Pentair Rebel

This little cleaner is simply amazing, it has worked 6 hours a day, 365 day a year for the last two years without a single issue until about two weeks ago when it started cleaning in circles. A quick removal of the lid identified one of the main pins holding the gears had worked its way out causing the drive gears to strip. I took it back to my local pool shop and they sent it away for repair under warranty and yesterday I picked up a brand new replacement. You can’t complain about that for customer service, boy am I impressed. So today it’s back in the pool quietly doing its thing. I would buy another one in a heart beat, a really great product. I’m using it in an in ground pool with a liner. It covers the whole pool area and picks up everything but large sticks.

will work OK for awhile but gets stuck while trying to climb walls of pool the advert for the vac says that it is good in tile pools but all the experts say that it is not it is very misleading to advertise and it should be addressed to stop people spending money on something that that the makers know won't work As I understand it know they are sticky tyres available now at about $80 surely by bringing them out it's an admission that people who bought these vacs were ripped off In my opinion

I have had this for over 12 months and it’s the best cleaner ever on concrete pool with pebble finish
Amazing results and never stops
Just had to increase flow to climb walls
Too many words too many words too many words too many words too many words too many words

My pool is enclosed by a lanai so most of the debri is small but it goes over the raised drain with ease. It sometimes will tip on its side while cleaning the sides but it always rights itself fairly quickly. I am very pleased with the Rebel’s performance so far.

I wanted a cleaner that does a better job on big leaves etc. than conventional suction side 'vacuum' cleaners - I've had a Zodiac, a Kreepy and a cheapo Bunnings (which actually wasn't bad). But I baulked at the price of a proper robotic cleaner (~$1500) and as a compromise I bought this Rebel at around $500. Despite having a fairly small looking orifice, it can pick up almost anything and has never 'stalled'. It's a set and forget deal, and my pool has never looked better.
It's silent and looks well built. I can't speak to its longevity, having had it less than a year, but I think I'd happily pay for any parts it does need in future, given that it does such a great job.

We purchased this cleaner in Nov 2016 after using a Barracuda which would never cover the whole pool and got stuck in a corner. There is no question the Pentair Rebel is a great cleaner. It covers the whole pool and is quite in operation. However a couple a weeks ago it started only cleaning a small area of the deep end because it was constantly turning. Rang the pool shop where purchased and they said gears will be worn. Took it back and was repaired under warranty with new gears, wheels and tyres. Was ready for pick up in 3 hours and now works perfectly again. When I purchased there was no negative feedback for the cleaner but it seems the gears are it’s achilles heel. I am now expecting it to go another 2 years but by then it will be out of warranty and require it seems at least a $150 kit to repair. By then the rest of the machine and hoses will be 4 years old so it may be time to buy a new cleaner. If this is the case the Rebel will have given 4 years of excellent cleaning, albeit with a warranty repair for $500. For me this is average performance hence 3 stars. For cleaning ability alone this is a 5 star cleaner but it comes at a cost. if yours fails in the warranty period insist it is repaired for free.

REBEL cleaner worked well for 18 months then just stopped. Yours, given the multiple reports of exactly the same thing in the reviews below, will most probably also fail - for no apparent reason. Pentair (Onga) took over 5 weeks to address my warranty claim, then put in a repair kit and tried to charge me ($175), but my local authorized dealer/ service agent insisted that, given how long it took Pentair to address the claim, it would be done at Pentair's expense, not mine - and it was.
This product is sold with a "replacement only" warranty for 3 years. Under Australian consumer protection laws you have a LEGAL RIGHT to demand and get a NEW REPLACEMENT UNIT if the unit fails for normal wear and tear for a period of 3 years from the date of purchase. That is exactly what a warranty is for. Other reviewers who have reported having to replace parts at great expense before 3 years should have insisted on their rights to have the unit REPLACED (as I should have), but at very least, had any parts required provided to them for free - as I did. This pool cleaner cleaner has a materials or design fault which causes them to fail (despite whatever wear being difficult or impossible to see by me or my dealer) and PENTAIR are fully aware of it, but seem resistant if not unwilling to be upfront about meeting their obligations under LAW to honour the 3 year REPLACEMENT ONLY Warranty under which the product is sold. Customers should INSIST, then immediately lodge a claim with the consumer affairs ombudsman. I hope my repaired cleaner at least lasts another 18 months, so at least I get my money's worth (minimally). Apart from that, it does the job - and quietly.

Had this cleaner for 2yrs now, it does a great job in my fiberglass pool. .... BUT..... Be prepared to buy replacement gears. Ive just had to order my second drive shaft. Seems to be a huge week point on the vacuum. Next time i will change to a somthing a little more robust.

Great pool cleaner to begin with untill you have to buy spare parts lasted only 12 months before cogs and tyres are worn out and need replacing....
Cost to replace these is ridiculous never will i buy another cheaper and easier to buy a cheaper pool cleaner every year if it lasts 12 months and a whole lot less hassle.

the cleaner worked well for the first year but it keep getting stuck by the stairs. The constant rotation of the tire as it was trying to climb the stairs wore out the treads. I replaced the treads ($50) and now the cleaner only circles the drain. i have tried several adjustments and i cannot get it to clean anywhere but around the drain.

One of the aspects I have thrived in whilst working on projects is looking at current formats and procedures and enhance or improving or replacing these systems with easier or more effective methods by developing new systems and procedures. There are a lot of good reviews here but I would be interested to speak to these people after 2 years.

I've had my Pentair rebel cleaner for a little over 2 years. Worked fined but the problem started when the parts started to wear. Will be retiring cleaner due to the outrageous cost of parts and would not recommend buying this cleaner. Again the rebel did a good job of cleaning pool but the cost of parts make it to costly to replace parts.

Bought this product about 2 months ago to replace a Baracuda style cleaner. Pool is a regular rectangular shape, in ground concrete pool. Really easy to fit and set up and with a few minor adjustments on the suction valve to allow it to climb the walls sufficiently, it was cleaning the whole pool. Would recommend it.

I've had this cleaner for just over 18 months and it's great on the pool floor and to about half way up the walls. I've got 3 entry steps and a step on the other side for sitting or standing on. I bought the rebel on recommendation from our pool shop. We had a robotic cleaner but it did after a couple of years. The rebel was cheaper than a robotic cleaner so I decided to give it a go. After a couple of weeks it was noticeable that the stairs were dirty. I had to manually clean them and have had to since. I've changed the settings and moved the float etc but the stairs remain dirty. Wouldn't recommend this if you have stairs.

We have had our Rebel pool cleaner for just over 6 months and it has worked beyond our expectations. We have a lot of gum trees close to our pool on our neighbours side and this little guy just smashes the leaves like there is no tomorrow. When we brought our house it came with the normal zodiac type pool cleaner that we had to fix/coax to work every day. This little guy is set and forget and frankly worth every cent. The only to we need to do is manually get branches out of it but we would have to do that with any pool cleaner so to us it is a non issue. We can not recommend this enough and are going to buy another one in case they stop making them! Please don’t stop making them!!

So much better than a our barracuda. Quiet, hardly notice it's on, even when you're in the pool. It picks up large leaves without any issues. Never gets stuck. Pool looks great. Had it for two years now without any problems. Thoroughly recommend it to anyone needing to replace their pool cleaner.

The Rebel worked well for the first season, but now it just keeps stopping for no apparent reason. There is no leaf or twig debris caught inside however I can see that there is obvious wear in the cogs at each end of one of the gear spindles. Perhaps that is the problem?

Bought for brand new pebble-crete pool 10 x 3 m, variable speed pump, Dec 2016, running 6 to 8 hours per day, Brisbane. Reasonable leaf and gumnut load from nearby gum tree. Had good experience of competing product The Pool Cleaner on a previous pool. Bought from local pool shop as was told that Rebel was same technology and it was quite a bit cheaper. Important to set up correctly with flow adjustment. Worked very well for about 6 months, sucking up and cleaning everything except twigs and bark. Then it started to stop, even when there was no leaf load and with clear filter baskets, got worse over 3 months. Pool shop and Pentair gave good service and rapid response. Both came over took it apart, playing with all the setting etc. Couldn't see any obvious issues with the cleaner. Told me "never had this problem". It would work for a while then just stop. Pentair gave me a replacement after 9 months. Now on my second one, after 6 months, its just starting to happen again. My hypothesis is that the after a while, maybe contributed to by decent leaf load, the cleaner internals start to wear out and loosen slightly and the action of the cogs causes some kind of "torque" to build up which jams the cleaner? Really interested in anyone else's similar experiences (there are already a couple on this comment string) before I go back to the Pentair rep. many thanks.

The Rebel slips on my fully tiled pool floor. It can't even get from the deep to the shallow end and there's no way it will climb the walls.
The dealer said it would work but I see here and at other sites that fully tiled pools are a problem.
And yes - I've tried adjusting the suction to the maximum recommended as well as the minimum and everywhere in-between.

I can't get this cleaner to work properly despite following the manual to the letter. It's "ok" but my old Kreepy Krawley did a much better job. I manually vacuum the pool at least once per week now - never had to do that with the old cleaner. Wouldn't buy again.