What a Pool Robot Can and Can't Pick Up
A robotic pool cleaner takes dirt out of the water and keeps it inside itself. That's the whole idea, and it explains most of what the robot can and can't do.
Where the dirt goes
The robot runs on its own power and its own pump. It doesn't borrow the pool's pump or filter. One reference page calls these cleaners separate from the pool's own filtering and pumping1.
Brushes at the front and back help lift particles off the floor and walls. They also steer the particles toward an internal filter bag1. Maytronics, a maker, says the built-in basket or cartridge holds a range of dirt, from large leaves down to fine silt and algae2.
So the robot doesn't push dirt back through your pool's plumbing, because whatever it catches waits in its basket until you empty it.
Why the filter decides what gets collected
Two jobs pull against each other. A filter with big openings lets water through easily and holds big pieces. A filter with tiny openings holds finer dirt but fills faster.
Maytronics says a coarse basket copes with big pieces and clogs less often. Its page also credits an ultra-fine cartridge with holding smaller particles2.
Not every model has both kinds of filter. Which one yours came with, and which you can swap in, is in your manual.
A comparison with the older cleaner types
Suction-side and pressure-side cleaners work through the pool's own filter. A reference page says they can't take out anything finer than the pores of the pool's filter1. A robot has its own filter. Its limit is set there.
That's a difference in design, not a promise about any one robot. How well a given model clears a given kind of dirt depends on its filter and on the dirt.
What a full filter does
A full robot cleans worse. Maytronics says a clogged filter weakens suction and cleaning2. If a robot seems to have left a lot behind, the filter is the first thing to look at.
The pages on each kind of debris go further:
- Big leaves fill a basket by volume. See the page on how robots handle big debris.
- Fine dirt passes a coarse filter or clogs a fine one. See the film left on the floor.
- Algae is a growth, so a robot's job there is different. See what a robot does and doesn't do with algae.
- Storm debris comes with water problems a robot can't fix. See clearing the pool after a storm.
What the robot doesn't do
A robot collects debris. Nothing here says it tests or balances the water, or stands in for the pool's own filter system. Water care is a separate job. Your pool shop or the pool equipment's own manual is the place to ask.
The robot must not run while anyone is in the pool. Follow your manual's rules for the power supply near water.
Sources used
- Automated pool cleaner, Wikipedia
- What Is a Robotic Pool Cleaner?, Maytronics
More on debris
Leaves and Twigs: How Robots Handle Big DebrisWhy leaves and twigs fill a pool robot's filter basket, how a robot differs from older cleaners here, and what the makers say about emptying and cleaning.
Fine Silt and Dust on the Pool FloorWhy a film of fine dirt can stay after a pool robot's run, how the filter's mesh sets what it holds, and what makers say about fine filters.
Algae and Robot Cleaning: What a Robot Does and Doesn't DoWhat makers say a robot's brushes and filter do with algae, how that differs from older cleaners, and where health authorities send you for water care.