Betta SE Plus

[maxBR]

Have had the Betta SE a couple weeks now and it's been great! But I notice it's using reverse more and more, like in the very middle of the pool when there's nothing in front of it. 5ft forward, then 5ft reverse, repeat 3 or 4 times and then maybe continue on its way. This is not great for cleaning since it lets out a lot of the leaves and isn't going to new areas.

I think it was this thread where another person mentioned this issue and to turn it off and on 5 times when it's doing that, which sometimes seems to make a difference and sometimes not. So what's the deal? Is this a sensor issue? Should they be cleaned or replaced if possible? When it just goes forward and saves the reverse for when it's actually stuck the thing is amazing, but this reverse problem is a bummer!

 

[Orion7319]

I’ve had toads hitchhiking the betTa. Orion up the highway had a rattlesnake. Today the paddle wheel wasn’t freely turning. Expecting to see pine straw wrapped around the shaft I found this snake very much dead. Sorry snake.

It was a copperhead We don’t have rattlers here, but oddly enough 30 miles away at kings mountain state park they do.

 

[maxBR]

The next generation of this needs a little brush to dislodge leaves sticking to the wall and a wall mode that should engage occasionally to follow the walls and get them.

 

[kaptainkr]

Thanks to this thread, just pulled the trigger on the Betta SE Plus. Found it on Amazon for $329 before a $21 coupon Link. Also bought the 3 year warranty from the Betta website. Appreciate the advice from this community.

 

[maxBR]

Well it was a great month and a half, my Betta isn't lighting up at all. It's not like it's the next morning and out of battery! It was 80 degrees and clear today and I found it dead at 9pm. Wwwhhhhhyyyyyyyyyyyyyy????

If I turn it off and on again it runs for about 4 seconds. Left it floating to see if it gets a charge tomorrow

 

[maxBR]

Was blinking red again this morning before the sun is even out. Weird behavior

 

[Katodude]

If it’s an SE Plus, plug it in and charge it up. Should last a full 24 hours then.

 

[maxBR]

It's not the plus. The next day the battery worked like normal but the last few days there's a new problem. It's blinking red and green. Even when I reset it and its blinking green for a while it doesn't drive around the pool anymore. It kinda bobs in place. The right motor is hard to spin so I'm going to make a warranty claim. There's no visible impediment to the motors.

 

[MikeTj]

We have enjoyed our Betta SE Plus for about 5 weeks now, and I HIGHLY recommend it!

Unfortunately, the power adapter plug and jack stopped mating. It seems the male pins pushed the female unions into the adapter. Betta is sending a new adapter because everything is under warranty.

My concern - though I'm not yet sure how to confirm/test - is that there is some galvanic reaction going between the plug and jack, because small amounts of moisture get into the jack even when I have it covered by the flap. I am guessing that the corrosion changes the dimensions enough to make the connection no longer smooth (it does get more difficult to connect).

Unfortunately, because the handle to lift the unit is on the front of the unit, and the electrical connection is on the back, water runs to the back when one lifts the unit from the pool and that's why a bit of moisture gets in. I've tried using Q-tips to dry the jack, but apparently have not had sufficient success to eliminate that moisture.

Again, I'm not certain of galvanic reaction - I would have thought that the metals of plug and jack were similar enough or same to reduce such problems, hence, I'm curious what others are experiencing.

The unit works nicely in the sun, but we have lots of trees and as the season changes, too, there is less sun for charging, hence, we need to plug in periodically.

 

[maxBR]

We have enjoyed our Betta SE Plus for about 5 weeks now, and I HIGHLY recommend it!

Unfortunately, the power adapter plug and jack stopped mating. It seems the male pins pushed the female unions into the adapter. Betta is sending a new adapter because everything is under warranty.

My concern - though I'm not yet sure how to confirm/test - is that there is some galvanic reaction going between the plug and jack, because small amounts of moisture get into the jack even when I have it covered by the flap. I am guessing that the corrosion changes the dimensions enough to make the connection no longer smooth (it does get more difficult to connect).

Unfortunately, because the handle to lift the unit is on the front of the unit, and the electrical connection is on the back, water runs to the back when one lifts the unit from the pool and that's why a bit of moisture gets in. I've tried using Q-tips to dry the jack, but apparently have not had sufficient success to eliminate that moisture.

Again, I'm not certain of galvanic reaction - I would have thought that the metals of plug and jack were similar enough or same to reduce such problems, hence, I'm curious what others are experiencing.

The unit works nicely in the sun, but we have lots of trees and as the season changes, too, there is less sun for charging, hence, we need to plug in periodically.

There are hand holds on both sides, but on the rear it's not as obvious of a handle with the space through it. I always lift it out evenly using both sides and it sounds like this would be a good idea to do for the plus.

To update my situation, I contacted Betta about my issue. They sent parts the parts right away without any back and forth and I had them in about 3 days. They didn't provide any instructions, but it was an easy fix, and my Betta is back in the water cruising around like before. Great warranty service! Props to them. The time it was down and out of the pool was also a great reminder of how many floaters I have without it! Love this thing, just hope I'm not a regular user of that warranty!

 

[Katodude]

The SE units seem to be much more reliable.

 

[MikeTj]

There are hand holds on both sides, but on the rear it's not as obvious of a handle with the space through it. I always lift it out evenly using both sides and it sounds like this would be a good idea to do for the plus.

To update my situation, I contacted Betta about my issue. They sent parts the parts right away without any back and forth and I had them in about 3 days. They didn't provide any instructions, but it was an easy fix, and my Betta is back in the water cruising around like before. Great warranty service! Props to them. The time it was down and out of the pool was also a great reminder of how many floaters I have without it! Love this thing, just hope I'm not a regular user of that warranty!

I think lifting it out by the sides is a good idea, thanks; I'll try that. Before even removing the unit from the pool, I did gingerly open the lid to peek in at the basket and noticed water on the jack rubber cap, hence, water is getting over there in any case - I'll bet that when the Betta travels under the Spa overflow waterfall it comes in then. Hence, I'll also wipe that down before removing the cap.

 

[MikeTj]

The SE units seem to be much more reliable.

Despite the charger connection issue, I like the Betta quite a bit. Does almost as well as my Beatbot iSkim Ultra and MUCH cheaper!

 

[Bill Winston]

I know it's end of season for a lot of people, but I have a full winter of pool maintenance ahead here in Texas.

I purchased the Scuba S1 (not the Pro) and the surfer S1 as they had a good deal on the combo. Scuba S1 works great and I'll be keeping it.

The Surfer S1 works great if you don't mind charging it everyday, but I have not been able to leave it in the pool and get it to charge solar - even on sunny days. It runs until 3 am or so and unfortunately I don't get full sun all day - but even after several hours in the sun it doesn't get to 30% so it doesn't run at all - ever - at that point. If I charge it just to like 40% it will run all day on solar and get to full battery.

My goal is to be able to leave for a week and have a skimmer do it's thing and even if not perfect and perhaps the hopper is full - I could get by. This one will only work for 1 day.

I'm thinking about switching to the betta se or the se plus. I have 3 concerns
1. I only get 4-5 hours of full sun this time of year. I don't need it to run more than a few hours a day though. The S1 never woke up.
2. the Surfer S1 has a VERY fine mesh - same as the scuba s1. How fine is the Betta SE? (I assume the Plus is the same?)
3. I see concerns about the SE Plus not being as reliable and perhaps not picking up as much and perhaps dumping contents of basket in reverse. Would those that got the plus still get the plus if they were doing it again?

I'm not sure how they will work the refund as it was purchased in a bundle - I may lose the entirety of the discount which could change things. I spose I could just return both and re-order...

Here is was is on the receipt.
809.98 Scuba S1
699.99 Surfer S1
399.99 Discount
838.99 Subtotal - I can't for the life of me get to this subtotal???
discount 81 = thanks to TFP for the discount code!
free shipping
728.98 Total - this is what was charged to my card.

So who knows what they will offer for a refund on the Surfer S1.

 

[Katodude]

So a lot to unpack in your post. But let me try to answer your 3 questions.

1. The SE Plus seems to have great battery life and pretty good solar cells. This time of year is tough as the sun is low. Here in Florida it is also very overcast (at least the last few weeks were). On a full charge with bad sunlight the SE Plus will run for about 48 hours. If is not overcast then stretch that to 4-5 days. This is pretty good performance in my opinion. Other than these 3 months of the year it will run full time just on solar.

2. The mesh is pretty fine. But that is a subjective term. I dont have any issues with the mesh. It will capture any type of debris I have in my pool.

3. This one is hard to answer. I have both an SE and an SE Plus. The SE seems to pick up more debris. Would I notice this if I only had the SE Plus, probably not. But I have never run just the SE Plus so it’s hard for me to answer that.

 

[Bill Winston]

So a lot to unpack in your post. But let me try to answer your 3 questions.

1. The SE Plus seems to have great battery life and pretty good solar cells. This time of year is tough as the sun is low. Here in Florida it is also very overcast (at least the last few weeks were). On a full charge with bad sunlight the SE Plus will run for about 48 hours. If is not overcast then stretch that to 4-5 days. This is pretty good performance in my opinion. Other than these 3 months of the year it will run full time just on solar.

2. The mesh is pretty fine. But that is a subjective term. I dont have any issues with the mesh. It will capture any type of debris I have in my pool.

3. This one is hard to answer. I have both an SE and an SE Plus. The SE seems to pick up more debris. Would I notice this if I only had the SE Plus, probably not. But I have never run just the SE Plus so it’s hard for me to answer that.

Thanks for the reply - very good info.

One quick follow up. What does the SE do this time of year? Obviously with short sun exposure it’s not getting a full charge and you can’t charge it. Does it run an hour or two or just not at all?

Thanks again for your info.

 

[Katodude]

Starts running about an hour after the sun comes up (depending on where it is in the pool). Runs all day and shuts off sometime during the night.

 

[Bam Bam]

I know it's end of season for a lot of people, but I have a full winter of pool maintenance ahead here in Texas.

I purchased the Scuba S1 (not the Pro) and the surfer S1 as they had a good deal on the combo. Scuba S1 works great and I'll be keeping it.

The Surfer S1 works great if you don't mind charging it everyday, but I have not been able to leave it in the pool and get it to charge solar - even on sunny days. It runs until 3 am or so and unfortunately I don't get full sun all day - but even after several hours in the sun it doesn't get to 30% so it doesn't run at all - ever - at that point. If I charge it just to like 40% it will run all day on solar and get to full battery.

My goal is to be able to leave for a week and have a skimmer do it's thing and even if not perfect and perhaps the hopper is full - I could get by. This one will only work for 1 day.

I'm thinking about switching to the betta se or the se plus. I have 3 concerns
1. I only get 4-5 hours of full sun this time of year. I don't need it to run more than a few hours a day though. The S1 never woke up.
2. the Surfer S1 has a VERY fine mesh - same as the scuba s1. How fine is the Betta SE? (I assume the Plus is the same?)
3. I see concerns about the SE Plus not being as reliable and perhaps not picking up as much and perhaps dumping contents of basket in reverse. Would those that got the plus still get the plus if they were doing it again?

I'm not sure how they will work the refund as it was purchased in a bundle - I may lose the entirety of the discount which could change things. I spose I could just return both and re-order...

Here is was is on the receipt.
809.98 Scuba S1
699.99 Surfer S1
399.99 Discount
838.99 Subtotal - I can't for the life of me get to this subtotal???
discount 81 = thanks to TFP for the discount code!
free shipping
728.98 Total - this is what was charged to my card.

So who knows what they will offer for a refund on the Surfer S1.

Here’s a pic of the mesh. In my opinion the mesh is fine! Once it starts getting loaded it will capture more fines. I have stopped spending time obsessed with my robots. My opinion is whatever they capture is good enough. Sometimes I look outside and the pool looks covered on top and bottom. I would have gone out in the past and checked everything. Now I give it a few hours or a day. Unless there’s been a major storm most of the stuff gets collected by the robots thus not needing my intervention. I have 2 Bettas running and a third unopened in a box. One unit I thought was dead and left it out of the pool in the sun for a month. On a whim I turned it back on. It’s been chugging ever since…Sometimes i see the back up litter but again I let it be. My pool has never looked so great as it has with Bettas…

 

[Katodude]

So yesterday was the first sunny day in a while. The SE Plus was still running from the charge I gave it the day before. The SE was dead in the water in the morning. I pulled the SE out emptied the basket and cleaned it up and put it on the deck in a sunny spot for a couple of hours. Then dropped it in the pool. It is still running this morning, along with the SE Plus.

 

[Bill Winston]

thanks for the extra feed back Bam Bam and Katodude - that mesh looks plenty fine. I started the return process on the surfer s1, and I am waiting to see how much they will give me back. I love the surfer s1 performance. It just doesn't work unless I charge it every day. I really need it to work for a few days if I am gone.

I am currently leaning on getting the betta se used. They have them on the betta site for $229. My pool is very small and if it just worked an hour a day I would be fine. I just don't want to leave for 4 days or more and have no skimming as I don't have a functional skimmer in the pool itself.

The betta SE Plus is about the same price - 239 vs 229 which makes it seem obvious - just get the plus... BUT it seems like there are a bit more issues with the plus- perhaps more reverse backup dumps and maybe a bit less picked up - none of which are major, but .... if you were doing it all over and had nothing - which would ya'll go for? Either way I think I would be happy with either - both seem a great product.