Pool cleaning robot

Wishlist Probably Not
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Wyze, if you are listening, please consider building a smart pool cleaning robot.

I received my vac robot a few days ago, and I am truly impressed with the capabilities so far. I think many of those could be translated into a true smart pool cleaning robot.

My wish list for a good pool robot:

  1. Motorized wheels or tracks. Those just with impeller propulsion sucks.
  2. Motorized brush. Just vacuum doesn’t do a good job of cleaning the pool floor and sides.
  3. Potentially cordless. Then when the battery is exhausted you can get it out of the pool and plug to charge.
  4. Cloth removable filter. Those screen mesh filters don’t do a good job with fine debris.
  5. Wall climbing. It needs to be able to brush/vacuum the pool walls.
  6. Probably the game changer would be either pool mapping, or pool size configuration. Say you place the cleaner in one specific corner and plug all pool measurements in the app, the robot goes to work and cleans in an organized way (same as how your vacuum works).
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Welcome to the Wyze community @pedroYUL!
Cool idea👍
Don’t forget to vote for your own #wishlist item!

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Thank you for letting me know you can vote for your own idea.

For people who doesn’t know, there are pool cleaning robots that are terrible and still cost $500+. Robots with all bells and whistles are north of $1,000.

Me thinks, #wyze is sitting on a gold mine here…and they should include me in alpha and beta testing of this pool cleaning robot :wink:

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You all should make a swimming pool robot vacuum. I bought a $900 one off Amazon that was essentially a Plastic Tank. I know Wyze would do it right and could own the market on these at the Wyze Pricepoint!

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Ditto on this one. Much needed for pool owners and the current options out there are too expensive. You can also make it fun, give a dry spot for a camera and make an option to use it with remote control. pedroYUL’s wish list is a good start. I like the potentially cordless option but it would need to have a float on it so you can pull it out without having to dive into the bottom to get it.

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Count me in for the Alpha/Beta testing as well :slight_smile:

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I just voted for this. I moved to a house that has a pool and looked for a decent pool robot vacuum (and a skimmer bot too). The market on these has them ridiculously overpriced. Even the really terrible “dumb” ones that just bounce around, get stuck, etc and are very ineffective are extremely expensive. I ended paying nearly $800 for a corded one that basically just bounces around, but at least it mostly works. My F-I-L bought one a few hundred dollars cheaper but it gets stuck a lot and misses a lot of stuff, and the battery dies too quickly and it’s hard to get out of the pool.

This industry is ripe for disruption. It’s crazy how terrible most of these are and still the MSRP on a lot of them is in the $1K range, especially if you want one that works.

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Pool vaccuum would be great. Mapping feature a plus

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New Product idea: cordless pool cleaner!

A cordless pool cleaner with navigation capabilities of/from your robovac, along with a user changeabl/replaceable lithium battery(this would be BIG differentiator/feature unique in this product category).

Above features with Wyze’s legendary product quality and low prices would be a truely disruptive game changer in this huge product market!

Anyone who has a swimming pool is keenly looking for such product(s). The typical/legendary overpriced, low quality and features typical in the pool product industry has millions of feed up customers yearning for the “Wyze touch” in this product category.

What say all?
Thanks!

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I’ve bought several pool vacuums now (and borrowed others to test them out). I’ve tried some lower-cost ones, and some as high as $1700, I’ve tried corded and cordless, and various disposal types (filter, basket, etc), so I feel like I am getting to learn the differences and benefits between the different ones.

The only concern I have with the battery ones is that they can only run for a couple of hours and then it takes forever to recharge before you can run them again, and it is much harder to get them out of the pool. They are also pretty low powered and don’t suck things up as well as cordless ones. They definitely did not clean as well corded ones because otherwise their power would die sooner. After trying some, I don’t think I’d go back to using a battery vacuum as my primary vacuum anymore. Though it would be AWESOME if corded vs cordless was an OPTION. That would be pretty cool.

The vacuums need a basket to hold everything in for easy disposal. I tried some without a basket and they are too much work. I have to carry the whole vacuum to my lawn and spray it out every time, then it leaves junk all over my lawn, and I have to manually pull out the filters each time. I can’t live like that. It’s nice to just remove the basket and dump it out, and then restart the vacuum. Real simple and convenient.

My wife keeps saying Wyze really needs to make one of these, because it’s ridiculous how expensive these things are. The most expensive one we tried was the most inconvenient one we liked the least.

There should be an option for different filter sizes. Finer grain for dirt and Algae cleaning, and less fine for bigger things that sink to the bottom for a quick clean. It’s nice to have bigger filter/baskets because it’s easier to just dump and go, whereas if you only use fine filter/basket then sometimes you have to spray it off before starting a new round.

I tried one vacuum with a cool remote control. This actually let me clean steps because I could just tell it to move along the stairs where I wanted it. This isn’t critical, but it was cool.

I like app access to alert me when it finishes, or start it remotely, etc.

Anyway, just some things to think about. Seriously though, the profit margins on these things are RIDICULOUSLY high. So ripe for Wyze to just come in and wipe the table with them. Seriously.

In addition to the floor and wall vacuums, there are skimmers. If Wyze does a skimmer, do one that has a solar panel on the top that recharges it automatically. And make sure it waits to restart until it has enough charge. There are some that will stutter start and stop repeatedly because they don’t plan it to build enough charge first.

I know most of this is probably on the back burner since only 8% of households have a swimming pool, and fewer use a robot vacuum…but it is a HUGE industry that is severely overpriced and ripe for disruption.

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Its tires would probably stain the bottom of the pool

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I’ll stick with my Barracuda. Been using it for 18 years with minor parts replacements.

No batteries or cord required.
Runs at least 8 hours a day without recharge.
Cleans up and disposes of waste automatically.
Climbs and cleans walls easily.
Covers entire irregular shaped pool completely.
Cost under $300 with tax.

Some low-tech products make more sense, but that’s me.

Still interested to see how this turns out. I’ll throw in my vote for curiosity sake.

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Are you talking about one of the vacuum attachments that plugs into the filter intake that you manually scrub around the pool and it sends everything to the main pool filter?

Just trying to understand. I don’t know of anything that cleans automatically and has no power from either an AC outlet nor a battery.

Just a little confused since you said it has no batteries or cord but it’s limited to 8 hours per charge (which implies a battery). Can you clarify? Also, do you have a link for an example? I’m certainly always willing to look at other options… Especially at the moment as we’re trying to figure out a weird issue with our main filter or piping.

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Yes. The only limiting factor is when the pump is running or not. There is no limit on the Barracuda. I only let my pump run for 8 hours. I did add an inline filter to catch leaves before they reach the main filter.

A friend used to leave his Barracuda running everyday.

I run it for 5 days without much attention. After 40 hours, the pool floor is squeaky clean. It scoots around on its own.

I thought Barracuda was a common brand name. I see them a lot in South Florida. Barracuda Link

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15% in Florida.

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Thanks. I just got my first home with a pool, and sadly the filter/pump is currently weak. We had leak testers confirm there is no leak, but now they think something is clogged underground. :flushed: For now we’ve had to do most of our cleaning with things that don’t use the pump, but I will have to try one of those when we get this clog issue resolved. Thanks for the suggestion. That sounds convenient.

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Congratulations! I hope you enjoy the pool in good health. I like mine, even with the maintenance.

Maybe you need more horsepower in the pump? I increased mine when I moved in.

Locally, Pinch-a-penny pool supply has been very helpful.

Ever use a leaf vacuum? It just uses a hose to power the vacuum. It will handle leaves but dirt will go through the net. I use it for big leaves or when the power goes out after a hurricane.

I believe the model is called Barracuda, by Zodiac. I did add a ring bumper to keep it from getting caught.
Pool Hose vacuum

Good luck with your pool.

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He says, casually. :wink:

Do you have one of those shipping container survival modules bolted down somewhere?

We have a big bucket of denial we all drink from here in So Cal - it’s been pretty quiet for quite some time.

And the guy across the street made a good living cleaning pools for as long as he was a renter there (decades.) Said demand had been stable through economic downturns, his route mostly Orange County, I think.

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I like visiting So Cal…but man is your sea/ocean too cold for me! I just can’t do it…I’d need my own pool there. I like warmer waters like Caribbean, Encinada, MX, Hawaii, etc. :smiley: My pool is kept around 87-90 Degrees at least or I don’t use it. :rofl: Of course, I even sleep with heated mattress in the summer time, so I am a little…different…when it comes to loving heat and hating cold. See, I’m just too picky with these things, that’s why I need a robot vacuum to keep it all clean for me. I need to go buy a robot skimmer soon too…neighbor’s tree is constantly coating my pool with it’s sheddings too.

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No. Just a concrete-block home with good shutters and storm windows. Main concern is roof blowing off.

Luckily, I still clean my own pool. I got to do something.