The Dolphin RS1 is called a hybrid cleaner. It has tank tracks on the side that can go in forward or reverse and it is the only suction cleaner that can reliably clean the wall and steps of the swimming pool. The Zodiac MX8 uses the incoming suction to drive the head but is much more advanced than the Navigator. The feet flap around and make the head move around the pool in a spiral movement meant to prevent it getting stuck. The Hayward Navigator and its smaller version the Magic Clean have a system of paddle wheels that are spun around by the incoming water flow and the paddle wheels attach to feet on the underside of the head unit. The Hayward Navigator is American made and has a very different design to the footpad cleaners. The SX900 and the Dipper Max are examples of Chinese made footpad cleaners that are very well made and very reasonably priced. The basic design of the Kreepy Krauly has been copied and refined by many manufacturers including Chinese companies that are producing good quality, very cheap cleaners.
On top of the head is a deflector ring to help stop the cleaner getting stuck in corners. As the water is sucked through the diaphragm the head vibrates and that makes it move around the pool. Inside the head there is a device called the “diaphragm”, this is a rubber tube that is circular at one end and has a slit at the other. It works by having a large circular rubber pad that grips the floor of the pool and a plastic moulded head on to which are attached lengths of suction hose that connect to the bottom of the skimmer basket. The classic suction cleaner was the Kreepy Krauly, made in South Africa it became the most popular cleaner in the UK. The way they clean the pool is fundamentally the same for all the models, the big difference between the suction cleaners is how they move around the pool and how they don’t get stuck. They can be as little as £75.00 but can also cost close to £500.00. The cheapest and simplest swimming pool cleaners are Suction models. Cheaper cleaners seem to favour one end of the pool over the other end, the more advanced cleaners will cover the whole floor evenly. So they have to be left in the pool for long enough to get to every part of the pool floor. Electric cleaners have the capability to suck up much finer debris than the suction cleaners.Īll the cleaners work by randomly traversing the pool floor sucking up the debris. The big difference between the two (apart from the price) is that the suction cleaners send the debris to your sand filter but the electric cleaners keep the debris contained within their cleaning heads. Electric cleaners work from a low voltage electricity supply and use their own power to move around the floor and the walls as well as creating a vacuum to suck up the debris. Suction cleaners rely on the circulation pump of your pool to provide them with a through flow of water that sucks up the debris and makes them move around the floor of the pool. Here is an overview of swimming pool automatic cleaners, the differences and how they workĪutomatic Pool Cleaners fall into two basic categories.