Dropping some notes in here to capture my perceptions of the Pentair 930 (aka Doheny's Mercury = Dolphin Active 30i = Dolphin S300i = Dolphin Triton Plus (2017 and Later) = Pentair Prowler 930 = Dolphin Proteus DX5i).
Previously I had a Pentair Kreepy Krauly 820 Prowler. I purchased this with the first pool I've ever owned (about 5.5 years ago). I knew a robot cleaner was a super handy tool, but I had no idea how much I loved the 820 until it actually stopped working on us!! Starting 2 weeks ago, the 820 would move forward for 20-40 seconds, then it just seemed to stop (I suspect it was no longer able to move backwards, so it was failing some kind of self-test).
I wasn't overly confident in replacing the part, so I decided to purchase a new model, and look into possible refurb/resale of the 820 at a later date.
930 Pros:
Previously I had a Pentair Kreepy Krauly 820 Prowler. I purchased this with the first pool I've ever owned (about 5.5 years ago). I knew a robot cleaner was a super handy tool, but I had no idea how much I loved the 820 until it actually stopped working on us!! Starting 2 weeks ago, the 820 would move forward for 20-40 seconds, then it just seemed to stop (I suspect it was no longer able to move backwards, so it was failing some kind of self-test).
I wasn't overly confident in replacing the part, so I decided to purchase a new model, and look into possible refurb/resale of the 820 at a later date.
930 Pros:
- The whole filtration design and cleaning procedure seems MUCH better than the 820. 820 required me to always remove a bottom panel from the robot, then remove 4 individual filter screens from that panel, and then hose it all down (I know... "first world" problems here). The 920 seems to have capacity to more effectively collect more debris. There's a single large chamber with fine particle filters PLUS by a firmer plastic large particle screen preceding those filters. With the 820 I had to choose fine or coarse filtering based on the screen I installed. I had been running the 820 with the coarser screen for the last few years, so I was amazing at how much dirt was collected by the 920's simultaneous coarse and fine filtering.
- The variety of control features seem nice, although I haven't put them through the paces yet. I like the idea of the robot running on a daily/every other day/every three days schedule. I'm still not sure I'm comfortable with just leaving the thing in the pool all the time, but given there's a scheduling mode like this it must be okay?
- LED Light when running - Its nice at night to confirm the thing is running when you've shut the rest of the pool down and covered it.
- Price - It was a solid jump of $300 CAD to get this unit (over the 920, which is maybe more comparable to my 820). This SEEMS to give you Bluetooth, more scheduling features, and the caddy.
- Bluetooth is sorta lame. I see 2 key use-cases for it
- Start a cleaning cycle from your lawn chair - This seems like a nice perk on the surface, but the bluetooth range isn't that great and I think it needs to be powered on for that to work. The connection is also very slow to establish. I can stand up and push a button 10x faster than I can open the app, wait for the connection, and start the cycle (assuming I'm sitting close enough and its powered on). I guess if I was 6 beers in, enthrawled by some conversation with a guest, sitting down feeling super lazy within 3m of the unit, had the cleaner in the pool, and it was powered on... I'd get some value. I dont' see this happening very often.
- Steer the robot for quick spot cleaning - I anticipate getting value from this, although the few "Spot Cleaning" tests I've done haven't worked out all that great. I had some dirt in the corners I wanted to get quickly and I found the ability to steer the robot to target this dirt in the corner was tough. I'm more likely to just count on a full cleaning cycle before hosting a pool party. The steer-ability is really clunky (although I guess my gadget obsessed brain was envisioning me zipping the cleaner around the pool like a GoKart
).
