Hey guys! I decided to whip up a quick post on the new Automatic Above Ground Pool Vacuum that I recently picked up on Amazon. After posting about it on Facebook I have got a ton of friends messaging me with questions so I thought that I would put all of the answers in one handy dandy spot. **Spoiler** it’s made cleaning my pool 75% easier already!!
First off you can purchase the Automatic Pool Cleaner on Amazon (affiliate link) for about $150 CDN.
I had this permanent above ground pool built a number of years ago in our backyard. This will be our fourth summer with it I think. Our pool is an oval 12’x24′ approx. 48″ deep. The biggest problem that I have with the pool every year is cleaning it! I have a manual vacuum (you can kind of see it hanging on the side of the pool in the photo above) but I am too short to be able to stand outside of the pool and vacuum. Which means that I would have to climb in the pool to vacuum. And vacuuming such a large space takes a lot of time (about an hour manually). Time that I do not have, especially since we are often camping during the summer and when we get home we want to jump in the pool, not spend an hour cleaning it first.
So now comes along our new Automatic Above Ground Pool Vacuum (we’ve named him “Pete”). “Pete” the pool boy! LOL What this does is travel along the bottom and sides of the pool and suck up any debris that may have fallen onto the pool liner. It is extremely easy to set up and just plugs into the filter of your pool (where the manual vacuum would usually go). After assembling the vacuum head a bit and putting the hose together you submerge it in the pool. Make sure to release as much air as possible from the hose and fill it with pool water. I place the hose over my jet to help fill it with water. Place the hose into your filter intake with the pump on its normal setting and allow the vacuum to do its work.
I have used one of these Automatic Pool Cleaners before. My dad found me a used one at a garage sale that worked for a season before it broke down. This new one seems to be pretty sturdy and after reading the reviews on Amazon I thought that I would give it a shot. I let it run for at least an hour before checking on the progress. It does a pretty good job of picking up the majority of the debris on the pool liner. I would say about 90-95% of the bottom of the pool gets cleaned. It seems to miss a section at the far end of the pool, my old automatic vacuum did too. So I am not sure if that’s because our pool is too big, the hose is too short or just the unique shape of our pool. It also can get stuck on the ladder into the pool. It’s a good idea to either take the ladder out while cleaning or be around to keep an eye on the vacuum as it works.
This video gives you an idea of what the Automatic Above Ground Pool Vacuum should sound like and how fast it goes. I plan to put “Pete” to work as soon as we get back from our camping trips. When we pull into the driveway at home, I’ll plug him in then unload the trailer and by the time we’re unloaded the pool should be clean and ready for a swim.
Let me know if you have any other questions that I can answer!
