Robotic Pool Cleaners with an Anti-Tangle Swivel Cable

A robot cleaning a pool turns hundreds of times in a cycle, and every turn puts a twist into the cable. Without a swivel the twists accumulate until the cable coils, shortens and finally stops the robot short of the far wall. A swivel is a bearing in the cable itself; as the robot turns, the two halves of the cable rotate independently and the twist never builds. Dolphin fits them to its 60 ft inground cables, Clear fits them to the 59 ft cables on the S and UV, and the Aquabot X4 has one too.

A swivel does not replace good habits entirely. Lay the cable out straight on the deck before a cycle, keep the power supply roughly centred on a long side, and avoid storing the cable in tight coils. With those three habits and a swivel, tangles become rare enough that owners leave the robot in the pool for the season.