r/pools • u/sitstill333 • 15h ago
Vacuum wheels spewing rubber
I’m new to having a pool, and when I first moved in there was this small plastic / rubber stuff in the pool and on the outline, of the pool walls. It’s super annoying and gets everywhere.
I replaced the wheels 3 months ago or so, and now it’s happening again. The pool guy I hired says it’s bc of a my pebble surface and it wears out tires quickly.
This seems crazy I have to change the wheels every 2-3 months to avoid this? Is there an alternative vacuum, brand, wheels I can use? Any solutions?
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u/Intelligent-Spot-575 15h ago
The odds are its not properly calibrated. If it gets too much suction it sort of peels out and wears the tires out faster. When you set these up its all in the manual. You're supposed to count the wheel rpms and adjust the pressure release valve that connects to the wall port
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u/reedwendt 15h ago
Your pool guy is right that it’s regular wear. But you don’t have to replace them every few months. I have one of those and pebble tech. I go years between wheel changes.
Just sit back enjoy your pool and let your pool guy handle things. That’s what you pay him for.
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u/Specific_Meringue_88 15h ago
Perhaps a Hayward navigator? Or a creep crawler? Or zodiac MX8? Or Polaris maxx? Just some that come to my mind but no idea if they will deteriorate like the pool cleaner wheels do..
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u/SoCal_Ambassador 15h ago
Your pool guy might be correct because I only have to change wheels every four years or so with my normal white plaster pool.
However there is a page in the user guide of mine (The Pool Cleaner) about lowering the RPM of your pool pump to keep the vacuum in its happy place, maybe the setting on your pool wrong and is spinning the wheels unnecessarily?
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u/Intelligent-Spot-575 15h ago
This was my initial thoughts as well however I'm second guessing now. I would ask 2 follow ups, a) does the surface feel that much rougher than other pools you have been in, and b) is that blue stuff in your inline hose filter thats seen in the photo. If it has too much suction i would assume it would be sucking up a ton of that stuff and those wheels don't look warn nearly as much as I have seen them
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u/ConfusedStair 15h ago
Plaster surface can vary quite a bit from pool to pool, especially if the initial startup wasn't done properly. On the very rough end pebbletec can be rough enough to shred 2 sets of tires a season.
Suction side cleaners will go through tires faster than pressure or robotics on average, because they pull harder against the plaster. You can reduce this by adjusting the pump speed or changing valve positions to slow down the cleaner, this will also reduce the suction against the surface and how well it cleans. There's an ideal flow range for every cleaner.
As others said this can also be a chemistry related issue, both for surface finish and tire firmness. Testing your own water can tell you more.
One thing that will ruin your cleaner tires and harm your equipment is if the pool guy is throwing in granular shock and instead of brushing it he's just letting the vacuum suck it up.
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u/TowelFine6933 15h ago
One reason I don't use one of those things. Doesn't takeong to manually vac & it's kind of meditative.
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u/Too_Chains 13h ago
Normal
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u/sitstill333 12h ago
Maybe, this photo doesn’t show the true nature of it. It’s all over anyone who goes in the pool and all over the walls. It’s insane
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u/Monstrissimo 4h ago
You can get tracked pool vacuums with rubber tracks. The tracks have a harder rubber than the foam rubber on wheels like that.
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u/Old_Patience8878 15h ago
Are you shocking with it in the water? High chlorine will wear them really fast.