Just got my Swabbie yesterday....Initial review.

[Acroholic]

Got a chance to unpack it and set it up last night. Fit and finish look good. It shipped very well, and AVAST Marine did a good job of packing. They even signed the receipt with a "thank you" and gave me a hand towel with the AVAST logo on it.

This Swabbie is going on a Vertex Alpha 250 cone skimmer. This was a custom order and cost $20 more than the standard $134.99 price, as it takes more material because of the large diameter of the Alpha 250 collection cup.

Pic 1 and 2: Top and bottom shot of the Swabbie. Notice the machined channel inside the lid for the top of the collection cup and the three clamps for centering the Swabbie wiper blade inside the collection cup skimmer neck.

Pic 3: Swabbie and collection cup turned upside down for setting the wiper blade against the inside of the skimmer neck.

Pic 4: Completed installation of the Swabbie, ready to go on the Alpha 250.

Pic 5: Completed installation of Swabbie on skimmer. AVAST suggests an initial setting of the Swabbie operating for a minimum of 1 minute 4 times a day. I have the Swabbie controlled by an RKL controller, coming on for 1 minute every 6 hours.

Initial Impressions:

Shipping and General Customer Service from AVAST:

I give them a A+ on this. AVAST answered all my questions promptly and courteously. They packed my Swabbie very well and shipped it via USPS Priority Mail when they said they would. The equipment was well packed and arrived to me in good shape. Friendly folks to deal with.

General fit and finish of the Swabbie:

Very good. I really don't know what to expect with a product of this type, but it appears very well built. One might think at this VERY reasonable price point that there would be lower quality materials used, but the the plastics used are thick, solid, and look up to the task. No sharp edges to be found. The wiper blade is very thick and looks like it will last a long time.

The machined channel in my Swabbie skimmer lid is a PERFECT fit for my Alpha 250 cup. There is no play in the fit at all. As a matter of fact, I don't think I even need the three clamps that come with the Swabbie at all, the fit is so good. I assume the thumb screws are for adjusting the center point of the Swabbie to assure 360 degree contact of the wiper blade to the inside of the skimmer neck. My Swabbie has 360 degree contact and no adjustment of the center point is needed.

Only point of caution any Buyer should use is to not over tighten the screw that holds the wiper blade assembly to the turning shaft. The center shaft is dense plastic, and over torquing can strip the threads. It doesn't take a lot of tension to hold the wiper blade assembly in place. AVAST warns about this in the printed Directions enclosed with the Swabbie.

The screws and nuts used to hold the silicone blade to the plastic wiper assembly, and the single large screw that holds the wiper assembly to the turning shaft are made of nylon, so they will not rust. And per AVAST Marine, the set screw holding the center shaft onto the motor housing is 316 stainless, so it should never rust. Looks like AVAST took the harsh environment into consideration when picking their hardware materials.

The Swabbie is in place and starting to do it's job. I will post later after it has had a chance to run for a while.
Dave

[soccerbag]

Great review Dave. This saved me a pm to you and I'm sure others (including AVAST) will appreciate the honest and thorough review. Well done man. Keep us posted! : )

[Paul_N]

Thanks for posting this! I'm interested in getting one of these for my SWC 250 extreme skimmer. Very thorough review, great job!

[solitude127]

Keep it comin'. What a great alternative to all the other expensive self cleaning heads

[soccerbag]

Any updates Dave? Would love to hear how it's performing on your skimmer. Feel free to shoot me a pm if you don't want to post publicly. I hope it's working well as I'm close to pulling the trigger on one as well! : )

[Troylee]

looks great and great review..... i wonder if you can get it in white to match your skimmer??? that would be very sweet looking....