Max Li

Our home is in the Phoenix, AZ area and we experience Haboobs (dust storms). Our new pool was completed on July 1, 2023. The pool has an in floor popup cleaning system. While this sytem works well, it is incapable of removing the fine particles mainly because the finer particles get stuck in the low areas between the pebbles of the Pebble Tec flooring. The only way to remove the dust is to sweep the pool multiple times while the pool is running until you've stirred enough stuff up that it eventually gets sucked into the pool's filter system. On that note, I purchased this vacuum to see if I can reduce the amount of time needed to remove the dust from the pool after a Haboob. I also purchased, on the reviews of other's, the ultra fine filter liners. Firstly, the vacuum is simple to use. Honestly for me, the most difficult thing to on this product is plugging in the charger. It is oddly shaped and is a bit awkaward to get positively engagaed. The amount of suction created by the vacuum is enough to where the vaccum will stay engaged on the vertical walls. My pool/spa combo is ~15K gallons, and the battery lasted easily for its debut run while I didn't notice any reduction in power for the roughly 15 minutes it ran. First impressions. I was shocked by the amount of debris that was captured in the filter bag. I didn't even try to clean the fine filter liner bag. Five came in the package so I just pitched this one. The vacuum's filters did a good job at trapping at what I would condsider >90% of the silt. As some reviews commented you can see the ultra fine silt being blown back into the water, but the amount removed versus the amount bypassed is heavily weighed on the removed side making the total efficiency worth it. Longevity is an unknown at this point in time. I did have an issue with a rectangular piece of plastic that resides in the "foot" of the vacuum popping out and being captured in the filter bag. I am not sure what its purpose is, but probably not going to do anything in the grand scheme of things. I see the "foot" as being a consumable, but there is no part# listed in the manual, which, could make this a pita at a later date. Also, the main filter needs to be cleaned after use. In my case the fine filter bag liner took the abuse. The main filter was easily cleaned with the spray feature in the kitchen sink. In the end, this vacuum will easily reduce the time needed to remove the junk blown into the pool post a Haboob. My first impressions are positive and at this point in time I would recommend this widget.

I have owned this model of the Pool Blaster Max for well over a year now. During the summer and fall of last year, it saw a great deal of action and performed better than expected. Here is a review of its performance and then I'll follow up with the REST of the story. This unit has a unique on/off switch. It is a water tight seal that is a dial. As you screw the dial in, a switch is struck and the unit powers on. This plug is also the charging port so out of water, you unscrew the plug completely which reveals the charging port. The unit provides more than enough suction to pull in and filter the floor of our pool. The pool is 45' long and 22' wide with a bench, shamu shelf and stairs. All of these corners are swept clean with no problem. The charge runs for about 45 minutes of run time and requires 4 hours to charge. We are able to fully clean all corners and floors on one charge. Now the rest of the story. This year the unit was not holding a charge. I called the mfg to ask if the unit is serviceable and they said it was. I stated that I believed that the batter had died and was asking for the specs so I could order one. The customer service individual asked for the purchase date and I confirmed via my Amazon purchase that it had been more than a year. I had no problem with it being out of warranty and simply wanted to purchase the right replacement battery. Without any prompting, the customer service rep stated that he has issued an RMA for me to return the unit for free service and shipping to my home. I sent the unit via usps for 12 dollars and in less than two weeks it was returned to my home via UPS in fully repaired state. I am not sure if the batter would have cost me more or less than 12 dollars but the experience with this company "Water Tech", has certainly given me far more than what a 12 dollar battery would have been worth. I even went to Costco and purchased this year's model as a backup. I can't say enough good things about the product and the customer service behind this device. You will be very pleased with how well it performs as well as the value you will get.

We purchased this vacuum in August of 2023. It worked great for the first season of our in ground pool. Since we close our pool for the winter. we brought the vacuum inside for storage. When we went to use the vacuum for the next season, the motor stopped taking a charge. We contacted the company and since it was within the warranty period, they offered us a new motor which they sent and we installed it without issue. Again, it worked for the swimming season (June to September) wonderfully. The rep at the company told us to store it inside and charge it only for four hours at a time, which we did over the winter. This year, unfortunately the same thing happened. We were only able to use the vacuum for the first few weeks and the motor started failing again even though we followed all the company directions. When I contacted Water Tech again, they said there is no warranty for the new motor even though it was less than a year old. They offered that we could purchase another new motor for $52.99, when the motors came back in stock. For the price you pay for the original machine, you should get more than 4 months of use and they should stand by the motor / charging if it repeatedly fails. A person shouldn't have to keep buying new motors every year. Again, we followed all their instructions, so we should have had a great season and more! Sadly, I can't recommend this product and will look for alternatives.

Update: My original review is below. Since I wrote the review, a customer service rep contacted me via the comments section. She offered to immediately send me a replacement vacuum and a label to return the old one. I got the new one in 3 days. In my opinion, that is fantastic customer service and this would be a 5 star review if it had happened without me having to make 2 prior attempts. I think it's a great vacuum, and my only complaints were the short time the vacuum worked and the initial lack of customer service. I purchased this on July 24. We used it about once a week for four weeks, maybe 30 minutes each time. The first two weeks were on the same battery charge. After that, it died entirely by the end of each 30 minute use. After the fourth use, it wouldn't charge any more. While it worked, it did a great job of picking everything up and was a lot easier than using the vacuum that plugs into the skimmer. I read a lot of reviews before buying this, and knew that the battery has been a problem for a lot of people, but there are also a lot of people who didn't have problems. We followed the directions in the manual exactly, and never left the unit on the charger for more than 12 hours and always let it dry fully before plugging it in. I've called the customer service number twice. The first time the woman said that I could pay to send it in and they would have it fixed at no charge. She said they only pay for shipping if it's within 30 days. I told her we were at day 34 (and if I'd called when it first failed it would have been within 30 days), so she very kindly said if I emailed a receipt that she would email me a prepaid shipping label. However, after a week of waiting I've received no response. I called back and spoke to a different woman. While we were on the phone I forwarded her the email I sent to the first woman with the receipt attached. She verified she received it. This one said she'd send me a prepaid label by 5pm. It's now the day after with no prepaid label (I have been checking to make sure it didn't go into the spam folder), so I guess I'm not getting a response from her either. A product that fails isn't a big deal if the company stands behind their product. It doesn't seem like this company does.

Have had for over 3 years and still works great on my small 12x14 pool. The handle where the pole slides on only uses one button to depress. Most nets and attachments have 2. Eg. Hold one down and makes it easier to slide over the other. Hard to describe. Overall the alternative would be to have a separate pole just for this unit. Just requires a bit to attach to pole.

as a pool vac, I give it 5 stars. Plenty of suction, lasts a long time on a charge, relatively light weight, I love it. There are some things that aren't great with it. It's hard to plug the charger into the unit, you can't leave it charging for much more than the 4 hours. The button to turn it on is a PITA, the wheels aren't big enough for it to roll smoothly (I pot some small, wide rubber bands on the wheels to increase circumference, it helped). Even with all those things, I am happily buying another one. I bought the 1st in 2023, it died today, (no more suction). I used it mainly to clean my in-ground spa and spot clean pool. I'm going to try the smaller (cheaper) one. Should be good enough for my needs. Plus, I see it has a better on/off button. Bottom Line: If you're thinking about it, buy it. It's awesome.

I placed this order, along with a separate order for the sand and grit filter. I have a Intex 22-ft. above ground pool to maintain. Pros: * Unit does pretty much what I expected it to do. It's NOT gonna pick up leaves or twigs- mainly made for sediment pickup. You will still need to scrub down some areas of the pool where silt has caked. * Ran unit pretty much continuously for about 1.5 hours before battery fade kicked in. * Wheeled floor brush is fairly easy to maneuver across the bottom of pool. Cons: * Unit does not do too well with small stones or acorns. * Don't even think about vacuuming up leaves with this unit. Not gonna happen. * Intake "valve" is pretty much a small rubber flap. I see future replacements with this part. As it weakens, sediment will probably wash back out from the filter, so make sure the unit is away from the water before switching off for filter change/cleaning. * Filter needs to be cleaned frequently in the process. Admittedly, I had some heavy sediment buildup in some areas of the pool which resulted in cleaning the filter about every 5 minutes. Just rinsing with hot water, filter is pretty easy to clean. Things you should know: * Filter that came with the unit is made of a felt-like material. User will need to exercise care while cleaning. Scrubbing WILL tear it. * 4 hour charge will give you about 1 hour of continuous use. * Optional sand/grit filter is more of a fabric. It works- but in my opinion, diminishes the suction compared to the original. If you decide to buy an extra, go with the regular filter. I really doubt you will see much difference in ease of use. * Unit is as loud as a regular vacuum cleaner out of the water, but relatively quiet with underwater use. Finals: * Happy with unit after just one use. Should make periodic cleaning much easier than chasing down sediment with a net, which usually doesn't work anyway. 4/5 stars is pretty darned good. 5/5 stars is perfect, and not much is perfect. UPDATE: Okay...I've been using this vacuum 1-2 times a week since I bought it. While it does still work, it appears to kick around more grit than it actually picks up. I thereby drop a star on this item. I can't understand why somebody doesn't make a GREAT above ground pool floor vacuum. Surely somebody can make a unit that fits on your back with a battery-powered motor, extension wand/hose, and a water release at the back, filtered through a standard A or C filter. It only makes sense and could make somebody some bucks...

I just received the pool blaster this morning, so this exuberant review is admittedly based on only one use. That said – my first experience was great. This is my third pool over the last 50 years. I have used the Polaris pool sweeps for years. In the my current pool – the Polaris has unsolvable “blind spots”. It also takes a long time to do the C+ job it does. The leaf master is the best cheap solution but needs a garden hose to power it and is unwieldy to use. The pool blaster is very easy to use and solves for two problems: 1 – The reliance of other products on a tethered power source and 2- the way most products leave areas that are still not clean. For my high end Polaris – it plugs into a jet valve on the wall. It often gets tangled and never gets everything. I either have to leave it in the pool (which is unsightly) or lug into a storage bin in my garage when not in use. I looked at robots that rely on an electric current and a long cord. These have the same issue with storage and however safe they purport to be – I do not l think electricity and water are a good combination. I have also used a vacuum hose that attaches to one of the skimmers – this does a great job cleaning but again has a long hose and is difficult to move around the pool. The Pool Blaster is the size of an oversized Dustbuster that fits onto the end of a standard pool pole. It has a lithium battery that charges in a few hours. You have to do the work of moving it to where the debris is, but I did my 40’ pool in about 20 minutes. I have had pools that have lots of trees around them and this could not handle the load. However – in combination with a Polaris or other imperfect system – this product would be a great adjunct to get the pool to A+ appearance.