I’ve been having a problem with my aerial pool skimmer and wanted to share my experience since I couldn’t find much information about this issue online.
The problem I’m dealing with is something that a lot of people seem to be facing, but there doesn’t seem to be any clear guidance or videos about it, and especially no real fix.
The issue is with the left Paddle Wheel on the back of the skimmer. It stops turning intermittently and sometimes completely locks up. If I manually move it, the wheel will start again, but then it stops after a while.
The unit is only about three or four months old, so I contacted the manufacturer. I also looked at reviews on Amazon, and a lot of people have the same issue, but no one really knows how to fix it.
One thing I noticed is that several customers mentioned trouble getting a response from the company. Fortunately, they got back to me within a few days. They asked me to send photos of the sensors on the front of the unit, which detect when the skimmer is close to a wall and reverses it before it hits.
After reviewing the photos, they told me that the sensors had scratches. The scratches weren’t that bad, but apparently, they were enough to make the unit malfunction and burn out the motor by continuously turning the wheel.
Interestingly, it’s always the left Paddle Wheel that burns out. Both sides have motors, but it’s never the right wheel that stops working. The manufacturer said the scratches were caused by my pool coping, which is the edge that goes around the pool.
I have to admit, I was a little offended because every in-ground pool has coping, and it felt like they were blaming me for something that seems like a design flaw.
While I waited for their response, I looked into another product called the Betta. The sensors on the Betta are set further back, and they have a design that prevents them from getting scratched by the pool coping. It also has a deeper debris basket compared to the shallow tray on the aerial unit.
The company eventually sent me a new unit and a fix for the problem. The fix, though, is a bit questionable. It involves gluing small acrylic blocks to the unit with super glue. The idea is that you position these blocks so the sensors won’t trigger the motor to turn excessively. I’m not convinced this will work because the blocks are small and don’t seem to protect the areas that get scratched. Even if it helps on one side, the other side might still get damaged.
I personally think a better solution would be to recess the sensors or create a thicker bumper so that it doesn’t touch the pool coping at all. Despite the issue, I’ve really liked how well the skimmer has worked, keeping the pool clean and free of dog hair. If this fix doesn’t work, I’ll probably come up with my own solution, like adding weather stripping foam to the bumpers. If that doesn’t help, I might switch to the Beta skimmer.
In the end, while I’ve been happy with how well this skimmer has cleaned my pool, I wouldn’t buy it again unless they fix this problem. Hopefully, this information helps anyone else dealing with the same issue.
If the manufacturer comes out with a better version that addresses this design flaw, I’d definitely recommend it again.