Lifting a Robotic Pool Cleaner out of a Pool with a Bad Back

Do you have a bad back and find lifting your robotic pool cleaner out of the pool a strain on your back?

Being tall (6’2″) I do suffer from lower back pain from time to time and I certainly feel it in my back when I lift my pool robot out of the pool and have to hold it there while the water drains from it.

In this quick tip, I will show you how to lift a robotic pool cleaner out of a pool without hurting your back or inducing as little strain on your back as possible.

How to Lift a Robot Pool Cleaner

The Usual Method

If you stand on the side, you need to lean forward to hold the cleaner over the water to allow the water to drain out. If you don’t bend over, the water will drain all over your feet. This can be very hard on your back—it certainly is on mine.

Some advice you can find on the internet is to lift it and rest the front of the cleaner onto the edge of the pool while the water drains out. While this does take most of the weight of the cleaner to reduce the strain on your back, I am not happy putting the weight onto the front cleaner brushes as I believe that could damage them.

My Method

In order to reduce the strain on your back, you need to be able to lift the robot pool cleaner out of the pool and stand straight back while the water drains out and back into the pool.

To do this, stand at the corner of the pool. Place a foot on either side of the corner, about a foot along each side. Now bend your legs, keeping your back straight, and take hold of the pool cleaner’s handle. Lift the pool cleaner out and stand straight up. Hold it there while the water drains out, resulting in less strain on your lower back.

Demonstration Video

I demonstrate the two methods of lifting the robot cleaner out of the pool in this video:

There are some commercially available robot pool cleaner lifts and hoists but they cost a ridiculous amount of money. I have seen them for between $4000 and $6000 which is crazy.

4 Steps to Safely Extract Your Robotic Cleaner from the Pool

Here are four straightforward steps to safely and efficiently retrieve your robotic pool cleaner from your pool.

1. Switch off the cleaner: Press the Start/Stop button to cease the cleaning cycle and remove it from the electricity supply before initiating the removal process.
2. Move the cleaner to the corner: Gently pull on the cable to bring the robotic cleaner’s handle within a comfortable arm’s reach. Do not tug it sharply as this may damage the connection.
3. Lift and Drain: Use the handle to lift the cleaner from the water, holding it vertically above the pool to allow the water to thoroughly drain from the unit before removing it.
4. Cable Caution: Do not lift the cleaner from the pool by the cable. It is not designed for this so doing so will likely damage the connection.

Read this post if you have wondered whether to save lifting it you can leave your robotic pool cleaner in the pool.