When we decided to get a pool in our backyard, a big caution everyone gave me was just how much work maintaining it would be. Although my husband swore up and down he’d do all of the vacuuming, I knew better and insisted on an automatic pool cleaner. I told the salesman I wanted something I could basically drop in the pool and walk away from, coming back some time later to find the bottom of the pool clean.

The salesman suggested the Robo-Kleen Robotic Pool Cleaner manufactured by SmartPool designed for above-ground pools. It promised to work exactly what I’d asked for: I could just drop it in the pool and come back three hours later and my pool would be clean.

It was delivered with the rest of our pool equipment, so it was a number of weeks before we had the opportunity to use it. It comes out of the box assembled. The cleaner unit itself is a yellow plastic housing mounted on four green wheels. The wheels are soft but ribbed for good traction on the pool liner without damaging it. On the top is a fan which draws the water through from the bottom out of the top. There are two handles on the side of the cleaner unit making it easy to pick up to put in the pool as well as rocking the unit to get all of the air out when putting in the water. A 40-foot blue cord comes out of the top of the Robo-Kleen Robotic Pool Cleaner with a spring at the junction point for good flexibility and to help prevent cracking of the wire. This wire screws into the transformer.

Our first unit didn’t work. I placed it in the pool and could see the water moving through the unit and the fan at the top of the Robo-Kleen Robotic Pool Cleaner. However, the cleaner just stayed in one place at the bottom of our pool. We thought perhaps the freshly-filled water of the pool was too cold for it to operate and for a few days pretty much knocked ourselves out trying to figure out what we were doing wrong. The directions were basically drop it in the pool perpendicular to the pool wall, get the air out, and plug it in.

Finally we called the company, and they immediately informed us that we had a model which had been recalled. They faxed us a form and we cut off the cord and sent it to them. About two weeks later, a replacement unit arrived via UPS. The main difference I could see was that the 40-foot cord now had floaters on it so it would stay at the top of the water.

I have been completely amazed by the wonderful job the Robo-Kleen Robotic Pool Cleaner does keeping our pool clean. Because it doesn’t work off of the pool’s pump and filtration system, this means the water isn’t as stirred up while it’s making a criss-cross pattern across the pool. With the water not stirred up, much of the dirt and sediment remain at the bottom allowing for better filtering. The cloth bag contained inside of the Robo-Kleen Robotic Pool Cleaner filters out the tiniest particles, including algae and some bacteria. We had accidentally ended up with sand from the filter in the pool, and no amount of vacuuming seemed to be picking it up. The Robo-Kleen Robotic Pool Cleaner picked it up, though.

Maintenance is easy. On the bottom of the unit are four plastic tabs. I simply turn them to one side and take out the piece which allows the water to filter through and catch the particles of dirt, leaves, sand, and anything else that might end up in the pool (including small kids toys). The cloth bag is taken off of this framework and I rinse it out with a hose to get as much of the junk out before placing it back on the frame. Yes, it’s that easy.

When I told other pool-owners that I’d purchased an automatic cleaner, most were skeptical and a couple said I would have to vacuum the bottom anyway. Yes, I have had to, but that is generally only once a month if I use the Robo-Kleen Robotic Pool Cleaner twice a week. The bottom of the cleaner has plastic bristles around the holes into which the water is drawn. This gives the bottom of the pool a bit of a scrubbing. It doesn’t get everything off of the bottom, especially that residue that sometimes forms in pool, but the one time we had an algae problem and I put the Robo-Kleen Robotic Pool Cleaner in the pool, I could see on the bottom of the pool where it had gone.

The Robo-Kleen Robotic Pool Cleaner makes a criss-cross pattern which is adjustable based on a knob near one of the front wheels. When it reaches a wall, it stops for a moment and then reverses itself. After three hours of doing this, the Robo-Kleen Robotic Pool Cleaner will shut itself off. There is also an on/off switch on the transformer if I don’t want to run the Robo-Kleen Robotic Pool Cleaner for the entire three hours.

My biggest complaint is getting the Robo-Kleen Robotic Pool Cleaner out of the pool. Once it’s gone through the cleaning cycle and it’s sitting at the bottom of the pool. I have the choice of either pulling it up by the power cord or having to get my bathing suit on and go in the pool and take it out. The second option might not be too bad in the heat of the summer, but as the pool temperature is already down around 70° in September, I don’t look forward to having to do it much longer. I have to devise something to use to hook the handles without any danger of damage to the vinyl pool liner.

There are also plastic tabs inside the holes on the bottom of the Robo-Kleen Robotic Pool Cleaner which are ideally supposed to seal the holes as I take it out of the pool. This doesn’t happen every time and I have ended up with some of the debris I’ve just vacuumed up from the bottom of the pool right back in it.

The cleaner unit of the Robo-Kleen Robotic Pool Cleaner isn’t heavy when it’s not filled with water. The transformer is probably the heaviest piece of equipment and that sits on a corner of the pool deck. It doesn’t take up any noticeable room and can be kept plugged in with a cap over the electrical connection.

The Robo-Kleen Robotic Pool Cleaner comes with a one year warranty.

I’m very happy with the Robo-Kleen Robotic Pool Cleaner. It’s done a great job keeping my pool clean and made that part of my pool maintenance very easy. Since it doesn’t work off of the pool’s filtration system there’s less strain on that system and the debris stays on the bottom for easy pick-up.


Other pool-rlated reviews:

Sharkline Escalade Emerald Series Pool
Insta-Test Water Test Strips
Smartpool PoolEye Alarm

Intext Easy-Set Pool

Water Warehouse Online Store


© 2004 Patti Aliventi




Recommended: Yes