Hence the "" quotes surrounding "power".
That's got to make it tough to locate where to hook up "via the hose".
You ought to start a pool cleaning robot college, require Eng 101, then take it. -----
- gpsman
I call my suction "sweeper" / cleaner a "robot"!
Technically, it's not a robot. All plastic and a few stainless steel screws.
It's not, because they don't have a hose.
Okay, I'll try to educate you, but you seem to not only be clueless, but proud of it!
What you need to understand is the difference between suction side and pressure side cleaners, and the self-powered "robots" that do _not_ rely on the filter system of the pool for "power," and which have no hoses.
The cleaner to which the original poster was referring to is what is referred to as a robot i.e. "
A pressure side venturi-effect cleaner with an auxiliary pump such as the Polaris 380, which I used to have, can be seen at "
The latter two use hoses and rely on either suction or pressure from the pool's filtration system (the Polaris uses an extra higher pressure pump in parallel with the filtration pump but both must be on at the same time).
Since the robot is able to do a pretty good job of filtering out small particals, unlike the suction or pressure side cleaners, it was a legitimate question that the original poster asked. However the robots can't filter the large volume of water in a typical pool, even if they were kept on for 12 hours a day.
I'll bet it works, and I'll bet most pool maintenance companies will eagerly sell you another one anyhow.
The way to tell if it works is to turn it on and check the water that comes out of it. Age and external rust (even internal rust) don't mean that something won't last another 20 years. (maybe with some maintenance or small repairs now and every few years.)
I'd tell whoever comes out that you're not replacing it. You can always change your mind later.
The "robot" pool cleaners are more similar to like the Roomba robot vac for the home. They have a computer inside and they cover every square inch of the pool, rather than going in random directions. They are self contained without relying on the pool's pumping or filtration system. Some of them will shoot a stream of water onto the pool surface to whip up dirt and algae so they can vacuum it up.
The big difference I found between a pressure side pool sweep (Polaris) and the robot I now have (Dolphin) is that the robot gets the pool a lot cleaner.
The problem with the Polaris is that it picks up leaves and larger debris, but stuff like sand or dead algae goes right through the collection bag (even the extra fine bag). It also required an inordinate amount of maintenance, it would get stuck in corners, and the parts were amazingly expensive. I.e. the collection bag would last about one season before splitting, and would cost $30 for a simple mesh bag with the requisite connector. I was constantly disassembling it to replace one part or another. Also, it required a second pump. The idiot that installed it (it was there before we bought the house) did not wire the timers correctly (the timers need to be wired so the Polaris pump cannot turn on unless the main pump is on) so when one of the timers failed, the Polaris pump came on by itself and self-destructed.
I've never tried a suction side cleaner, but I've seen negative reviews for ones like the Kreepy Krauly.
One other advantage of the robot cleaners is that they keep a lot of the debris from ever getting to the main pool filter, so the regular pool filter stays pretty clean. I only have to clean it once a year now, whereas with the Polaris I had to clean it every month (but the filter I had with the Polaris was also smaller, so that's not an entirely fair comparison).
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