Pool cleaners - which are good and which should I stay away from?

Approx 25KL pool here and at first the MX6 would tip onto its back in the shallow end. I attached the pipe floater just after the first pipe ended, in the hopes that raising the pipe slightly would keep it upright. Voila, no more chilling on its back staring at the sky

The MX6 has been running mostly without any issues for 18mths. An occasional twig in the fan, but it's still better IMO than the Kreepy flappers I tried for years before
 
flarkit said:
Approx 25KL pool here and at first the MX6 would tip onto its back in the shallow end. I attached the pipe floater just after the first pipe ended, in the hopes that raising the pipe slightly would keep it upright. Voila, no more chilling on its back staring at the sky

The MX6 has been running mostly without any issues for 18mths. An occasional twig in the fan, but it's still better IMO than the Kreepy flappers I tried for years before
Click to expand...
Maybe cause I've got a 50kl pool the old flappers just meander around doing their jobs :-) those "robot" ones sit in corners and chill
 
Lupus said:
Maybe cause I've got a 50kl pool the old flappers just meander around doing their jobs :) those "robot" ones sit in corners and chill
Click to expand...
The saying they don't build them like they used to applies here

The older poolsl have bigger radius corners and the bigger shape doesn't force the pipe to be a certain way and since the machine only follows the pipe gets better results

Newer narrow pools or kidney with small radius corners , and naturally stair that sticks out are the culprits that make MX/dominator types a must
 
Have a 50kl pool and have been using the old tik tik pool cleaners. Saw the Dominator on special for R1400 and decided to get it. Worked great for a month and then just stopped moving around. Went and got a replacement as it was under warranty. Before connection, cleaned the weirs, backwashed, checked the suction level using the gauge provided and then connected - worked great for a few hours and then stopped. Checked the baskets, little bit of grass in there, cleaned it out and then connected the Dominator again - it hardly moved. Checked the suction and it was out of spec - how?? Turned the adjustment valve, worked for a bit and then stopped. Went back to the old tik tik cleaner with the same suction level - the tik tik literally ran from one end of the pool to the other.
Any ideas why it was so finicky? Is my pump too weak? 0.75kw.
 
@Mr M
Very strange that the Dominator is behaving that way. I'm also using the Dominator, the middle one, not the lite and not the pro/viper models. Also have a 0.75kw pump. My initial experience was less than steller when I bought it late last year. I had also been using the tik tik pool cleaners, changed to the dominator and the thing hardly moved nor climb the walls of the pool. This was also after the filter sand (2 bag filter) was changed.

It was then discovered two pipe connectors were perished, right below the weir, that was causing massively reduced water flow due to air getting into the system. After this was fixed the Dominator runs like a champ, climbing the walls to the point it wants to get out and cut the lawn.

I suspect it could be something similar, as in air getting into the system somewhere. However it is difficult to tell with the flow meter as there is not enough restriction on the system using that device. The tik tik pool cleaners requires less suction power whereas the Dominator requires quite a bit more.

I use a Shelly PM to control the pump, as it has power motoring, the kw/h drawn from the pump is on average 0.72kw, with the Dominator connected and its pipes (3 extra than what came in the box). This is a clear weir basket and fresh backwash and rinse. When I see the power draw decreasing on the Shelly I know the weir is full and/or a backwash is required.

Hope some of this helps.
 
Have a look at how The Dominator runs when you Backwash or Bypass. When the sand in the dome is blocked it will cause the cleaner to run very slow. I have the same setup ( 0.72kw, The Dominator) and it's works for 5 years perfectly.

All the best
 
@Mr M

To check for a leak ie air getting in the system

Blocking the hole the kreepy goes in if the suction dissapears after a while then leak

If the vacuum holds no leak
Naturally the weir lid has to be crack free

This test can break a brittle weir lid
With the sudden shock
If you hear knocking as you block and open block ie water hammer effect it is as good as new

To eliminate sand as a factor
run on bypass
It bypasses the filter

So water from the pool goes straight back to the pool

If great on bypass and crap on freshly backwashed filter , then sand change is needed

(Sand changes are over precribed imo, but if it fails test above then yes)

Edit: note it will run faster without sand resistance so fon't get stressednout if it runs slower on filter vs bypass it is normal
 
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leon.davibe said:
@Mr M

To check for a leak ie air getting in the system

Blocking the hole the kreepy goes in if the suction dissapears after a while then leak

If the vacuum holds no leak
Naturally the weir lid has to be crack free

This test can break a brittle weir lid
With the sudden shock
If you hear knocking as you block and open block ie water hammer effect it is as good as new

To eliminate sand as a factor
run on bypass
It bypasses the filter

So water from the pool goes straight back to the pool

If great on bypass and crap on freshly backwashed filter , then sand change is needed

(Sand changes are over precribed imo, but if it fails test above then yes)
Click to expand...
Thank you for this feedback - I will try it out and see if running it on bypass shows the difference.
 
I'm on my second AX20 after around 3 years, the first one had a bad gearbox and I replaced both of those but then some other parts failed which I couldn't exactly figure out so just got a new one as the cost of replacing random parts and it just breaking again felt like a bad situation to get into.

They are really great cleaners imo, when they are working at their best.
 
qscwbt said:
MX6 keeps breaking. Replaced it with the kreepy dominator and its is by far the best cleaner i ever used.
The dominator do not get stuck. it eats palm seeds and leave strings and even stones with no issues.

View attachment 1790169
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Just to bad the new tune up kits dib't include wheel rubbers (it used to) so once the kit was fitted it was good as new

on smaller pumps lite model is a better choice imo
 
Lupus said:
Maybe cause I've got a 50kl pool the old flappers just meander around doing their jobs :-) those "robot" ones sit in corners and chill
Click to expand...
Yea if the pool is big with nice radius corners an old tik tik machine may work just as well

With small pools always go mx/AX/dominator imo

The robot ones inly chill in a corner until the gearbox does a reverse/_rotate function

With a tik tik once it gets stuck it stays in that spot all day

Most pools it isn't the case
But if you have this problem just get one of the gearbox types

Life is to short to baby sit a pool cleaner
 
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DrJohnZoidberg said:
I'm on my second AX20 after around 3 years, the first one had a bad gearbox and I replaced both of those but then some other parts failed which I couldn't exactly figure out so just got a new one as the cost of replacing random parts and it just breaking again felt like a bad situation to get into.

They are really great cleaners imo, when they are working at their best.
Click to expand...
Next time this happens check the wheels with track of a bad wheel bearing puts so much tension on it it just does not want to move
 
I am on my second dominator at the holiday home. It just works. Was planning on getting the tune-up kit. But after opening it up, it was just bits and pieces all over the show from the gearbox that shat a brick. |So I just replaced it.

Recently, I got another dominator for a friend's place. His setup is a bit of a clusterfsck.
The place he is renting atm has a pool with 2 x weirs. Fsck knows why. It divides the suction per weir in half.

He had an MX that was moeg, so I told him let me just get you a dominator and we plugged the one weir.
Now, everything is hundreds. Needed to add one more pipe for it to reach everywhere.

There are few things as mind-numbing as monitoring your pool cleaner when it starts giving shiiit.
Like watching paint dry.
 
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