Best Pool Cleaner

S. White:

Rating

I’ve had this product for about 2 1/2 months and have used it about ten times. On the plus side, it moves a lot of water and the filter bag catches all but the finest debris. For my purposes (small areas with coarse debris) it works fine. On the negative side:

As was noted elsewhere, using a “standard pole” with this is impossible unless the screw in the upper clamp is loosened, the clamp is opened up a bit, the pole is inserted and the clamp re-tightened. It would have been nice if the instructions had explained this.

And as was also mentioned elsewhere, the vacuum head is VERY difficult to remove from the nose cap. Not a problem for me, since I rarely need to vacuum tight areas, but it will be for some.

It also appears they didn’t use stainless steel screws in manufacturing, as the ones which hold the assembly together are already showing signs of rust.

Finally, I encountered a problem with one of the parts (nose cap) which was either manufactured incorrectly or failed prematurely. An initial phone call to customer service took a week to get returned (email worked a little better) and when I finally connected with someone (the manager), I was informed that the part was specifically excluded from warranty coverage on the grounds of “wear and tear”. I would have to purchase a new part (About $14). Given the age of my unit, the low usage, and the nature of the problem with the part I felt the denial was absurd. Ultimately, after a lengthy email exchange, the manager relented and they are sending me a “used” replacement at no charge. Not a great customer experience!

Tammy:

Rating

I wasn’t sure about this after reading some of the reviews but decided to give it a try. I am glad I did. We do not have tons of trees around our pool but every now and then we will get some leaves or sand in the bottom. I used to have to lug out the big pool vac. Now I just grab this and in 5 min. I am done spot cleaning. I have not had to use the big vac. all summer.

CRZadeh:

Rating

This is not a toy, and I wonder why amazon calls it a toy. I bought this vacuum from a local store in a sale. So far it has worked great. Very tiny particles pass its filter and cannot be collected. I added a piece of my wife’s stockings to the filter and now it cleans absolutely everything!

A. Abatangelo:

Rating

This is truly a must have product. We have a large inground pool, and it cleans it up quickly and easily. Great for the in between touch ups. I never bought the sand and silt bag because of the price, instead I use a cut down knee high nylon stocking, placed inside the bag it comes with and fold it over the rubber, this method picks up every last bit of sand (we live near the beach).

Michelle Patterson:

Rating

We have a swim spa by Cal Spas. Its construction is like a hot tub but it is larger — about 8′ x 15′ and 4′ deep. For the first year, we muddled along cleaning it before each use with hand-operated spa wand. Our swim spa is recessed about 3 feet with only the top foot above the deck level, which meant bending over to reach the bottom with the spa wand while pumping away by hand to do the cleaning. Given the size of the swim spa this was time consuming in addition to being awkward. I nearly always got both hands wet in the process. We use our swim spa all year round and actually more frequently in winter than in summer. It was no fun at all to be out laboriously cleaning the spa for 5-10 minutes in near or sub-freezing temperatures while the rest of the family peers through the window from the warm indoors waiting for the job to be done.

I began searching for an alternative solution and found the Pool Blaster Catfish. In addition to the Catfish, which does not come with a pole, I bought a “deluxe 3-piece telepole” for $35 (blue, 5′-15′ long). The pole installed easily (it isn’t practical to remove between uses and so needs to be stored with the pole intact once installed). We have had our Catfish since December 2007 and it is now April 2009. After over a year of regular use, it still looks and works like new! Cleaning the swim spa takes just a couple of minute now and is effortless and more effective compared to the spa wand. No more bending over or wet (frozen) hands. We love this product and completely recommend it to folks with a hot tub, swim spa or other small pool.

We live in the Seattle area and store our Catfish on the patio outside all year where it is plugged in between uses. I lean it up in a dry corner of the patio under an overhang protected from rain and snow, but still exposed to outside temperatures. So, this is a testament to its durability. The cleaning head easily twists off to remove and empty the mesh filter bag, which has roughly 1 cup capacity.

Our swim spa stays covered when not in use and does not collect large amounts of leaf matter so I haven’t tried to suck up big leaves or large quantities of leaves. Given the 1 cup bag capacity and the 1 inch diameter intake tube, it does not seem that it was intended for such use. Our swim spa does collect dirt, hair, grass, bugs, and small leaves (we have an 8 year old and 5 year old who get out, run around the yard, get back in — tracking dirt, grass, and small leaves with them). All of that settles to the bottom between uses and the catfish has plenty of power to vacuum our pool bottom fast! I even rated the catfish as highly fun and educational because my kids are fascinated by it and like to see what’s in the bag (especially if there is a bug involved).