Thanks to everyone who voted in our Pool ‘bot Naming Poll – in the primary voting as well as the just completed finalist poll. Looks official – “Dude” is our ‘bot’s new name!
In honor of Dude, today’s entry will unfold the process I go through on most weekends when the pool is open (generally May through September), focused today on the robot-oriented activities. In a second post I will talk about some of the other aspects of weekly pool maintenance – at least what I have learned so far.
We didn’t buy this ‘bot, by the way, he came with the deal. He has spent most of the last two years in hibernation, but seems none the worse for wear and tear. Uncle D saw him and told us that we had a good model, then put the Dude right to work. He said, “You’ll enjoy watching him, and eventually, you will name him.” Uncle D is wise.
Dude is a straightforward, functional machine. He’s mostly plastic, with a few metal items in his internal organs and for structural support. There is a blue power cord, connected in such a way that you can actually lift the ‘bot with it. This connects to a transformer that plugs into the power source, while we keep this unit away from the pool, it can withstand rain and is for the most part waterproof.
There is a hatch where the Dude’s filter bag is installed, accessible as shown in the photo here. Fortunately, the Dude is not sensitive to strangers viewing these parts, and if he knew I was publishing this photo, I know he would say, “Get a good look, city boy!”
In honor of Dude, today’s entry will unfold the process I go through on most weekends when the pool is open (generally May through September), focused today on the robot-oriented activities. In a second post I will talk about some of the other aspects of weekly pool maintenance – at least what I have learned so far.
We didn’t buy this ‘bot, by the way, he came with the deal. He has spent most of the last two years in hibernation, but seems none the worse for wear and tear. Uncle D saw him and told us that we had a good model, then put the Dude right to work. He said, “You’ll enjoy watching him, and eventually, you will name him.” Uncle D is wise.
Dude is a straightforward, functional machine. He’s mostly plastic, with a few metal items in his internal organs and for structural support. There is a blue power cord, connected in such a way that you can actually lift the ‘bot with it. This connects to a transformer that plugs into the power source, while we keep this unit away from the pool, it can withstand rain and is for the most part waterproof.
There is a hatch where the Dude’s filter bag is installed, accessible as shown in the photo here. Fortunately, the Dude is not sensitive to strangers viewing these parts, and if he knew I was publishing this photo, I know he would say, “Get a good look, city boy!”
All kinds of stuff ends up in the bag, mostly leaf litter and the like, some dirt – but sometimes there are insect carcasses, and last weekend there were two or three dead night crawlers in there. I simply remove the bag and dump it out in the yard.Next step is to reinstall the bag, close up the ‘bot, plug him in, and lower him into the pool, as seen in the step-by-step photos here. Then we turn on the machine and it’s off to the races.
The ‘bot’s vacuum generates enough suction that he evens climbs the walls of the pool, and I must admit it is very pleasant when he comes up to greet me this way. I generally let him work on the pool for two hours in the morning before we put Dude away.
A final note on footwear during these chores. A lot of your outdoor recreational activities require special gear and pool chores are no exception. I’ve got my Foot Joys for golf and my Vasques for hiking. For the pool action I chose some Croc knock-offs that I picked up in the Outer Banks last year. Ankle-high white socks are optional.
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