Top positive review
9 people found this helpful
Trouble free, never gets hung up, and does a great job at pennies per hour.
By Lee on Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2015
I've tried several different styles of automatic pool cleaners but nothing worked well until I got the Pentair Kreepy Krauly Prowler 820. I've had traditional Polaris pressure-side cleaners to Baracuda style vacuum-side cleaners. My pool has some unique problems: Part of the pool has natural stone, instead of plaster walls, which are rough and would catch the other cleaners or hoses. Also, there is a grotto (cave) at the deep end with a roughly 2'x2' opening on the pool floor that goes into a separate area fed by waterfall. This opening was another trap for cleaners - they would get part of the way in and stall, with the hose getting caught on rock work surrounding the opening. The Prowler hasn't ever been caught by either the rocks or the grotto opening. This is because it has an auto-reverse that both (1) senses an obstruction and (2) periodically stops and backs up by itself. The power cable, which is like a small blue hose, floats and has never gotten tangled or caught. Cost to operate: It's very economical to operate because it's electric, consuming around 180 watts - much lower than running the pool pump for pressure or vacuum units. At 4-6 hours to clean most pools that's only about 1kWH which where I live is under 9 cents. Like all automatic cleaners, you need to clean it out. It has four small filters that need to be removed, hosed off, and put back in - a job taking about 8-10 minutes. The biggest problem with the cleaning process is lifting it out of the pool because its full of water and heavy. In cold weather this requires leaning over the side of the pool on your knees and dead lifting the thing up to the deck - you can't pull it out by the cord! In warm weather it will be easier because you can wade in and lift it out. Once on the deck, it will drain so you turn it upside down to remove the filters. It has made cleaning and maintaining the pool the easiest job ever. I used it to get the pool ready this spring after removing most debris (mostly leaves) with a leaf rake. It did the rest, although needing frequent cleaning. The picture shows the unit on the caddy (a sturdy plastic hand truck) which also holds the long blue cord and the power supply. The actual Prowler is slightly smaller than a 5 gallon pail on its side. Controls consist of a single power switch with blue indicator LEDs. There is also an amber LED which indicates the filters are full and should be cleaned. It seems to have a cycle time of 4-6 hours but I'm not absolutely sure of this since I only glance at it. The cost is comparable to most quality automatic cleaners. A new Polaris is almost as expensive and never did a great job for me.
Top critical review
10 people found this helpful
Excellent Choice of Robotic Cleaner
By Derek E. on Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2016
UPDATE 05/29/16 Thank God it decided to crap out on me within the return window. Third time using it, put it in the pool, it moved a foot or so and just stopped. Nothing. Tried again, wouldn't move at all this time. Unplugged it, reset it, power cycled it, etc.and I checked everything to make sure debris wasn't what was causing it to stop but it wasn't. From my research, these power supplies from Maytronics are very finicky and is most likely the culprit. Rather than deal with warranty hassles, I have decided to return it. I will say that it does a wonderful job cleaning and if you don't get a lemon, it's a great cleaner. The problem is, for me at least, it worked perfectly fine one day and then didn't the next. There were zero signs of an impending failure coming. Oh well, back square one I guess. END UPDATE Having previously owned a much cheaper robotic cleaner that went bad after two years of use, I decided to try one that is suppose to climb the walls and has actual scrubbing brushes instead of just a vacuum like my prior cleaner. This cleaner had my pool looking great in no time. I did have to run it a couple of cycles to get the entire pool to the condition I wanted, but this was my initial cleaning after opening our pool. The cleaner does a wonderful job of moving throughout the pool and it climbs the walls all the way to the waterline. The filter screens are easily removed and I like the fact that they are screens and not bags. This is important because the screens are easy to hose off and clean and emptying a bag is pretty nasty as was the case with our previous cleaner. The caddy is included to those of you who are wondering. This is the exact same cleaner as the Dolphin Nautilus that Amazon sells also. The difference is, this one includes the caddy which the Dolphin does not and the color of the cleaner itself is different. Also, there seems to be some question as to whether or not there is any warranty on the Dolphin since Amazon is not an authorized seller. However, with Pentair, there is a 2-year warranty that is valid from day one. The Kreepy Krauly is more expensive than the Dolphin by a couple of hundred dollars as of this review. However, Pentair is offering a $100 rebate so in the end, you spend about $100 more than the Dolphin. For me at least, the extra cost is worth it since it includes the caddy and the 2-year warranty vs. potentially no warranty with the Dolphin. The caddy, which may seem kind of pointless, is a very nice thing to have since it keeps it all together nice and neat and makes it easy to roll away and store when not in use. I can't tell you how many reviews I read of robotic cleaners, youtube videos watched, etc. before making this purchase. I will say this though, no matter what you do, buying from Amazon as long as you have valid warranty is so much more cost effective than your local pool store. I couldn't find a local pool store around me that could touch what Amazon was selling the same thing for. Plus, if you do have an issue when you get it, Amazon's return policy is so much nicer in that they don't charge a restocking fee should you need to return it.
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