Best Pool Cleaner

Rating

I purchased this product about 3 months ago. I had read all the reviews and decided the people that gave it a negative review didn’t quite know what to expect or how to operate it properly.

- Leave pools water very clear after running a few cycles when opening pool for season and then periodic use as pool gets dirty from weather/usage.

- Cleans to the water line** (explain more of this later).

- Climbs underwater sitting ledges, but won’t do multiple steps – no big deal though.

- Set up is easy as well as tear down.

- The Verro is fairly simple in design, therefore making it less likely to break down (in my opinion – the less moving parts, the better).

Based on what I’ve read from previous customers and having noticed the reasons for their statements/complaints I think they didn’t quite have the right expectations. I’m going to discuss a few and the reasons for them and the solutions (none of which are complicated).

When you first open your pool OR after the pool has gotten fairly dirty:

– The first thing you should expect is when you first start using the Verro, you should initially put it in your pool using the MESH filter bag. Depending on the size of you pool, let it run for 1-2 hours. THEN, take of the mesh filter bag and put on the FINE filter bag. Then let it run another 1-2 hours. You’ll notice your pool water gets much cleaner this way, especially after the pool filtration system runs a couple times – the water starts looking quite clear. Expect to follow those steps if you have leaves or pine tree buds in your pool – they will reduce the performance of the FINE filter bag too quickly and you won’t get the results you want if you just start w/ the fine filter bag w/ too many “larger” objects in the pool.

– If you just have dirt or pollen (that has floated to the bottom) in your pool, then you can start w/ using the FINE filter bag. Depending on the amount of dirt in your pool you may or may not need to take the FINE filter bag out to rinse out and then put it back on and run in pool again.

** The reason people are saying it doesn’t go to the waterline OR gets “stuck” in the deep end after a while is b/c the filter bag, either the MESH or FINE, is so full of debris and junk it has sucked up it doesn’t have the suction/force to push it up to the water line or up the hill to the shallow end. This is especially true of the FINE filter bag. Climbing to the water line is dependent on quick water flow through the filter bag and out the top jets. If the bag is full, water can flow through freely and this will be an issue. Even if all you have is dirt or sand on the bottom, the FINE filter bag does such a good job of catching it that the dirt can clog the filter bag after some time.

Take into account that I live in the dusty, windy Southwest: It was my experience when I opened my pool I had to run the MESH bag about 4 complete cycles to get all the big stuff out. Then I put on the FINE bag – b/c the water was so dirty (I didn’t even realize it was this dirty, it looked fairly clean to me) I had to clean out the FINE bag 3 times in the first 1-2 hour cycle. The next week I had to clean it out maybe twice in the same cycle. Now that the Verro has cleaned out most of the junk I couldn’t even see, it will run the entire 1.5-2 hours without the FINE bag needing to be cleaned. Granted after running 1.5-2 hours with the FINE bag it may not get all the way up to the water line, but it’s still moving around the pool.

Now, despite the brand name of “iRobot” this device is not robotic in the sense of their Roomba (which I have and absolutely love!!!). The Verro has to back wheels that are fixed (don’t move/rotate side to side), but the front wheels axel is fitted loosely (on purpose) so that the Verro moves in the path of an arch/curve. There is a plastic pin you can slip into holes on either side to make this arch more or less broad/sharp.

Occassionally it does appear that the Verro is covering the same swatch of pool surface over and over again (this is due impart to the shape and curvature of your pool AND the placement of the plastic pin in the front wheels); however, I’ve found that if you just let it do it’s thing it will eventually move to a new direction.

The Verro won’t cover every square inch of the pool floor, you may still see a strip of dirt it missed, BUT the pool is still MUCH MUCH cleaner than it was to begin with.

Despite the Verro reaching the water line it does not clean stuff floating on the surface (at least in my experience) – you pools skimmer should take care of that.

To clean the filter bags well I used a flat jet spray on the hose to rinse them off well and put them back on for back to back use when I was opening the pool and had to run the Verro almost all day. After done I put them in the washing machine inside out on delicate cycle, cold water Rinse cycle – NO DETERGENT! The spin cycle and hang dry is enough – do not use the dryer. I still hose them out before putting them in the washer though.

I give it 4-stars b/c it misses a few small spots & the loss of performance from clogged bags and need to clean out to restore performance when pool is dirty (however, it can be argued, “how clean do you want your pool?” A less FINE filter bag wouldn’t clean the pool as well. Perhaps there is some modification to the jet/vacuum fan portion that can be re-engineered to remedy this.

Although this isn’t what it’s intended to do, I wish it could clean the water surface. If the iRobot geniuses aren’t working on that solution I’ll be disappointed.

Rating

I decided to try the Verro 300. It did a superb job on most of the pool, but some areas were a problem for it.

Verro is a simple device. It has a long floating electrical cord that powers a vacuum pump that sucks water through a filter bag. The water is expelled out at the top horizontally which propels it around the pool. One wheel axle swivels a bit so it doesn’t always travel a straight line. A power unit sits outside the pool, tells the verro whether to shoot the water out forward or backwards. An adjustment dial allows you to set how long before switching directions.

There are two filter bags that come with the verro. A coarse mesh filter bag and a fine cloth filter bag. And the performance with each differs greatly. The coarse mesh filter bag with it’s tiny holes will pick up leaves but it won’t pick up fine dirt. That’s what you need the fine cloth filter bag for.

With the mesh filter bag, the verro does a good job traveling all over the pool. It climbs pool walls well all the way up to the waterline. The fine cloth bag tends to clog ALOT faster. Fine particles of dirt really do a good job of slowing verro down fast. When verro’s filter bags eventually gets clogged it can no longer climb UP a wall. And it also then tends to stick toward the deep end.

But whenever verro gets sluggish, you can just pull it out of the water, and clean the filterbag with a garden hose. Then stick it back in. I had a fairly dirty pools from some strong winds. And I had to take verro out twice to clean the filter bags. But otherwise it did a great job.

Verro does have some limitations. When it hits a 90 degree angle of a step, it probably won’t go up it. And a small spa is probably too small for it to operate in. (I just brush toward the drain in my spa) And of course it tends to stay toward the deep end, especially if the filter bag is getting dirty.

But all in all, I was amazed to see a very nice clean pool after a few two hour runs. Of course manual vacuuming is better. But then you don’t have to spend as much time yourself. And you don’t have to clean the pool filter after using verro. Which is a MAJOR plus.

So is this machine worth $700? It depends on the buyer. Vacuuming by hand the old fashion way is definitely better. You can probably vacuum faster and better than verro. But Verro does save you alot of work. Just brush the few areas Verro misses, and you will have a beautifully clean pool.

For me, it was a good investment. I’m happy with it. And I’ll be using it alot. Especially under a pool cover this winter!

btw, there is one more thing you will probably want to get with this. A GFCI adapter for your outlet. A small adapter that plugs into your outlet. It’s only $10-$30. But incase of an electrical surge, it will shut off the electricity. It’s recommended in the Verro manual. They sell it at amazon too.

Rating

I was on the fence about purchasing the IRobot Verro 300 OR the commonly recommended Polaris cleaners. With a $100 off coupon and a 30 day risk free trial, I decided to purchase the Verro 300. We have a large pool (20 x 44)and I was skeptical that this would work. After a couple weeks of using it and at least 3 calls to the technical support line, we decided to keep it and that overall it works very well. Though it isn’t written in the manual (I learned this from my phone calls) periodic-filter-bag-cleaning (for my pool anyway) translates to machine wash cleaning after each use. For those of you reading this, buy extra filter bags and keep one clean at all times ready to go. I found the hose method of cleaning the filter bag doesn’t work. Instead, I rinse the bag out with the hose and then I run it through the washing machine on the delicate cycle in cold water. It works great–climbs the walls to the tile line and gets both the deep and shallow end of my pool. Each time I use the Robot, it seems to go different patterns. Sometimes it runs vertically and others horizontally. My only complaint is it doesn’t get my shallow end steps. Since I know that, I brush the dirt off the steps before using the Robot.

Because the IRobot filters the water, I definitely notice a difference in the water…it appears amazingly clean and we haven’t needed to backwash our pool once. After the first couple weeks and learning the hose method doesn’t unclogg the filter bag entirely, the Verro 300 cleans my pool in approximately 60-90 minutes. We’re very pleased. It takes approximately 2 minutes to set it up and about the same amount of time to clean it when it’s finished.

Rating

We have used the iRobot Verra 300 for approximately 10 months in the southeast. We run in twice a week, each time for 2 cycles — approx 8 hours total each week. This seems to be more than necessary to keep the pool clean on a regular basis. Except with heavy fall leaves (when we used the coarse bag for a few weeks), we use the fine mesh bag and do not have any problems with it clogging. We turn it inside out, shake our the large particles (leaves, twigs, etc.), let it dry out for a day or so, and then shake off the fine particles (dust, sand, calcium flakes, etc.) when the bag is gry before the next use. This works just fine without washing or even rinsing the bag.

Unlike other reviews, we have not experienced the fine mesh bag clogging, and we have not experienced the iRobot Verra favoring the deep end. It seems to clean our entire pool (approx. 20×40), both shallow and deep ends, equally well.

Understandably, it does not work in the smaller 10′ diameter spa, and it only occassionally climbs up onto the steps, but those are easy to clean/sweep while the iRobot Verra takes care of the rest of the pool. Basically, it won’t climb a sharp radius (from spa floor to wall or from pool floor onto steps), but it climbs the sidewalls of the pool without any problem (which have smooth curves – this is an inground gunnite pool).

So, other than a few understandable issues, we are still very pleased with the iRobot Verra 300 after about 10 months of constant use.

Rating

I love iRobot (have a Roomba and a Scooba), and was excited to get the Verro. But I didn’t see how I could realistically live with a device that I would have to drop in and pull out from the pool with every use, as compared to a skimmer line-driven device. Then there’s removing the bag and washing it. Although I would not have to clean my pump filter as often, it just seemed like I’d be spending a lot more time on the pool than with a traditional pump-driven robot on my skimmer line. I do appreciate that the Verro likely cleans my pool better, and puts less wear on my pump. But I can’t quite justify the cost when there’s the additional time required.