Summertime is great family fun in the easy set up Intex pool. However, most Intex pool owners know that the supplied Intex pool vacuums are horrendous. I just hated the garden hose vacuum concept. It just didn't make sense right from the beginning. After vacuuming with the garden hose vacuum, the bottom floor would appear somewhat clean. I would then switch the filter on for a while and forget about it. After a few hours, I turn off the filter and look in the pool and am like, "what the heck?" There would be all this dirt on the pool floor. I was convinced that the garden hose water pressure would break up the dirt into small invisible particles that would again attract and adhere to my pool floor hours later. After cleaning the Intex pool twice this way, I was totally done.
Intex Pool Vacuums - Choices, Choices, Choices
About 4 years ago, I began my search online for an alternative to the supplied Intex pool vacuums. At that time, I had found this battery operated pool vacuum, called the Aqua Broom. It was inexpensive and I decided to give it a whirl. Well, to my surprise, it was quite effective. It would capture the leaves, pine needles and most of the dirt. I was quite happy with my little, inexpensive Aqua Broom. It was far better than the Intex vacuums provided with the pool.
But, all good things come to an end. My little, inexpensive Aqua Broom died in the beginning of its fifth year. Boo Hoo. So, it was time to purchase another pool vacuum. But, I thought, well, I am sure by now, there must be a better perfected pool vacuum to use in my Intex pool.
Now, once again, I was researching online and lord and behold, there were other Intex pool vacuums. There was now a selection of Intex pool vacuums. Woo Hoo, for I love choices. After researching all, I chose the Pool Blaster Max for its larger debris capacity, its' stronger and more powerful motor (compared to its little brother, the Catfish and its little sister, the Aqua Broom) and finally for its well constructed body.
Intex Pool Vacuums - The Ultimate Choice
I can honestly state that I love the Pool Blaster Max just as much as the Aqua Broom. It glides very nicely along the pool floor and sidewalls. It does pick up pine needles, leaves, other debris, algae, sand and dirt. It came with two micron filters, which keeps the smaller particles inside the filter bag. To explain this further, I never used a micron filter in the Aqua Broom for I didn't know it existed. While it would pick up and capture some of the dirt, some would escape back into the pool because the filter was not a tight knit fabric for holding smaller particles. Here's a quick tip for you: Do not waste your money to purchase micron filter bags for you can easily substitute it with a knee high nylon stocking. So, there you have it, I just saved you a few bucks.
Cons of These Intex Pool Vacuums
Now, let's move on to what I don't like about the Pool Blaster Max. Frankly, in my opinion, there aren't many cons about it. However, the one thing that I quite don't like is the recharging of the battery. I was used to my little, inexpensive Aqua Broom that operated on five "D" cell batteries. It was nice and simple. The Pool Blaster Max has a rechargeable battery, which I thought was a good thing and I still do think this. However, it needs to be charged for 12 hours to get 1 hour of operation time. I do get two pool vacuums out of one charge, but then I need to let it dry out and plug it back in for recharging. Now, this is not a big deal, but I am a creature of habit and loved the grab and go routine that I was used to. After all, with the Aqua Broom, when the batteries died, I just open it up, replace and continue vacuuming. But the major plus is my Pool Blaster Max is much more powerful due to the higher battery voltage. So, as with most things out of life, I had to offset one bad thing with a good thing; and I will take the more powerful motor because I now spend less time vacuuming and my pool is much more cleaner.
