most winds up mixing with the water, swirling, and resettling elsewhere, only to repeat the process again). However, if there's another way that I'm missing, I'll gladly save the $900 and put it towards more pool furniture or whatever.

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I just hook up my hose and vacuum head and vacuum to Waste. Now that our pool is blue pebbel at the bottom (vs white), it's harder to see that fine stuff than it used to be.

malenurse said:

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texsn95 said:

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rme said:

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Just hit 5 years on my Polaris 280 and it looks good. Previous one made it at least 5 years.

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Mine's 22 years old and still going strong. Easy to repair. Unless the main body gets cracked or broken for some reason, there's really nothing that can't be replaced.

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Bought my house with existing pool with a Polaris 280 approx 4 years old. Put a rebuild kit on it last year and runs like a champ. Stays in the pool 365. Runs for 1 hour twice a day. (I have two large trees near pool)

ETA - the hoses are a whole 'nother thing. Always replacing hoses. Probably because it stays in the pool. Just a minor aggravation.

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Yeah the stiff hose sucks in the cold water. A key is to have a good number of floats to keep the hose up. Some of mine were bad until I took them off individually and found some holes. I think I have about 8 and it rarely tangles itself up now. Replace the swivels too, I have 3.

Make sure to keep some wheel bearings handy (I get them from Amazon) and a few extra wheels. Any time you replace the plastic wheel screw, add some antiseize to the threads, or else sometimes they get frozen in and the head pops off next time you go to remove them. Then you have to carefully drill it out so you don't damage the threaded boss.

Thanks for the tips

I have a pentair kreepy krauly
It's always worked but gotten caught in steps and corner to my great annoyance

Should I buy a pump based robot
Or buy one thst you plug in wall?


I have the 3/4th hp pump.

I've replaced swivels but no question need a new hose.

Best place to order new robot and what brand recommend?

Marina pool and spa in Colorado. Dolphin s200 or similar (same model goes by a couple different model numbers based on market) they will talk you through it. You'll have to call them to order it, but they will FedEx it you and it will be the lowest price.
https://marinapoolspaandpatio.com/
My biggest decision point was that I was going to have to pay almost $200 for new hoses and unknown on other parts, so I just doubled it and bought the robot.

Robot is great. I have the s200/active 20 is great.

Update on Maytronics. Ground shipped kine for warranty service on a Wednesday. They got it on Monday. Delivered back to me that Saturday. Pretty sure they just sent me a refurbished unit. Works. If it lasts another 2 years, I'm happy.

agchino said:

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Marina pool and spa in Colorado. Dolphin s200 or similar (same model goes by a couple different model numbers based on market) they will talk you through it. You'll have to call them to order it, but they will FedEx it you and it will be the lowest price.
https://marinapoolspaandpatio.com/
My biggest decision point was that I was going to have to pay almost $200 for new hoses and unknown on other parts, so I just doubled it and bought the robot.

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Thanks
That's who I wanted.

Daddy said:

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agchino said:

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Marina pool and spa in Colorado. Dolphin s200 or similar (same model goes by a couple different model numbers based on market) they will talk you through it. You'll have to call them to order it, but they will FedEx it you and it will be the lowest price.
https://marinapoolspaandpatio.com/
My biggest decision point was that I was going to have to pay almost $200 for new hoses and unknown on other parts, so I just doubled it and bought the robot.

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Thanks
That's who I wanted.

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That's who I bought through last summer. I have the Dolphin Active 30i. Marina was super easy to deal with.

I will say the one down side is that no one really works on these locally anywhere in the Dallas area that I could find. You have to ship it back to Maytronics if you need it looked at.

My robot did stop working completely about a month ago. I had to pay to ship it to Maytronics but they basically replaced everything in it - motor, cable, tracks - and sent it back. It was all done under warranty even though I suspect it was partially my fault. It only cost me the $50 to ship it to them.

Overall that thing keeps the pool looking great. I am incredibly happy with it.

yeah

I am weighing all this in a vacuum

are these dolphins
so much better more reliable, and with repair/maintenance than just another pentair or polaris?

I have a pump so I am split because it is convenient.

My pentair has been so annoying but I wonder if getting a new one will work so much better.

anyone have a website to get pentair or polaris ones.

I like few parts, easy to maintain, and functional

but I like ones that clean well. that's been my biggest distraction

Have only used the robot, so I cannot compare either.

Can say the dolphin does a really good job of cleaning the pool. Think it is theoretically cheaper to run since the pump doesn't have to run to clean.

Has been relatively reliable. Like many things these days, it isn't the most solidly built thing in the world. But seems mostly adequate. Have had to take apart a few screws to clean it out when a leaf or something got in the impeller or to work in the gear tolerance issue.

Very happy with my recent warranty experience, as stated above, 50 bucks to ship it back and they sent a refurbished unit immediately. Had it back 10 days after sending it. Not terrible to me. If I can get another couple years out of this refurbished one, I'll be satisfied with my experience.

thanks for the feedback

I think you should get a good 5 years out of a robot if not longer.

but maybe my expectations are off

Would like to thin so as well. But my robot house vacuum experiences beg to differ and those didn't basically live under water.

I have 4 years in my head as a happy point. Figure I'm in at 800 right now. I think the general consensus is that the robots do a better job cleaning. At 200 per year I'm pretty happy, mine get some abuse as we have a lot of leaves in the winter and I basicly leave it in the pool running multiple times a day.

Think I will be likely to stick with my ijitial idea of buying the least expensive version. It does a good job, and I suspect is not significantly inferior to the ones that cost twice as much

Daddy said:

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yeah

I am weighing all this in a vacuum

are these dolphins
so much better more reliable, and with repair/maintenance than just another pentair or polaris?

I have a pump so I am split because it is convenient.

My pentair has been so annoying but I wonder if getting a new one will work so much better.

anyone have a website to get pentair or polaris ones.

I like few parts, easy to maintain, and functional

but I like ones that clean well. that's been my biggest distraction

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I ran a Polaris 280(bought a house with a salt water pool) for a couple of years and then replaced it with a Dolphin A20 two years ago. There is no comparison. The first time I ran the Dolphin I couldn't believe how much more debris it picked up. I'm still amazed how thorough it is.

I run the crap out of it. Typically once a day in peak season, sometimes twice when windy or we've had a guests over.

I'm not an expert by any means but I like knowing the pool is clean as can be. I believe it helps keep the water chemistry more stable.

I have a Polaris 3900 that was with the pool when we bought the house 7 years ago. I've done countless surgeries on it. New tires, new bearings, new inner gears, multiple nets, etc.

Thinking of biting the bullet and getting a new one because I'm tired of jacking with it and 7 years is a good spell. The booster pump is still good and I like the fact that the same computer controls the cleaner along with everything else. I leave it in 24/7 and only take it out when treating the pool or having guests over.

On the fence about whether to stick with Polaris 3900, downgrade to a simpler 280, or go electric/robotic.

if anyone here is looking for a Pentair we have a Polaris 280 for sale. College Station or North Houston area -- $500 Will throw in an additional fine mesh bag and foam for the tail thing. Nothing wrong with it just looking for something different.

AGGODDESS said:

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if anyone here is looking for a Pentair we have a Polaris 280 for sale. College Station or North Houston area -- $500 Will throw in an additional fine mesh bag and foam for the tail thing. Nothing wrong with it just looking for something different.

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U can get a new one for that or close