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Pentair Rebel has been replaced by Pentair Rebel 2 Automatic Vacuum Pool Cleaner.
Pentair Rebel
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Best Pool cleaner owned, when it was working
Was the best pool cleaner that I have owned. It picks up debris, keeps algae off surfaces, most leaves, but gum leaf stems can jam gears as the gears wear.
also large twigs can get stick in entry of cleaner (tell-tale sign is cleaner going round in circles or hose tangling on itself). I echo other reviews the parts wear out but are at least straightforward to replace with basic mechanical knowledge.
- 2 reviews
it is not the same as the austral S6 although it claims to be the same.
From the day i put it in my pool, it just keeps stopping all the time and cannot seem to cope with any small leaves. My Austral S6 cleaner never had this problem. There is nothing wrong with my pump or filter. No matter how many times i take it out and put it back in, it will run for a short time and keep stopping.
Purchased in November 2021 for $445.
- 3 reviews
- 3 likes
Great pool cleaner
I purchased a rebel pool cleaner and it was doing an amazing job of cleaning my pool but then just over 2 years or so it stopped working properly. I emailed Pentair and requested they replace it and they dropped off a brand new pool cleaner to my home. Pentair offered me great service and im really happy with my pool cleaner. I had tried many pool cleaners before and the Rebel is by far the best in cleaning the pool, it climbs the walls, picks up leaves and works its way around the whole pool.
Purchased in October 2019 for $579.
- Verified
Expensive and doesn't last long
This was advertised by retailer as suitable for pools with heavy leaf drop and described as "wall climbing".
The device stopped moving in one direction after less than 18 months then stopped moving completely a couple of weeks later. It was still under warranty but manufacturer said it generally lasts about 18 months before needing new parts so it's not covered (normal wear and tear). Some of the plastic rollers disintegrated too which they said would have been caused by a stick in the pool so also not covered. Spare parts (i.e. a few bits of...
Read more plastic) cost $180 and I was able to install them myself. The thing now moves again but the manufacturer implied I'll need to do it again 18 months from now. That's $10 per month just to keep it moving. It does not "climb walls" and manufacturer said it's not meant to, despite retailer's description. It deals with moderate leaf drop but jams on larger leaves, small twigs, flower buds etc so isn't ideal if you have any trees around your pool. The only positive has been the one customer service person I spoke to who was very knowledgable and patient with my questions. But ultimately in my view it's not sufficiently robust, it's marketed as something it's not, it's far too expensive and the warranty is meaningless.Purchased in February 2020 at Pool and Spa Warehouse for $649.
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Do not buy this
We bought this in August 2017. We have had it replaced twice under warranty already. Today I went out to the pool to find it is broken again. Now it’s out of warranty. Every time the gearing has broken, now it just goes in circles. The last time they replaced it, they upgraded our rebel 1 to version 2. This one has lasted the shortest amount of time.
Purchased in September 2017.
- 5 reviews
- 1 like
Replacing wheels and gears does not work.
Just spent $150 on a refurbish kit as the unit slowed down and doing donuts. Wasted $150.00 as was provided with an old kit with smooth wheels. Unit is now just sitting there with wheels moving very slowly. Reset suction, back washed and removed skimmer basket, suction is at Max. But doesn't work at all.
Purchased in February 2018 at Pool and Spa Warehouse for $599.
- 4 reviews
- 3 likes
Rebel 2 not what it is made out to be
We required a new pool cleaner, Rebel 2 was recommended to do the job required, leafy pool clean and a cleaner that could climb walls, to start with it did not work, we did a back wash, measured flow and checked all instructions and we have a cleaner that works.
Further comment from above, after running the cleaner for a while now, we have had to replace the pump and chlorination cell, with new improved water flow the cleaner work as it should, it does the job as intended and our has not looked this good since it was built 13 years ago.
Purchased in January 2021 for $550.
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- 2 reviews
Two years on, still going strong
Has been by far the best I've owned. We have an oval-shaped pebblecrete pool, surrounded by trees. Plenty of leaves of all shapes and sizes go in, but it deals with them no problem. Finally stopped covering the whole pool recently after two years of solid daily use. Drive shaft was worn. Replaced using tune-up kit. Away she goes again, good as new. Couldn't recommend more.
Purchased in September 2018 for $599.
Poorly designed plastic drive - don't buy.
I have now had two of these things in the past year. I had the builder install the first in a 45,000 gallon pool. It worked for about two weeks, then got to where it would never leave the deep end of the pool.
Pool builder brought another one out; never really would leave the deep end. Left us manually cleaning about half the pool. Hose length is correct, float is correct, water returns are multiple, small ones, that do not impede the thing in any way.
Wife took the 2nd one in to Leslies; they replaced the plastic drive shaft that engages...
Read more the gear teeth inside the two wheels. It sort of worked for a few weeks. A year has gone by with lousy performance (yeah, try to get a Pentair response.) I finally pulled the cover and inspected the operation. The plastic cam (item 12 in their parts list) that shifts the drive shaft from the inner ring to the outer ring of the left wheel gear drive does not actuate the follower enough to perform this change reliably.Purchased in July 2019 for $525.
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not for me
I purchased a Rebel 2 approximately four weeks ago and find it moves around the pool ok but has no brushes and doesn't scrub the surface of the pool so algae forms on the side walls. This never happened with the old creepy crawly. I was also disappointed to read in the instructions only after I has purchased it that it was only meant to run for two hours a day which is a bit annoying as the filter runs for at least double that as I am sure most pool filtration systems do. For me this cleaner is a waste of money and I have taken it out of the pool and gone back to my old creepy crawly.
Purchased in November 2020 at Best Price Pool Equipment for $599.
- 3 reviews
- 1 like
Very Happy with Rebel 2
I originally had all sorts of issues with the Rebel 2 not working but realised I was missing the hose float, I went back to the store & once I put on the hose float it works great. It has great suction & climbs the walls. It’s a really good quality built product & easy to access the internal components if you need to change any worn parts in the future. Lots of spare parts available also in case anything needs replacing.
The service from Pentair was really good also. They pointed me on the right direction to fix the issue I was having with the set up. Who knew the hose float was so important.
Purchased in September 2020 for $600.
Working beautifully
This cleaner is a new one, replacing an old creepy crawly. It is actually the second one, the first one failed after about 6 months, but Pantair simply replaced it, which was excellent. Since it's been replaced, it's performed perfectly, way better than our old one.
Purchased in September 2019 for $699.
Find out how Pentair Rebel compares to other Suction Pool Cleaners
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- 8 reviews
- 4 likes
Least Worst of all the Pool Cleaners!
To set the background for my review.. my current pool is under a range of trees which drop a variety of propeller leaves (with a large nut like seed attached), flowers, flower buds, leaves, branches, then there are other palm trees with seeds and so on.. the biggest trees dump their entire load every few months. And so during peak periods I have to manually empty (the full) skimmer box every few hours, 'plus' scoop the pool manually too , so finding the right cleaner is really important for me.
I have tried the 3 different types now, here is t...
Read morehe summary: 1) Zodiac CX20 (Robot Cleaner - plugs into 240V) - These can handle any size debris with a large separate container to store the debris.. its really good if you have let your pool go and have heaps to remove.. however the trade off is: a) the whole unit has to be pulled out and emptied/hosed regularly b) It cant stay in the pool permanently and c) It doesn't actually vacuum the pool floor (thru the filter), the algae just ends up back on the floor.. so for the 2 years I used this.. I had ongoing algae green pool issues due to before mentioned leaf matter. This was a huge issue for me, as green pools are very expensive and time-consuming to rectify. 2) Vacuum Cleaner (Zodiac T3) - This fixes the algae issues, at times it does a great job actually, however there is a $30 diaphragm part that gets damaged by some of our leaf seed matter.. every few weeks it becomes less effective, to the point it will at some point become split completely.. basically it will stop on 'every single seed' and requires manual intervention. Its actually a very large cost to keep replacing that diaphragm every few months.. and in the end I was still spending far too much time trying to unjam it & trying to scoop the floor manually to prevent the next jam. Another point about vacuum cleaners.. I look after my neighbours square shaped pool also, this style of vacuum gets stuck in square corners all the time.. its completely fine for an oval pool like ours though. 3) Pentair Rebel 2 - This is the best of the options I have found.. it has the movement of the Robot Cleaner (ie its not powered by the sucking motion).. there is randomness to its movement, and its much faster at cleaning a pool vs the vacuum style cleaner which tends to do loops and completely miss areas of the floor.. but more importantly it handles the larger leaf matter which was forever jamming my T3.. and it avoids the algae issues of the robot cleaner, as it is picking up green matter from the floor and sending it through the filter. Note: Don't forget to backwash your filter occasionally if using a Vacuum or Rebel cleaner.Purchased in July 2019 for $550.
- 3 reviews
Update at 2 years old. Worked really well for a while, but has died now and no parts are available.
Update at Feb 2022.
The Rebel worked well for 18 to 20 months then stopped. We had a repair kit installed and it worked for another 4 or 5 months but has stopped working again. Had another kit installed, but it didn't fix the problem. It needs a new main drive wheel, but Rebel doesn't have them available and hasn't had them for ages. It is still under warranty but I can't get it fixed. The pool shop I bought it from is really unhappy with the Rebel supplier as they are not listening. I suggest you don't buy one of these pool cleaners.
Initial ...
Read moreReview: We bought the REBEL 2 Pool cleaner about 6 months ago after struggling for 12 months with the cheap ALDI cleaner. It cost a bit more, but it has a good warranty and all the parts are simple to replace (everything wears out eventually). My local pool shop (who I trust) has sold heaps of the earlier model and in the new model they have fixed up a couple of the small problems. It was very easy to install....just a bit of playing around with the pressure valve thingy....and it has been faultless so far. It will get stuck if you leave certain kinds of sinkies in the bottom of the pool.Purchased in October 2019 for $499.
- 3 reviews
Works really well for us
We have a 9m x 4m pool. Never really happy with the other type of creepy suction cleaner, never did a good job. Finally purchased the Rebel 2 and this has answered all our questions and concerns. Drone photo
Purchased in December 2019 at Mr Pool Man for $500.
Questions & Answers
Hi, My Rebel is getting stuck at the bottom of the wall where ever i put it in my pool. We have recently had the pump replaced and it worked fine before that. I have tried changing the section level and have checked for derbies. Any suggestions?
the filters are clean, great suction, no blockages, the cogs are all good, the valve in the skimmer box is fully closed to fast BUT the wheels are only turning 5 times per minute . Any advice please!
Cleaner constantly spins in circles; wheels turning in opposite direction. Remedial action ?
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Details
Category | Suction Pool Cleaners |
---|---|
Price (RRP) | 799 |
Replaced by | Pentair Rebel 2 Automatic Vacuum Pool Cleaner |
Manual | Download manual |
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