Pool Cleaner Review



The best performing robot is...

The envelopes please... My Pool Cleaner Review and pick for modest (relative) cost and high end cost. But first, a few words about the other machines.

I am sure that Maytronics builds excellent Dolphin brand pool vacs, Dolphin pool robots are manufactured in Israel.

The biggest difference between Aquabot and Dolphin?. Aquabots are user-repairable or repaired locally. Maytronics Dolphin machines must be taken to a dealer and the dealer sends it out for repair.

The second big difference: Aquabot uses drive belts, Dolphin is direct drive. I love the idea of direct drive to eliminate the need for belts but if ANYTHING gets jammed in the drive system, toy or even an acorn, the electric circuits will suffer irreparable harm.

Third, Aquabots across the board weigh less.

Click here for a series of emails from a visitor asking for, and getting a clarification of my recommendation.

Scroll down to write your own pool cleaner review OR read my other reviews OR read what other robot owners have to say at page bottom.

Opens the envelope...I have used all the robots mentioned in this pool cleaner review.

My favorite cleaners, Blue Diamond, Aquabot Bravo, Aquabot Turboand Aquabot Turbo T-Jet (or similar models). American made Aquabot Turbo/Tempo/model G is a fast, reliable machine that works and is reasonably priced. I have owned an Aquabot for many years of great service. Add

disposable filter bags and you have both a clean pool and time to enjoy it.

AVOID Aquabot S2-40 and S2-50. Scroll Down For This Pool Cleaner Review


Aqua Quality Pools offers a better deal for the Turbo Model G by including a tune up kit. This kit includes a set of replacement belts, 2 stepped rollers, 2 drive tracks, 1 pair PVA brushes and a fine filter bag. These are parts you will eventually need and buying separately + shipping costs can easily mount to more than several hundred dollars. For international shoppers, I asked Aqua Quality about 230 volt power and they said: "YES - WE HAVE 230 VOLTS / 50 HERTZ TRANSFORMERS THAT CAN BE RETROFITTED INTO THE POWER SUPPLY BOX. FOR AQUABOT, AQUABOT TURBO, AQUABOT TURBO REMOTE CONTROL, AQUABOT PLUS REMOTE CONTROL, COMMERCIAL MACHINES TOO. ALSO FOR POOL ROVER ALSO FOR BLUE PEARL, BLUE DIAMOND, BLUE DIAMOND R/C, BLUE DIAMOND PRO"

The Turbo cleans faster, twice as fast, than a basic Aquabot. If cost is a factor buy the regular Aquabot. In fact, the Tempo/Turbo is faster than most other robots.

A word about the Aquabot Pool Demon model T. It looks like a hybrid. The pump of a basic machine and the motor of a Turbo

Aquabot parts are readily available from many dealers. Try finding the cost for a replacement pump or motor for any other brand. Actually, just try finding a pump or motor for other robots. All machines break sooner or later and I want to know the price of the most expensive parts up front.

Simplicity of design, conservation of moving parts and weight were factors I used to make my selection. Weight matters a great deal when pulling a water laden machine from the pool.

The Turbo T2 and T4 Look like great machines, however they have many more parts due to clutch rollered, piston actuated, hydraulic steering. The T4 is a T2 with remote control. God help you if the very expensive T2/T4 freezes.




The Turbo/Tempo/Model G is everything I want at a great price. Simplicity, fast, weighs just 16.9 pounds and has a minimal amount of moving parts all for reasonable cost.

Do you need remote control? Not for 500 bucks. The idea is to throw the robot into the water and walk away, NOT drive it around the swimming pool.

My second choice based on cost, simplicity and operational efficiency is the Aquabot Turbo T-jet for both in-ground and above ground pools. See my pool cleaner review below for more information.

TOP SHELF PICK

I love the Aquabot Bravo and the Blue Diamond pool cleaners. They are identical machines and come equipped with bigger, better and faster drive motors and pumps. I have gotten 6 cleaning cycles before changing my disposable filter bag.

The internal programming allows more time on the floor and less time on the wall and The wiring harness is less susceptible to corrosion.

The Bravo and Blue Diamond machines I used for this pool cleaner review cleaned my 18X36 pool in 2 hours or less. The only negative: The high speed will cause the robot to glide over large accumulations of sand with out sucking it up.

If you can afford the cost, get a Blue Diamond or Aquabot Bravo. No disappointment with either.

Parts for Blue Diamond, Bravo and Aquabot cleaners are mostly interchangeable with regard to drive belts, rubber brushes, tracks, bushings, stepped rollers and wheels.

You can expect many years of outstanding service from your pool cleaner. You must remember that it is a machine and all machines break down sooner or later. It is important to get the maximum performance with a minimum number of parts.

Buy an Aquabot Tempo/Turbo?Model G/Bravo/ Blue Diamond new or buy one used. Just buy one! Start enjoying your swimming pool.



HOW TO SELECT THE CORRECT ROBOT FOR YOU (new window)

Aquabot S2-40

Aquabot Bravo Viva Review

Aquabot Plus RC Review

Aquabot T2 T4

Aquabot Turbo T-Jet

Dolphin Pool Cleaner Review

Dirt Devil Rampage

Water Tech Blue Diamond/Blue Pearl

Aquavac Mako Shark, Tiger Shark

Polaris 9300 Sport

Above Ground Pool Cleaners

Pool Blaster Review

Portable Pool Cleaners for Pros and Homeowners

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Read Other Visitor's reviews

Click below to see Reviews from other visitors to this page...

Aquabot Classic, broken more then it works 
This is my second aquabot in 5 years. The first one lasted 3 years then broke. It cost me $250 to fix it and that lasted 2 months. Second aquabot …

Aquabot Bravo III 
I bought a Aquabot Bravo III, two years ago. I wanted to try it for a while before I commented. I have pine and oak trees around the pool. I have to use …

Aquabot T4 RC 
We bought our Aquabot T4 RC in the summer of 2007. We paid approx. $1,800. for it and thought that if we took care of it, it would last for several years. …

Aquabot Turbo Repair Parts 
This site recommends aqauquality pools for repair parts. Everytime I order from them they screw up the orders, and make me jump through hoops to get the …

Dolphin 
Purchased in 2006. Repaired in 2007, 2008, 2009 broken again in 2010 (same issue- motor failure). Dolphin will not cover due to warranty expiration. …

Blue Pearl 
We owned our first Blue Pearl (made by Water Tech), for three years until the motor developed a problem. The machine performed beautifully and was a workhorse …

Emails Clarifying My Pool Cleaner Review 
ORIGINAL EMAIL: Hi. Can you please clarify. Is the Turbo/Tempo/Model G one model or three different models? Is your current recommendation still to …

"Antique" Aquabot® Mark V 
My brother & sister-in-law gave us our 'bot present WELL over 10 years ago & it performed flawlessly for ~8 seasons. Without the benefit of this site, …

Dolphin Pool Cleaner 
I had my Dolphin for a little over two years. Basically it works pretty well. The internal sensor does a great job to make sure the robot does not spend …

dolphin diagnostic 
A great machine till it breaks. I own two. The first broke when I powerwashed the deck and water entered the power supply. $380 please. Nah I think …

kreepy krauley Parts Ripoff 
Bought one seven years ago and replacement parts were made of same quality and lasted quite awhile. Replacement parts I have purchased recently only lasted …

Aquabot Turbo 
Love it. The kids have all moved away so I'm now the pool boy. Purchased my Aquabot at the beginning of the season and haven't hand vac'ed since. I'm …

Polaris ATV Review 
I purchased this product, thinking that you pay for what you get. Well in this case it was a bad decision. It broke in the first week. I took it to the …

Hayward Navigator 
Not good for my big pool with a deep end. I have owned two now. When I went to replace the first one, I was looking for another brand because it would …

Pool Rover Plus 
I ended up buying a Pool Rover Plus from Costco. The plus model is designed for in ground pools. It can climb walls, if the angle between the wall …

Aquabot T2 
I bought an Aquabot turbo T2 two years ago and it was one of the most poorly built pool cleaners I have ever seen. It didn't make it through the first …

Dolphin Plus Cleaner 
I cannot recommend the Dolphin Plus cleaner (Maytronics). It's expensive ($1350 in 2005), quit working in 2 years time, cost $118 to have packaged and …

Dolphin Orion Pool Cleaner 
I bought a Dolphin orion 2 years ago. It worked and performed great until the middle of last summer. For no reason it just stopped running. I took it back …

Blue Diamond 
We have used the Blue Diamond robotic cleaner in our 28x18x40 L shaped pool for 3 full seasons. It cost $1,200.00 and midway thru season 2, the drive …

Robo Kleen #2906 
This automatic above-ground pool cleaning robot worked well for one season. For the $250 we paid for it, the cleaner did a fine job, aside from occasionally …

Nitro Wall Scrubber 
The Nitro Wall Scrubber manufactured by SmartPool Inc. is the best cleaner I have ever owned. My inground pool is 22' X 44" with an 8.5' deep end. The …

Dolphin Dynamic DL2020 
In the 4 years that I have owned this product, the motor died twice in less than 4 years. The first time the motor died, Maytronics replaced it. Now …

blue diamond by water tek 
STAY AWAY!! STAY AWAY This cleaner has so many problems: 1. it advertises cleaning the pool in 90 minutes. To do this it has to go so fast that it …

Aquabot 
I do not know if I should say I love it...It does a great job and moves inside the water occasionally. Since I bought this 2 years ago, I had to bring …

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Aquabot 
Manufacturer does not stand behind product! Have had two motors go in two seasons. Want $300 to fix. gave me the runaround while product was under warranty, …

Aquabot S2-40 
Avoid this pool cleaner. Has two bags to clean instead of one and no disposable bags are available for it. Cleaning the bag is the worst part about owning …

Blue Diamond 
The Blue Diamond worked ok for about 1 year. Then it started having problems stopping against a wall and never moving. Over the past 2 years I typically …

Aquaproducts Pool Demon Turbo (Red) 
Product was fine for about 3 months, then both motors failed, oil coated our pool from "unleakable" motors. Al Bar, a service manager at Aquaproducts …

Aquabot Top Access Not rated yet
Lasted 2 years 6 months before the drive motor clapped out. $1,200 to replace. Company wiped their hands. Do not buy an Aquabot.

Aquabot Supreme Not rated yet
Purchased the aquabot supreme robotic cleaner a week ago. Have only had it in the pool twice but it has done a terrific job cleaning so far. We are still …

Aquabot spins around in circles Not rated yet
My aquabot jr. is only 2 and 1/2 months old an it stopped cleaning its regular pattern and now turns in circles. The company wants me to send it back for …

Turbo T2 Not rated yet
I wish I would have read the reviews posted here before purchasing my Aquabot Turbo T2. The reviews mirror my experience with this product. Within …

AquaBot Turbo Not rated yet
I have used AquaBots for more then 20 years. I do my own repairs. I have a 20 x 40 by 10' deep ingroung pool. I did vacuum the pool BEFORE I purchased …

Dolphin X5 by maytronics Not rated yet
The company I purchased it from, Back Yard Supplies in Idaho, is useless.They will sell it to you,take your money and then you are on your own. Do not …

DOLPHIN DYNAMIC  Not rated yet
Dolphin Dynamic broke after 40 days (bad power supply) I am now waiting almost 2 weeks after several phone calls to maytronics, for a lousy shipping label …

dolphin supreme M5 Not rated yet
After one week of use power supply became intermittent. Many times unable to get it to turn on. After one month power supply complete failure, unable …

Aquabot Turbo Disposable Bag Not rated yet
We never had a pool before we purchased this house, excited that we purchased the previous owners aquabot we thought cleaning the pool would be easy. It …

Blue Diamond Pool Cleaner Not rated yet
Pros: Very Efficient, Easy to clean, Cleans to the Tile Line, Sponge Rollers SCRUB, Easy to use, Get's the job done Cons: Expensive - but worth it, …

Aquabot T4 Not rated yet
Got the Aquabot T4 2 years ago for $1400! It worked well for 1 season, after that, it needed constant attention: the vacuum bag needs to be changed very …

Blue Diamond RC Not rated yet
The Blue Diamond worked fine for 6 seasons. In Ohio that's about 4 months. After that the remote stopped working so I could not program it. Soon after …

aquabot tempo Not rated yet
I have owned an aquabot tempo for the past 3 years and it has been nothing but a headache. I had bought it in June and it was sent back to the manufacturer …

Blue Diamond Not rated yet
I own a small pool cleaning company I use the vacuum on about 14 pools a week and have only had one issue the motor went out after 3 months. I received …

Dolphin Diagnostic is crap Not rated yet
This cleaner was a big mistake. Never worked properly not even out of the box. Costs to return/repair were extremely outrageous. This pool cleaner is garbage …

Dolphin Supreme M5 Not rated yet
I purchased my cleaner from my local pool shop in Australia about 12 months ago. It cleans brilliantly! I said I would never have another Robotic Pool …

Dolphin Supreme M5 Not rated yet
I purchased a Dolphin Supreme M5 robotic pool cleaner about 12 months ago. It is the best pool cleaner I have EVER owned. The top access and ease of …

Polaris Not rated yet
Polaris Trade Up Rebate is part rip off because they want you to pay for sending the whole body of the old cleaner before they will pay the rebate. So …

Blue Diamond Not rated yet
This cleaner stinks. It goes too fast to pick up bottom dirt. Have to run it two or three times before the pool is clean. the motors burn out every …

Watertech Blue Diamond Not rated yet
This started out to be a great machine; with a 90 min. cleaning cycle it cleaned the pool nicely. However after less than 3 years use it stopped working. …

Aquabot T4 Not rated yet
As our pool person appeared to be loosing interest in doing more than Opening/Closing and weekly chemical checks it was apparent we needed to find an alternative …

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Aquabot T2 Not rated yet
The Aquobot T2 was a great machine for the first year. Since then I have sent it back for repairs at least twice per year at a cost on average of $350.00 …

Blue Pearl Not rated yet
It cleans well, but the motor died 2 days before the one year warranty was up. They replaced the motor for me under warranty which lasted exactly one year …

DOLPHIN DIAGNOSTIC Not rated yet
I BOUGHT MY FIRST DOLPHIN CLEANER AND IT WORKED GREAT FOR 3 YEARS AND THEN FAILED THE WAY A LOT OF THEM DO. IT WENT BACK/FORTH FOR 3-5 MINUTES AND STOPPED. …

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