Hayward AquaVac 500 Robotic Cleaner - Review

[@electroluxlad]

did you just replace the other

[@SPL]

Hayward AquaVac 500 Robotic Cleaner: This is Hayward's newest robotic pool cleaner. It has a sleek eye catching design and it lives up to it's name. This cleaner will vacuum your pool floors, walls, tile line and leave your pool spotless. It moves around the pool rapidly in a seemingly random pattern but in reality it has a sensor that allows it to seek out the best cleaning pattern fro your pool. Everything about this cleaner is simple. From the easy open top to access the filters to the simple three button control pad - anyone can operate this cleaner. It comes with 60 feet of cord and the cord has a swivel to prevent tangling. Watch the video to learn more.

[@sorinamckay3417]

Tony McKay I have had an Aqua Vac 500 for 1 year the first one I had stooped working, I had it replaced under warranty. This one has operated just fine up until a week ago, first it would start and operate for less than a minute ,now it won't start at all. I have followed the trouble shooting guide but to no avail, I'm sure the problem is electrical on the cleaner its self . Any suggestions?

[@SPL]

Clearly another warranty call.

[@TurboCarotte]

Hi, i have a question : most of poolbots go at the water line but they don't move to the left or to the right (except for latest Dolphin), but this one have a very bad behavior in the situation. It keeps going to the left and even goes at the bottom moving on the wall. It seems come from the asymetric tractions. Do you think this is what the designers want or it's just a bad conception ?

[@SPL]

+TurboCarotte The only issue I noticed with this cleaner is that if the cord is not long enough for covering the entire pool it will do an odd pattern. I haven't noticed the issue with it going left. But I will pass your comment onto the Hayward Rep in charge of this cleaner.

[@TurboCarotte]

+Swimming Pool Tips, Reviews & How To -MrDgvb1 Okay ! The cleaner is not mine. Actually, i work for a company which develop and produce cleaners ;) and we study others cleaners in order to compare them. Our Aquavac isn't as exactly the same as yours, but i think it's only the design. We had observed many "strange" behavior, but to be fair, at the end, the result is pretty good. About the cord, there is two sides. Good side : this cord is the less flexible of all clearner and with the swivel, it prevents knots and twists, and it's the most effective. Bad side : it seems affect the clearner behavior, acting like a spring. When i found your review, i was looking for informations about it, in order to compare my observations and try to explain them. One more point : when you said taht the engineer told you that they had increased the rear thrust by 30%, you were talking about traction motor ou something else ? Thanks for your reply :) (your youtube channel is really good, nice job done here ;) )

[@SPL]

+TurboCarotte Good observations. I like this cord better since it doesn't tangle but it can be hard to wind up for storage. I think the odd behavior is the "seek program" it has to determine the best cleaning pattern. It moves backwards and on the side of the walls more than your typical robot cleaner. But it does get the entire pool clean in the process. I met the designer/engineer at a trade show and only got about 3 minutes to talk with him. He didn't specify exactly about the 30% - just that it was increased to prevent turtling. It is a solid product in many respects with a good price point and solid warranty. I will be reviewing more robotic cleaners in the coming months - I was opposed to them but now I am starting to really like them - there has been much improvement over the last 4 years. And thanks for the kind words.

[@brianllfixit]

one of the few that looks like it does what it is supposed to do.

[@brada2574]

Hello, my belt just broke, does anyone know of a video out there to help me change out the belt?

[@SPL]

Call Hayward and they should be able to walk you thru it over the phone.

[@neeferpd]

This robot must be so new that I cannot find more than a couple of reviews. Can anyone else comment? I am highly considering this for my inground vinyl pool. One review said that it did "turtle" frequently but righted itself within 30 seconds. The reviewer made it sound like it happened a number of times. I like the sleek designs because of the easy access in opening the door at the top. I am interested in Hayward products because I "assume" that there would be easy access to obtain parts and accessories. Any comments to help me decide? Also considering Tiger Shark QC or a Dolphin product, but my research says Dolphin parts harder to find and manuals always seem to be less than helpful. To MrDgvb1...your KZbin videos have been so helpful to me since my pool construction last year. Thank you!

[@SPL]

neeferpd At the pool show in Long Beach in April I talked directly with the engineer who designed the AquaVac 500. The "turtling" has been corrected in the later models by increasing the rear thrust by 30%. You can really see the increased thrust when the Aqua Vac 500 is doing the tile line as water shoots out of the top at a high rate - it doesn't shoot water out of the pool but you can see the impeller really moving water. It is relatively new and they just started shipping units last month. The three year warranty seems like a great selling point and the sleek design makes it easy to remove it from the pool vs. the top heavy traditional robotic cleaners. If you want I can put you in touch with the Hayward sales rep and you can e-mail him directly. Just send me your e-mail address from my website or message it to me on Facebook. Tks.

[@velvetsahm1153]

are you a pool cleaner because i would like to hire you to clean my pool or i can buy the aquavac 500 to do it for me if you do not want to do it

[@SPL]

+Velvet Sahm Get the robot ;).

[@purdue98]

Aquavac vs polaris 9550 sport?

[@SPL]

9550 Sport is better overall.

[@maximecarpentier4595]

Would you mind pointing out why please ?

[@werincongnito2149]

The vacuum worked pretty well for the first few months but now it no longer will go in reverse or upright itself. The unit gets stuck on my pool steps and then flips on its side within the first 3 minutes of operation. It then remains stuck on the steps for the remainder of the cleaning cycle. I have read the entire users manual and also all the troubleshooting suggestions. Still no luck! Sometimes things break. I get that.... but good luck attempting to get this unit serviced. There's not a authorized repair center anywhere near me. The locations that are 30 plus miles away are extremely backed up and will take months to repair the unit. I contacted Hayward multiple times to see what assistance they could provide. They simply refer me back to the warranty shops that are 30 miles away and too busy to answer the phone. I guess I'm going to have to hand vacuum my pool this season. Sure.....go ahead and waste $1,000. I had a Polaris unit for over 10 years and simply replaced the bag and hose twice. Time to file a complaint to the BBB to see if I can get Hayward's attention.

[@SPL]

You can contact this sales rep and he should be able to smooth things over for you: Mark Pieri Sounds like a dud unit.

[@omarosuna799]

I would make sure that the filter is cleaned out really well as it reduces the flow through the system killing suction and thrust from the pump. Also in general I find all robotic cleaners buoyancy are balanced on a proverbial edge of functioning and not working. Long story short, I would recommend looking into the flotation of the unit to make sure you not losing flotation volume. If the foam in the hood looks like it is shrinking and or the foam in the rear panel is shrinking I would contact Hayward for replacements.

[@kristinawashington1773]

Thanks. :)

[@ed.t.hansen6499]

those hard plastic wheels without tracks will just slip and slide on tile floors/walls.

[@stephendinale3065]

Hayward AquaVac 500 if I could give you one tip to make a better review video it would be that you should mention the manufacturer and the model number of the vac more often Hayward AquaVac 500. Hayward AquaVac 500 perhaps start and finish every sentence with Hayward AquaVac 500.

[@SPL]

+Stephen Dinale ha, ha. You got me there. I know, after I watched the unedited footage I cringed a bit. My wife noticed that too. At least Hayward is happy ;).

[@shlomo111]

since i bought this bad machine it does spend winter in garage and summer at trevi pool to be repair so far it is one month and half i have no robot cannot use pool 1300 in the water do not buy this piece of crap