Instapark Betta Automatic Robotic Pool Cleaner Solar Powered Pool Skimmer - White

I only know of a few autonomous solar bots like this on the market, and when I did my research on them at the beginning of summer, all of them were out of stock. Reading a few posts at troublefreepool that had users with experience said the Betta worked well, and the customer service was great. So I decided on the Betta, and to be honest, it is pretty amazing.I literally do not have to do anything to it but take it out of the pool, clean the basket, and put it back in the pool. Well, and take it out when we swim, and here is what I mean by treat it with care! You will want a nice shaded area off the concrete/stone to let the bot take its break. Like an idiot, I assumed since the instructions said to place on pool deck to charge that he could take the heat. So when we'd swim, I would just put him up on the pool deck, in the sun, so he could charge. After about 6 weeks he started to act funny, then his rear indicator lights went out, then he would run for a minute, then shut off, then start, shut off, etc.So I called up the service number, and spoke with a woman there. She was very helpful. She said that my leaving the bot on the concrete while we swam was most likely a possible cause of damage due to swelling of the components. I mean, now that I think about it, it makes sense. All the battery and sensitive components are in a waterproof box, and heating that up can't be good. At any rate, 3 days later, I had a replacement bot and a shipping label to return the malfunctioning robot. Instapark stood by their warranty, even though it could have been my own fault. The new instructions came with a separate printed warning to only charge the bot in the pool.Now, my new bot has been going for almost 5 weeks without a hitch. I leave it in the pool except when I clean it or take it out so we can swim, except now I put it on a table under our canopy shade or inside if I'm running the fountain (don't want to clog it up with dried salt water).I never have to plug it in. Really, think about that. This bot doesn't cost you electricity. If you have a full day of sun, it will have enough charge to run ALL NIGHT. Seriously. ALL NIGHT it is busy getting bugs and leaves and crap out of my pool. If its overcast, it might not make it all night, but guess what? You don't have to fuss with it. It will automatically start back up when its battery is charged enough to work. Now that we have shade sails, it still finds enough sun to do its work.I have so little in my skimmer sock, I only have to clean it once a week tops. The bot picks up pollen, bugs, leaves, hair, etc. When I clean the bot, I just open the top, take out the basket, rinse it with a hose, give the sides and rotors a good rinse with fresh water and check that hair hasn't wrapped around the rotors. It takes less than 5 min. Press his button, set him in the pool, and don't think about having to skim my pool for another week.The only idiosyncracy I have found with it is when it rains. It is waterproof, so its fine to leave it in the rain in the pool (I take it out if the wind is going to be strong, but a regular shower is fine). When it rains though, sometimes it gets a puddle of water in front of its sensors (what it uses to keep from slamming into the pool walls), and I think it gets confused. I think the guidance is laser based, and maybe the puddles in the recessed sensor area are scattering too much light. Anyhow, the bot just does circles, even though all his lights are normal. This will stop once it dries off, or you can get a soft cloth and dry those nooks out, and it will go back to normal operation.Finally, to my picture linked. The bot does a good clip across the pool, but if it gets too near the skimmer, sometimes it can't escape the velocity of the skim. It doesn't hurt it to be like that, but it isn't doing its job. To solve this, I tried a couple of things, and a very simple idea dawned on me to use one of the dumbbell shaped floats we have, and tied it off to the skimmer plate with a piece of nylon rope. I added some fishing weights to keep the ends down and keep it from lifting out in the breeze. The shape keeps the entry to the skimmer open and provides a little 6" bumper that seems to be just enough distance to keep the bot from succumbing to the skimmer suction.Anyway, sorry for the wall of text. BUY this if you hate manually skimming and love having a clear and clean pool all day and night.

The media could not be loaded. I've tried a lot of skimmers and automatic "bot" skimmers that all failed. They either break, don't have enough suction, or not enough power - not to mention how many of these on the market stop working after a few days. I admit I was VERY skeptical about a solor unit even though I live in South Florida and have a pool enclosure that blocks the sun half the day. It took me some time to digest the cost of this unit and actually purchase it. I have a weekly pool service and a Dolphin DX6 automatic cleaner but it only cleans the bottom, walls, and steps. Even with a pool enclosure, pool service, and cleaning bot our biggest issue was all the sand, dirt, small debris, and bugs that would get into our inground pool. I was skeptical about this working because all the other reviews talk about leaves, brush, and other larger debris items. Could this actually work on smaller debris particals? Yes! I honestly did not think this would work given past experience with cordless skimmers. The unit arrived with a full charge and worked as soon as it got in the pool. There were no parts to assemble out of the box which I liked. The unit is surprisngly light and I can lift it with one hand. I put in the pool and pushed the on button and off it went. Its very quiet and you almost can't hear it unless you listen hard. The paddle-wheel like front really does collect even the smallest of debris. I read others complaining about it getting stuck on steps. Mine does not. Mine easily glides right over my top pool step and navigates my pool with ease. The laser guides in the front prevent it from hitting the pool sides and if it does think its stuck it automatically backs up, turns, and moves forward again to self correct. I love that it finds the sun when it needs to recharge and I find that it keeps working well into the night/darkness. It seems to recharge very quickly and store energy during the day which keeps it going well into the night. The remote that comes with it is cool but I find that I don't need it. This unit knows what to do and does it which is the main reason I got this. I don't want to be out there in 90% humidity skimming my pool every day. My video shows the amount of debris this collected in only its first two hours. I was shocked that this unit actually did what it claimed. I've had it for about a week now and still impressed with its functioning. I put it in the pool when I got it and haven't touch it since although I know I need to clean out the filter which for me seems to be about once a week. This unit was definitly worth the cost. Now the down side was the wait time which I can't blame the seller for. The unit came directly from Asia and took forever (a month) to get here. When you're used to Amazon next day a month seems like forever to wait especially when you're ready to get in your pool as temps are already 90 degrees in April. So far so good. I highly recommend this unit.