Pool cleaning

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El Cid
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Pool cleaning

Postby El Cid » Mon Apr 05, 2021 7:01 pm

It’s that time of year again when the pool is full of leaves and dust, even if you have a cover on it (somehow the rubbish still finds its way in).

We have always had major problems in the winter as the pool is 60m2 and an irregular kidney shape which pretty much rules out a sensibly priced winter cover (and I like seeing the water, not an acre of plastic, it’s an integral part of the garden design) . It is also surrounded by large flower beds and palm trees. After a couple of days of wind it looks like the Ganges after a funeral!

Dust has always been a problem living in the Campo so keeping it clean has always been a challenge. As last I have found a solution. Last summer I bought an automatic pool cleaner, not the sort that attaches to the normal vacuum hose, but the robotic electrical type. Think home robotic Hoover or robotic lawn mower. It charges around the pool and knows exactly where to go. It even climbs the walls and then moves sideways to clean the scum line. One hours use every day keeps it clean of leaves and dust at low cost, about 120w so very much cheaper than using the pool pump for hours at a time.

I now do not use the normal vacuum brush at all. If we have a heavy fall of leaves it takes only minutes to remove the worst of them with the net and the robot takes care of the rest. It is not cheap but, for me, it was worth the cost.

Even with that regime, the water still can get cloudy due to fine dust. I have used the normal flocculants in the past, but after the dust has coagulated it sits on the bottom and needs hoovering. I now use a jelly product which comes in a small block which you put into the pool pump filter. After 24 hours filtration the water is crystal clear. The theory is that the jelly coats the sand in the filter and increases its efficiency for very small particles such as fine dust. I have tried the little bags of floc that you put in the skimmers but they are nowhere near as effective.

The make of robot I have is made by Maytronics but it comes under many different brand names such as Dolphin or Carrera.

https://www.maytronics.com/residential-pools-en

The jelly cleaner is available on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.es/Aquamar-Gel-Zeofi ... s9dHJ1ZQ==

Hope this info may help someone with a rustic pool!

Sid

olive
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Re: Pool cleaning

Postby olive » Mon Apr 05, 2021 11:05 pm

Very interesting. Thanks

I am going to order some of the floc gel.

There are a bewildering number of the robots and as you say not cheap even offsetting the reduced electric cost. Any idea how durable they are? My pool shark works just as it did new. I am a bit concerned about something that gets seasonal use running out of guarantee

El Cid
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Re: Pool cleaning

Postby El Cid » Tue Apr 06, 2021 2:02 pm

Only time will tell, but judging by the number of large pool equipment suppliers who get Maytronic to manufacture bespoke versions, I would imagine that they are pretty reliable. Spares are widely available.

I have reached the point where cleaning the pool is getting to be too much effort and a robot is cheaper than employing a regular pool guy.

Sid

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Wicksey
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Re: Pool cleaning

Postby Wicksey » Tue Apr 06, 2021 3:09 pm

The jelly stuff looks interesting as we have problems with dust. I notice it says to put into the basket of the pump but as we only have a small above ground pool of about 13m3 we only have one of these type of combined filter/pumps https://www.manomano.es/p/sistema-de-fi ... -w-1019815
and we don't have a skimmer either, so we perhaps couldn't use this product. We only clean and refill the pool in late May/early June then tend to stop using it in September, so I may have to just put up with the fine particles for those few months that we use it. By the end of our short season, the water is quite cloudy.

olive
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Re: Pool cleaning

Postby olive » Fri Apr 09, 2021 9:49 pm

Sid, just been browsing Leroy webisite following store visit yesterday.

About the only suitable Dolphin machine is the seamaster plus.

Is there a better place online to shop on that you could recomend please? Might be interested in a pool cover too but I went through that a few years ago and dropped the idea

El Cid
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Re: Pool cleaning

Postby El Cid » Sat Apr 10, 2021 8:33 am

I have bought from these people in the past.

https://www.quimipool.com/10185-limpiaf ... JHEALw_wcB

I bought mine from Amazon, primarily so that I could return it easily if it didn't do what I wanted.

Sid

olive
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Re: Pool cleaning

Postby olive » Tue Apr 27, 2021 8:54 pm

Inspired by this thread and with excellent PM guidance from El Cid, I went ahead and bought some of the gel and also a robot cleaner. I got mine from Quimipool. Super fast delivery.

I haven't used the gel yet but I am sure it will do the job.

Choosing a machine shouldn't have been too difficult but I guess it is like buying a car. Shall I have electric windows, self parking and so on? My OH said just buy one full of features so we settled on the 40i. You can choose where it goes and control it from a smart phone. Controlled by app. (only). Reading the reviews it seems that it doesn't work all that well with an iphone 6. That set alarm bells ringing and when the supplier confirmed it only worked by the app and I believe the smart phone has to be nearby that clinched it and we went for a "manual" model.

Operation is simplicity itself. Put it in the pool and connect up to the power, press on button and away it goes. Very clever system has it do all your pool in a couple of hours. You then fish it out and remove the filter basket. Mine was repeatedly full of gunge and debris. Initially I tried just cleaning it with a hose pipe but found immersing in a container of water and then tipping it up and repeating several times and then flushing with a hose pipe works for me. Once the pool is cleaner I will just flush with a hose.

The big clincher for me is the lack of use of water. I will still need to do some backwashes but nowhere near as many as normal. Another advantage is it uses far less electric than the circulating pump. Saves money and possible trips if household exceeds incoming supply limit. Oh and as Sid said it just does the job with minimal physical human effort.

Many thanks Sid for your help and the initial post. I have resisted calling it Sid, it is Portia instead (don't ask). We still have our Samsung Smart TV called Unicorn!


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