When it comes to maintaining a swimming pool, an automatic pool cleaner (APC) can make your life easier and your pool look beautiful all week long. Even if you have a pool service, they aren’t there but once a week to vacuum your pool. There are four ways a swimming pool can be vacuumed. We will go over them in this piece.
Manually Vacuuming
This is what pool service techs will do. It involves the use of a telescopic pole, a vacuum hose, a vacuum head and some good old fashioned elbow grease. You attach the vacuum head to the pole. The hose also gets attached. One end of the hose goes on the vacuum head and the other goes either into your skimmer or into your designated suction line. Then, with the pump on, you push around the vacuum head along the floors and walls of your swimming pool. All of the debris would then go into your filter. There are leaf canisters that can be attached to help catch the brunt of the leaves, but are not required.
Pressure Side Cleaner
These cleaners utilize a designated pressure line in the side of your pool. Instead of utilizing suction to vacuum, they utilize pressure from a separate pump known as a booster pump. A common pressure side cleaner is made by Polaris. These used to be very popular, but with the high energy costs, running an extra pump to vacuum your pool isn’t conducive to saving money. These cleaners do not use your filter, but instead, have a self contained bag that collects the dirt and debris. When it is full, you are responsible for emptying it.
Battery Operated Cleaners
Much like the manual vacuum, this requires you to do the grunt work. Although instead of a vacuum head, you put what looks like a giant dust buster onto the end of the pole. These have self contained canisters and come battery operated or with a rechargeable battery. I recommend getting the rechargeable ones because the battery operated ones require five D batteries, so you’ll spend a fortune replacing them every time they die.
Suction Side Cleaners
These are probably the most popular cleaners. They come with a head that attaches to individual lengths of hose. You measure to the farthest point of your swimming poo and then add one to two hose lengths. There are gear driven cleaners, diaphragm cleaners, tank-like cleaners, two and four wheeled cleaners. Whew! A lot to choose from. They all work ultimately the same way. One end of the hose, called the lead hose connects to the cleaner head. The other end of your hose strand goes either into your skimmer or into a designated suction line on the side f your pool. These cleaners put strain on your pump and all the dirt and debris goes into your filter. They are always in the swimming pool and when your pump turns on to circulate the water, the automatic pool cleaner (APC) starts vacuuming.
Suction cleaners go about ⅓ of the way up the wall of your pool, if you are lucky. We don’t want them sucking air because that can cause damage to your equipment. Except for the Mx8 Elite, these cleaners do not scrub the walls or the floor. People tend to settle for these due to the supposed high costs of robotic cleaners.
Robotic Cleaners
I lovingly call these “The Hummers of the Sea”. Why? Because they are built like tanks and are of top notch modern design and technology. A robotic cleaner is the only cleaner that will climb all the way up your swimming pool walls, scrubbing as it goes. They are completely independent from your pool pump and filter. All the dirt and debris gets collected into a self contained canister within the cleaner. They have a speedy cleaning cycle of a few hours and can then be removed from the pool. So, unlike suction cleaners, you don’t have the eyesore of 30 plus feet of vacuum hose hanging around.
If you have gone into your local swimming pool supply store and looked at some of their name brand cleaners, you probably almost died in shock at the price tag. They can cost as much as a starter car! But you do not have to pay a fortune anymore to get a quality, robotic cleaner. Do yourself a favor and get a robotic. It will save you time and make your pool beautiful day after day.
There are two name brand cleaners available on www.poolpartstogo.com that will do the trick without breaking the bank. Blue Torrent Stinger Automatic Pool Cleaner for above ground pools is one of them. The other is Blue Torrent MyBot Robotic Pool Cleaner for inground pools.
Have your pool cleaned and scrubbed without worry, expelling energy or spending 3 times the price of those other brands. See you poolside!
