Dead leaves floating on the surface, or lying on the bottom, makes a swimming pool look dirty in an instant: because of that, you need an automatic pool cleaner that can pick up tree leaves, and acorns too.
A robotic pool cleaner can pick up leaves that are lying on the bottom of the swimming pool by vacuuming it into its filter bags, basket or cartridges. In addition, it will vacuum away dirt, acorns, and other debris. However, it is essential that you buy the right pool robot that matches the type, size and surface of your residential swimming pool. For example, do not buy an above ground robotic pool cleaner if you have an inground pool. Furthermore, the size of your pool and the length of the robot’s floating cable should be a good match. If the power cable is too short, then the robotic pool cleaner will not be able to vacuum up all the leaves in the swimming pool.
Which robotic pool cleaners are the best for picking up leaves?
Most robotic pool cleaners should be able to vacuum up tree leaves that have sunk to the bottom of the pool. The swimming pool’s skimmer will get the freshly fallen tree loaves that are still floating on the surface of the pool. Be that as it may, there are a few pool cleaning robots that might be slightly better at picking up leaves from the bottom of the swimming pool.
For example, the Dolphin Premier inground robotic pool cleaner has both filter cartridges for finer particles and an oversized leaf bag for catching large leaves and debris. Therefore, it offers the best of both filtering worlds. You can insert the oversized leaf bag when you want to remove leaves from the pool. Otherwise, you can remove the leaf bag and insert the fine or ultra-fine cartridges for capturing dirt and finer particles. The Premier seems to be the only Dolphin robotic pool cleaner that offers such a multimedia approach to filtration, that is, to use either filter bags or filter cartridges. You may read my Dolphin Premier review for more information.
The Dolphin Premier has an oversized leaf bag that works well for picking up leaves.
Unfortunately, the Dolphin Premier is an expensive inground robotic pool cleaner. If you preferred to spend less than 1000 dollars, then the Dolphin Nautilus CC Plus is a possible alternative. Unlike the Premier, it only has a cartridge filter system: there is no large leaf bag. Therefore, it will not be able to pick up and store as many leaves as the Premier pool cleaning robot. Nevertheless, it will still vacuum up leaves, but at a cheaper price when compared to the Premier model. Click here to read my review of the Nautilus robotic pool cleaners.
The Dolphin Nautilus CC Plus does not have a leaf bag, but it might still be good at picking up leaves.
If you have an above ground swimming pool, then you might consider getting an above ground robotic pool cleaner such as the Dolphin Escape. This pool cleaning robot is suitable for above ground pool sizes up to 30 feet. It has a top-loading filter basket that might store a decent amount of tree leaves before needing to be cleaned. It will probably do a good job at picking up fallen leaves from the pool, even though it might not be so good at removing fine dirt or algae. You may learn more about it by reading my Dolphin Escape review.
What model robotic pool cleaner will pick up acorns?
If there are one or more oak trees near your swimming pool, then you are probably going to struggle with removing oak leaves and acorns from the pool. A robotic pool cleaner with a filter basket is able to hold more leaves and acorns when compared to a pool robot with filter cartridges. Of course, whether a pool cleaning robot will pick up acorns or not depends on the size of the acorns. If the acorn is too big, then it will not be picked.
For instance, the Polaris 9550 Sport has a filter basket, or filter canister, for capturing and containing various types of debris, including acorns. In addition, it has a dirty canister indicator (click here to read my Polaris 9550 Sport review).
The Dolphin Triton PS is another inground robotic pool cleaner that has a large filter basket that is easily accessible from the top of the housing. The top-loading filter basket should have enough space for containing many leaves and acorns. I suggest that you read my review of the Dolphin Triton robotic pool cleaners, because there is more than one model. However, the Triton PS is the one that I would choose for getting rid of both leaves and acorns swimming around in the pool without permission.
Conclusion
Large leaves and acorns can stop a robotic pool cleaner in its tracks, so which one will handle large pieces of debris? While there is no such thing as a perfect pool cleaning robot, the examples that I mentioned above should give you a few product ideas for further reading and research. I think that the key feature to look out for is a large filter basket. Besides, a pool cleaning robot will not be able to pick up leaves and acorns that are too big for its vacuum intakes.
Photo by rashid khreiss on Unsplash