Having a swimming pool at home could be both a great and a bad idea. Though swimming and random pool gatherings with friends and family are fun, cleaning up, and maintaining its sparkling water and shining surface could be an exasperating task. That’ s why knowing how to choose automatic pool cleaners is a must for pool owners because let’ s be honest, just the idea of spending several hours brushing and scrubbing it already makes us cringe. But fortunately, we will not be concern about that any longer.
Automatic Pool cleaners are created to make the existence of each and every pool owner convenient and simple. With a range of various alternatives, you can definitely identify one that will match your requirements.
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How to Clean & Keep your Pool Clean
But before jumping into learning how to choose the best automatic pool cleaner for your pool, let’ s first get some of the pool maintenance basics straight. Because an automatic pool cleaner will not be able to do a great job if we don’t do our part first (yes I know, we still have to do some type of work anyway).
All swimming pools are actually different and so are their maintenance requirements. However, they all share one thing in common: The secret to pool good health is frequent, regular care. In case you choose to deal with common issues such as darkened water or faulty pumps by yourself, be sure to always consult the manufacturers’ handbooks prior to fixing or using the equipment. Even if you rely upon a service provider to take care of your swimming pool, you however need to do a few things by yourself to ensure your pool stays in great condition for years.
Clean out Baskets and Skim Debris (Every Couple of Days)
Skimming the pool’s surface by hand virtually every couple of days is one of the quickest and easiest ways to keep your swimming pool clean. Floating particles will inevitably sink, ending up being harder to remove. Skimming considerably increases the effectiveness of the pool’s circulation system and reduces the amount of chlorine you’ll need to put into your swimming pool. Clearing out filter containers approximately once a week likewise really helps circulation and reduces chlorine requirements. On aboveground swimming pools find strainer containers attached to the edge and within the pool deck of inground swimming pools. Just remove the plastic basket and shake it out; shooting the interior with a garden hose can easily help remove stubborn materials.
Clean the Pool Filter (Frequent Cleaning)
There are 3 types of pool filters: sand, diatomaceous earth, and cartridge. While there are many different maintenance techniques for every type, all of them need frequent cleaning depending on the kind of filter and how often the swimming pool is used. Cleaning the filter more frequently than suggested can actually stop the filtering process. A clean filter is much less effective than one with a modest volume of dirt in it because the debris helps catch other debris, which gets rid of dirt from the water. That being said, you never want to let the filter get too dirty. An indication that it’s your time to clean it, is actually a raise in flow between the pressure indicator and the flow meter. Clean up the filter whenever the difference gets between 10 (ten) to 15 (fifteen) pounds (4.5 to 6.8 kilograms) per square inch.
Check and Maintain Water Level
A great deal of water will certainly be lost all throughout the swimming season mostly due to evaporation and normal wear and tear, like splashing, swimming, and exiting the swimming pool. Whenever you get rid of debris with your skimmer through the week, that’s likewise a good time to check the water level. Ensure it doesn’t fall beneath the level of the skimmer, or else the water pump might get broken. In the event that the water is low, use a garden hose to bring it right up to safer levels.
If you drain your swimming pool to perform maintenance or as soon as the swimming season has indeed ended, beware to not let the pool sit empty for very long. As a general rule, it’s best to keep water in a pool throughout the winter months because the weight of the water counteracts with forces from the ground pushing up against the swimming pool from underneath.
Super Chlorinate Water
Natural contaminants like nitrogen or ammonia develop in a pool gradually. Huge amounts of such contaminants can easily interact with a pool’s chlorine to create chloramines, which produce that potent chlorine smell that lots of people associate with pools. To eliminate this strong smell, shocking or to super chlorinate the water from your swimming pool back to chlorine normal levels is necessary. While it may well seem counterintuitive, adding in a huge quantity of chlorine to a pool can make the undesired smell disappear. Some pools should be shocked once a week, while others can easily go a considerably longer time. Adhere to manufacturers’ guidelines before super chlorinating your swimming pool to get the very best end results.
Find and Repair Leaks
In some cases, it’s hard to identify if the levels of low water are because of a leak or due to evaporation. You can certainly find leaks in your swimming pool by performing a basic plastic tub test. Fill up a plastic tub 3/4 filled with water. On the inside of the container, mark a water line. Put the plastic tub in the swimming pool, and then mark a water line on the outside of the container. (If the plastic tub comes with a handle, remove it to enable much better stability while floating.) Allow it to float for 2 or 3 days. In case the water outside and inside the plastic tub has gone down the same amount, your pool is losing water as a result of evaporation. However, in the event that the swimming pool water level has gone down greater than the water inside the plastic tub, your swimming pool has a leak. That’s your hint to call a professional to have it fixed.
Things need to Consider before Buying Pool Cleaner
Now, in order to properly know what type of automatic pool cleaner to get for your pool, there are a few things you need to consider first. Let’ s see what they are:
Identify what kind of pool you have
There are two types of swimming pools depending on how they are built.
Number one: is the aboveground pool (Check the Review of the Best Cleaner for Above Ground Pool). These are pools that can be put together by the pool owners on their own. The majority of the aboveground pools are simple in shape and size and they are most likely for family use only. Pick an automatic pool cleaner that accommodates to the requirements of aboveground pools.
Number two: is the inground pool (Check the Review of the Best Cleaner for In-Ground Pool). This particular type is more concrete and it has a strong foundation. These are built by digging up the ground and shaping the pool within it. In case you have an inground swimming pool, choosing an automatic pool cleaner that focuses on this type would be perfect.
It is simpler to find an automatic pool cleaner for pools aboveground because there are just a few in the marketplace to choose from. Assuming that you have an inground pool, lots of other factors are needed to be taken into consideration.
Identify the volume and proportions of falling debris in your pool
If your pool is surrounded by plants, you probably have plenty of falling leaves that float on your pool. Or particles such as acorns, twigs, or flowers that are lying on the swimming-pool bed especially in autumn.
Pick an automatic pool cleaner that not just collects particles underwater, but additionally rises to the surface of the swimming pool to clean up floating debris.
If you just worry about the floating debris, pick an automatic pool cleaner that will solely run along the pool surface area but has no capacity of cleaning the pool bed.
Identify the elements and proportions of your pool
Does your swimming pool have multiple slopes, steps, and inclines? Pick an automatic pool cleaner that comes with the ability to climb up steps and inclines.
A lot of automatic cleaners do not perform a good job on difficult corners or just don’t climb up steps. Ensure to avoid these types of robots in case your swimming pool has too many steps and corners.
There are as well types that can climb wall surfaces up and down. In case you have an above-ground pool, well then this kind is not for you. Be sure that your swimming pool walls are strong enough for the machine to suck up to.
Identify the kind of pool floor surface
Is your pool floor irregular, flat, or rocky? Identifying what type of swimming pool floor you have is an essential aspect of choosing an automatic pool cleaner. There are automatic cleaners that have the capability of cleaning up even in pool floors that are not flat.
Is your pool floor made from vinyl, tiles, or fiberglass? Be sure to investigate first if certain automatic cleaners work or not to certain styles of pool floors. Normally, it does not matter however sometimes there are automatic cleaners who don’t work in glass.
Now let’s consider what you want the automatic pool cleaner to do
Once again this is easy: Altogether there are cleaners that fall into the following categories:
- Automatic Pool Cleaners that basically vacuum the floor of the pool, some of these have different types of brushes– Note: More capabilities typically imply higher costs
- Automatic Pool Cleaners that clean up pool floors, partial or lower wall, and the cove, — most of these have scrubbing brushes that also help the device climb up and also help in cleaning up.
- And Automatic Pool Cleaners that clean up the pool floor, wall, cove, and waterline—these types are usually the most sophisticated cleaners that include extra characteristics. It is very important to note that the majority of debris does eventually sink to the bottom
Scrubbing: As mentioned before, the low-cost units typically offer basic vacuum and or vacuum and basic brush cleaning, and that might be ideal for most above-ground or small in-ground pools.
And now that you know what you want your pool cleaner to do let`s take a look at some types of automatic pool cleaners.
ROBOTIC
Beginning at the very top when it comes to price and simplicity of use, robotic pool cleaners usually don’t require any type of effort from you whatsoever after you’ve configured them and released them in the pool. As the name would definitely suggest, they are really automated, therefore they are fully independent when they’re started.
They never require to remain connected to your swimming pool’s water circulation system or water pump. They come with their very own capture system or filter bag. They are actually, plug and play. Connect them into an outlet– using an accordingly long extension power cord obviously– and just let them loose in the pool. Leave and get back several hours later to a spotless swimming pool.
SUCTION-SIDE
Suction-side pool cleaners rely solely on your pool’s water pump to supply the suction to gather up dirt. They have a very long hose that will hook up to the skimmer in which the water input to the pump is. After that these cleaners become water-based vacuums moving all around the swimming pool in an established pattern to clean it up.
They are able to go rather high up on the walls of the pool and are actually really simple to use for swimming pool newbies. You will to have a healthy working poop pump, and also you’ll want to clear out the skimmer container and backwash the filter right after every use to clean it out. Several models have their very own filter bag however almost all depend on your swimming pool’s filter to catch the debris.
PRESSURE-SIDE
Pressure-side cleaners likewise rely on your pool’s filter and pump, but they make use of the water on the pressurized pump`s side, just where the pressurized water is actually being pushed from the pump right into the swimming pool.
When the pressurized water moves across the cleaner, it runs the wheels and produces a suction that sucks up debris and dirt. One more good thing about these types of cleaners is that they have their very own filter bags just like the robotic cleaners, therefore decreasing the damage on your pool’s own filter.
You are now ready to make a decision
Finally, just before making the purchase, it is essential to study the product first to ensure that what you are going to purchase is ideal for your pool. Meticulous and careful inspection, analysis, and pool evaluation are needed in choosing the right pool cleaner. Automatic pool cleaners are created differently and your pool is also different. Your swimming pool has unique needs and requirements. That is the reason it is very important- stress on important– to evaluate these requirements first before picking an automatic pool cleaner.
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