Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This product is expensive enough that people seem to expect a miracle. You won't find it here, but it will cut down considerably on the effort to keep a pond in good working order. The documentation that comes with the device is horrible, obviously never having been subjected to any testing on real people whatsoever. The most important omission is that they left out any mention of how the cleaner works, resulting in a whole bunch of nasty reviews by people who just didn't get what was going on. So here's what's going on: The cleaner has two holding tanks inside. When you start it, what I'll call Holding Tank One is in use. Water and fine debris is lifted from the bottom of the pond into the holding tank, with the vacuum pump drawing air out of the top of the tank in the manner customary with wet/dry vacuums. When a float switch in the tank reaches a certain level, it triggers an unique sequence: The vacuum action stops dead in its tracks for a few seconds (leading to all the negative reviews). Two valve switches occur. The first one switches the vacuum pump over to Tank Two, currently empty. The second one opens a port allowing the water to flow out of Tank One. The pump goes back into action, now emptying water and debris into Tank Two while Tank One drains out the exhaust hose. When Tank Two is full, the cycle repeats. Without this cycling, using this device would be like using any wet/dry vacuum: In less than a minute, the tank would be full and it would be time to shut down and manually empty it. The two-tank scheme lets them approach continuous up time without the user having to tip the vacuum over ever to empty it. This would work perfectly if they bothered to tell people what was going on. Instead, people are assuming something is going wrong once a minute or so when the vacuum action seems to stop for several seconds before resuming. The instructions also talk about the general-purpose head to be attached to the wand. I've used a lot of different kinds of vacuums in my life, but never have I seen a more specialized head on any cleaner. it is not even close to "general purpose," but it is remarkably useful: Attach it so the slot is facing up and push it forward into the goo. The goo mixes with a bit of water, lifts up slightly, and gets drawn right into the vacuum before it can escape and cloud your water. Know when to quit: It's a pond, not a bathtub. There will be new dust settling into it tomorrow. If you strive for perfection, you'll end up frustrated. You need to draw in all the silt that's almost the same weight as water; that's what stirs up and clouds your pool. The general purpose tool will do that. If there are some heavy particles left behind, leave them for next time. Finally, as others have pointed out, this is not the right tool for general debris, like entire leaves and twigs. Use a fine-mesh pool net before starting. This vacuum will do a fine job with fine silt, and that's what clouds our ponds. This is a really good product, but the company needs to get its act together. All they have to do is get one person who has a pond and is of normal intelligence, sit him or her down with an unopened box, and watch him or her crash and burn. You'd think with some of the reviews they've gotten, they'd do something about the product, and maybe they will before they drive themselves out of business.