PentairR211100 Vac-Mate Pool Cleaner Dispenser Box

Not better than unplugging vac and throwing in a basket. As other reviewers report, the gauge fills with water, the gasket fails, and the skimmer plate (above the basket), breaks. This turns the product into a skimmer basket only, as the vac will not work with this many leaks in the line. Like Hayward, Pentair seems to think that pool owners are made of money, and make their products to break and wear often, being made of crappy plastic. Why does the PVC plumbing int he pool last for 40 years, but these accessories barely last one year?

This thing is a necessary evil. If you don't have a pool cleaner outlet in your pool and need to use the skimmer line to attach a cleaner or vacuum, this is needed so you can still have some skimmer functionality while your suction side cleaner is running. I have a small pool and need to use a valve to lower the suction of the cleaner, which ended up creating a large collection of leaves in the skimmer opening, and was a serious hassle to clean. The Vac-Mate mostly resolved that.I've gone through two of these and both suffer from the basket rim gasket and the rim of the basket itself both becoming deformed over time which gradually decreases the quality of the seal. The plastic wears quickly so I've broken and replaced the shaft a few times. The hose couplings lose their shape which can potentially allow for the cleaner hose to detach from the elbow, but usually the suction is strong enough for this to occur only on rare occasions when the pump is off and I'm cleaning the filters and baskets while the pool cleaner remains in the water. The styrofoam in the weir breaks down and since it's not fully enclosed I continually find bits of styrofoam in the pool, albeit only a few, and this is more of a nuisance than anything. Oh, and yes, my water is balanced. ;)The main issue I experience is the tension rod to hold the unit down in the skimmer opening against the release of suction and force of the weir floating the unit up and away when the pump shuts off isn't strong enough and I'm constantly repositioning the Vac-Mate and the tension rod back into place so the Vac-Mate is seated in the skimmer opening. I'm currently using 2 of the "rods" together (one kept from the first unit I replaced) and it greatly helps but hasn't completely solved the issue.So far it's still been more cost effective to replace this, it's parts, or the pool cleaner's parts as needed than to chuck this and buy a new pressure side cleaner that works off an inlet without having a dedicated pump for a cleaner. But that is the ultimate plan.

This product does exactly what it is intended to do, and does it well.I recently acquired "The PoolCleaner" and am thrilled with its performance. But that's for a different review. While the bottom of my pool hasn't looked this good in years, I only have one skimmer and attaching the cleaner to it meant that the occasional collection of leaves and dead bugs would gather on the surface of my water. Since most of the time I had to move the cleaner away to swim anyway, I got in the habit of unplugging it and letting the skimmer run when swimming, and plugging it back in afterwards, juggling the hose and skimmer basket for a few minutes each time. Those few minutes add up, especially when you spend them at the times you just want to just relax in the pool.Those days of swapping hose and strainer basket are now gone. I can use the Vac-Mate's adjustment to apply all suction to the cleaner, or optimize skimming, within a few seconds. But better yet, I can find a setting that lets the cleaner still work effectively, but provides enough skimming action to keep the water free of floating bugs, my primary goal.I read all the other reviews before purchasing and saw one of the main complaints was that the unit would float up when the pump was off. My unit came with a tension rod which you're supposed to put right on top of it to keep it from floating up. Unfortunately, this doesn't quite solve the problem, as there's enough bouyancy to nudge the rod upward. If you're able to get it under the edge of the poolside skimmer opening where it can't get nudged any higher, it works rather effectively. There's still a half inch of movement, enough to unseat the strainer gasket and let it twist slightly with the cleaner hose, but it immediately reseats and provides great suction.There is a pressure gage which comes with the unit, as shown in the picture. It is only used during installation, in order to set the pressure relief valve (if your pool cleaner hose gets clogged it still takes water from the skimming opening, and then it is removed..The PoolCleaner instructions state an optimum right wheel roation of 11 rpm, and prior to installing the Vac-Mate I measured 10.5 for my unit. With the Vac-mate installed per instructions (which include opening a bypass valve with a 1psi pressure reduction on the suction) and the skimmer setting fully closed, I still got over 10 rpm. I experimented with a few settings and was able to open the skimmer to a setting of 2 (out of 5) and still maintain 9.5 rpm with effective skimming action. Fully opening the skimmer inlet allowed the pump to still operate at about 8rpm, its minimum recommended setting.Setting water level in your pool properly is important. If it's too low, air can leak in through the cleaner hose connections. If it's too high, the skimmer doesn't work as effectively. There's about a one-inch "sweet spot" where it works perfectly, and if you have an auto-fill valve on your pool that you can adjust, this should not be a problem.The bottom line is that this appears to be one of the only products on the market that attempts to let you use a suction cleaner and skim at the same time (or, switch quickly between either option without a lot of plugging/unplugging). It succeeds at this task as well as anyone could hope and I'm very happy with my purchase.