For those who have suction side cleaners (with dedicated port) as their pool cleaners, how many hours per day do you run your cleaner.
About 1.5 hours per day, but I have a very clean pool.
Since too cold to swim for another couple of months, mine just lives in my pool. The PB even recommended to Leave it in all the time and when pump is on high or medium it cleans. Can you clean too much?
Not really, but you'll be using more pump energy to clean, when you really don't need to. Run your cleaner enough each day to keep the bottom to your liking. Then turn down the pump RPMs to save on electricity costs. Personally, I wouldn't run the vac all the time, see below.
I noticed when I had my pump on low (Omni PL says low is 50%) so maybe 1710 rpm, it doesn’t seem to work. It does on medium though. Does that seem about right?
That's about right. Mine would barely move at 1710 rpm, and wouldn't clean well. I run mine at about 2200 rpm. Higher than that and it'll crawl out of the water.
In no cases (high or medium) does it crawl up the walls. Are they supposed to? If so, how high do they typically go up walls? If it doesn’t go up the walls , do I need to adjust the wheels rpm?
I wouldn't bother. If your vac is misadjusted, it can crawl right out of the water, then starve itself, then it will fall back in. But that sends a big gulp of air into the pump, which is not ideal and not good for the pump. Since these types of cleaners don't do much for the sides, if anything at all, and can't do anything for the edge tile, don't fret that it doesn't crawl the walls. If you want it to, it's a matter of adjusting the flow through the vac (more RPMs).
Just looking for feedback on ideal situation with this cleaner.
Someone recommended I get an actuator for my cleaner so I can turn off with my automation system. How hard is that to install ? Pretty cheap to have installed? Would I have the pool builder do it or hire someone else?
Pool equipment is still under warranty.
I couldn't get both my skimmer and my vac to perform well when they were both competing for suction from the pump. I added an actuator, and my pool automation controller operates it come vac time. The skimmer gets 100% suction during the day. The vac gets about 70% at night, with the other 30% through the skimmer. I set it that way to avoid 100% through the vac. The suction port on the wall, and the suction port in the vac itself can cause serious harm to swimmers, so:
- I split the suction between vac and skimmer so that the vac never gets 100%. This make it safer, similar to dual drains, so if someone got sucked to the suction port or vac head, the suction would be partially relieved through the skimmer. A 3HP pump can eviscerate a person, so my precaution might help avoid that worst-case-scenario (I don't really have any way to test it, but I felt it was a reasonable precaution).
- I never run the vac while swimmers are in the water, not even on low. Only at night, from 4:30am - 6:00am. Again, the vac is an open suction port and IMO it shouldn't be active while people are in the pool, especially children, especially curious boys. They'll see the vac as a plaything, and little hands and active suction ports are just not a good idea.
- My suction port has a proper safety cover on it, in case the hose ever got pulled out. Which is the other reason I only run the vac at 70/30. Should the vac and hose be disconnected for any reason when the vac cycle runs, the pump won't starve as it'll still get some water from the skimmer. This I
have tested, because I sometimes take my vac out of the water, like for a party, and then forget to put it back in! The vac cycle runs at 4:30am no matter what. My pump has so far survived my feeble memory.
The actuator is easy-ish to install if you're handy. It's just a few bolts if your 3-way valve balancing your vac and skimmer will accept it. Then there is the valve adjustment, the wiring, and the programming of the valve controller. If that sounds doable to you, then try it. If not, get a pro to help. I can't speak to whether that would be cheap or not, or who should do it. Pool modifications or repairs by a pro, or a builder, always seem crazy expensive to me. I have had some work done by pros (they did the valve and actuator for me), but many things I do myself. At the time, I didn't know how to do the work, now I would and would do it myself.
I think that covers everything...
