Customer Reviews

iRobot Verro 300 Pool Cleaning Robot

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I was on the fence about purchasing the IRobot Verro 300 OR the commonly recommended Polaris cleaners. With a $100 off coupon and a 30 day risk free trial, I decided to purchase the Verro 300. We have a large pool (20 x 44)and I was skeptical that this would work. After a couple weeks of using it and at least 3 calls to the technical support line, we decided to keep it and that overall it works very well. Though it isn't written in the manual (I learned this from my phone calls) periodic-filter-bag-cleaning (for my pool anyway) translates to machine wash cleaning after each use. For those of you reading this, buy extra filter bags and keep one clean at all times ready to go. I found the hose method of cleaning the filter bag doesn't work. Instead, I rinse the bag out with the hose and then I run it through the washing machine on the delicate cycle in cold water. It works great--climbs the walls to the tile line and gets both the deep and shallow end of my pool. Each time I use the Robot, it seems to go different patterns. Sometimes it runs vertically and others horizontally. My only complaint is it doesn't get my shallow end steps. Since I know that, I brush the dirt off the steps before using the Robot.

Because the IRobot filters the water, I definitely notice a difference in the water...it appears amazingly clean and we haven't needed to backwash our pool once. After the first couple weeks and learning the hose method doesn't unclogg the filter bag entirely, the Verro 300 cleans my pool in approximately 60-90 minutes. We're very pleased. It takes approximately 2 minutes to set it up and about the same amount of time to clean it when it's finished.

I decided to try the Verro 300. It did a superb job on most of the pool, but some areas were a problem for it.

Verro is a simple device. It has a long floating electrical cord that powers a vacuum pump that sucks water through a filter bag. The water is expelled out at the top horizontally which propels it around the pool. One wheel axle swivels a bit so it doesn't always travel a straight line. A power unit sits outside the pool, tells the verro whether to shoot the water out forward or backwards. An adjustment dial allows you to set how long before switching directions.

There are two filter bags that come with the verro. A coarse mesh filter bag and a fine cloth filter bag. And the performance with each differs greatly. The coarse mesh filter bag with it's tiny holes will pick up leaves but it won't pick up fine dirt. That's what you need the fine cloth filter bag for.

With the mesh filter bag, the verro does a good job traveling all over the pool. It climbs pool walls well all the way up to the waterline. The fine cloth bag tends to clog ALOT faster. Fine particles of dirt really do a good job of slowing verro down fast. When verro's filter bags eventually gets clogged it can no longer climb UP a wall. And it also then tends to stick toward the deep end.

But whenever verro gets sluggish, you can just pull it out of the water, and clean the filterbag with a garden hose. Then stick it back in. I had a fairly dirty pools from some strong winds. And I had to take verro out twice to clean the filter bags. But otherwise it did a great job.

Verro does have some limitations. When it hits a 90 degree angle of a step, it probably won't go up it. And a small spa is probably too small for it to operate in. (I just brush toward the drain in my spa) And of course it tends to stay toward the deep end, especially if the filter bag is getting dirty.

But all in all, I was amazed to see a very nice clean pool after a few two hour runs. Of course manual vacuuming is better. But then you don't have to spend as much time yourself. And you don't have to clean the pool filter after using verro. Which is a MAJOR plus.

So is this machine worth $700? It depends on the buyer. Vacuuming by hand the old fashion way is definitely better. You can probably vacuum faster and better than verro. But Verro does save you alot of work. Just brush the few areas Verro misses, and you will have a beautifully clean pool.

For me, it was a good investment. I'm happy with it. And I'll be using it alot. Especially under a pool cover this winter!

btw, there is one more thing you will probably want to get with this. A GFCI adapter for your outlet. A small adapter that plugs into your outlet. It's only $10-$30. But incase of an electrical surge, it will shut off the electricity. It's recommended in the Verro manual. They sell it at amazon too.

I was looking for an automatic pool cleaner that didn't require hoses and potential clogging of the filter. This fit the bill. As a happy customer of Roomba, I decided to give this a try vs other competing products (e.g., Aquabot). Overall, the device performed very well - It got up all the debris including sand and small stones.

My only slight negative is that it had a tendency to orient itself to clean more on the deep end than the shallow end, meaning that I had to run it on a few two hour cycles to get the pool fully covered. Also, in five cleanings so far it got stuck once on my staircase steps, but that might be an artifact of my pool design. Overall, however, so far I am very happy.

I tried the Verro 300 for two weeks, with very mixed results. We live in Palm Desert, which can be very windy and there is a lot of airborne sand. The regular bag is too porous to catch the sand, and the fine bag clogs almost immediately. After talking to the factory, my conclusion is that this unit is not for dusty areas. Also, the unit won't climb curved steps (mine are) and it took two cleaning cycles to cover a 16x32 pool. If you live where leaves and debris are your problem, the 300 would probably work. But if you need to get the sand out on a daily basis, don't get this item.

Well, lets see. After 3 years of scrubbing, brushing, hose vacuuming, paying for service. ALL of that is gone!!! Never before have we had our pool water so balanced and clear in only a weeks time. No white residue on the vinyl. If you are thinking of investing in a pool cleaner or sevice, please do not look any further then the Verro 500. we live in Florida so our pool is open almost year round and this is a real time and money saver because not only will you use less pump time but you will use much less chemicals too. Great Machine and Thank you Irobot.!!!

I've been using this robot about 2 weeks now and I am quite pleased with it. In general it does a good job, it collects most of the leaves from the bottom of my pool and climb over most of it's walls. Where it fails to clean is the round areas at the extreme of the pool, so I have to brush it and make sure the dirt goes to the path that the robot cleans.
Is it perfect ? no
Is it worth the money - yes.
You still need some manual work with it, but it cuts the amount of work you do by 80%-90%.

Update: August 2009:
I still use this robot and it works well. The fine bag is a bit messed up but it is looking good for a 1.5 years old bag. In general - I would buy this robot again.

This cleaner is great! Like the fact that there are no more hoses floating in my pool when swimming. Just a thin cord when using the cleaner. I agree with other users that say that two 2 hour cleaning cycle are required to get the entire pool floor clean, but this is no problem really. I do think the iRobot is overpriced. The exact same cleaner is available elsewhere on the internet under the Pentair Prowler 710 brand or the Aquajet brand for $100 less than the iRobot. Another slightly more expensive version is the Aquabot Turbo T-jet. You are paying a premium for the iRobot name.

iRobot Verro 100 Pool-Cleaning Robot for Above-Ground Pools
After running great for two days it blew its fuse. We replaced the fuse but it would no longer run. We could not get any technical support from the iRobot number the call routed to a singles dating site. When provided with a second number no one answered the phone. We tried email but no one returned our emails. After two frustrating days we called to request how to return the product for our money back. No one seemed to care we could not get any service.

Have had it for about a month now. No problems. Easy to use and clean. I have a 16'x32' inground vinyl. No trees around, but I do get a lot of bugs and sand (from pavers around the pool) and a few leaves. The Verro picks them up with no problem. (actually grabbed a 5" twig one time!). Seems to clean about 90% of the dirt in about an hour for me - many times I turn it off early. No problem with cord tanglement issues (the cord floats, so it's out of the way for the most part anyway.) Climbs walls pretty good too. I have sections that are 90's and it will climb them about 50% of the time which I didn't expect. Overall, very happy with it. Gives me time to do other things while it's cleaning the pool for me!

We have used the iRobot Verra 300 for approximately 10 months in the southeast. We run in twice a week, each time for 2 cycles -- approx 8 hours total each week. This seems to be more than necessary to keep the pool clean on a regular basis. Except with heavy fall leaves (when we used the coarse bag for a few weeks), we use the fine mesh bag and do not have any problems with it clogging. We turn it inside out, shake our the large particles (leaves, twigs, etc.), let it dry out for a day or so, and then shake off the fine particles (dust, sand, calcium flakes, etc.) when the bag is gry before the next use. This works just fine without washing or even rinsing the bag.

Unlike other reviews, we have not experienced the fine mesh bag clogging, and we have not experienced the iRobot Verra favoring the deep end. It seems to clean our entire pool (approx. 20x40), both shallow and deep ends, equally well.

Understandably, it does not work in the smaller 10' diameter spa, and it only occassionally climbs up onto the steps, but those are easy to clean/sweep while the iRobot Verra takes care of the rest of the pool. Basically, it won't climb a sharp radius (from spa floor to wall or from pool floor onto steps), but it climbs the sidewalls of the pool without any problem (which have smooth curves - this is an inground gunnite pool).

So, other than a few understandable issues, we are still very pleased with the iRobot Verra 300 after about 10 months of constant use.