I always swore by Kreepys but when we had our pool rebuilt after that big CA fires a few years ago, the builder included a Hayward Navigator. The pool shop also seems to like them so we gave it a try.

The darn thing chokes on the smallest pebbles and also on every second leaf.

I did some research and the Barracuda G4 seemed highly recommended so we bought one...

Darn thing also chokes way too easily, gets trapped in several places, won't come anywhere near the surface and is very pressure-sensitive. Too little and it stops dead, too much and it just sits in one spot quivering.

Can't afford a robotic unit nor the re-piping required to use a pressure-side unit.

Should I go back to a Kreepy?

We don't get that much large debris but there are usually a few bigger leaves around (our old house had a couple of Eucalyptus trees overhanging the pool - those have to be the absolute worst. I understand that the right size stone will stop almost any cleaner but even small pebbles stop both the Navigator and the G4 - I must say that of the two, the Hayward does clean way better WHEN it works.

Any ideas, suggestions will be welcome.

FYI the pool is 22k gallons, finished in "ColorQuartz and runs from 3'-0" to 9'-6" deep. Three acute corners wher the concrete steps are. There is a separate suction line with a 3-way valve to the skimmer.

We have a Nitro Wall Climber and love it. We bought factory refurb for approx $350 I think. It works as advertised and the company stood behind it when we needed a repair. They actually replaced it once after the first one failed. No issues since the replacement arrived. We are not affiliated with the company or pool business, we're just satisfied customers. Search other posts on TFP about it if you are interested, that's what we did. Best of luck.

I'm having good luck with a POOLVERGNUEGEN "The Pool Cleaner 4x" suction side cleaner. I got it earlier this season (May, I think?). It does a great job. I hook it up one of my skimmers. In order to get the rotations they suggest, I have to close the drain and the second skimmer part way. It spends a pretty good amount of time both the shallow and deep end. Mine does climb fairly steep inclines (such as the slopes from the deep end walls to the bottom maybe as much as 45 degrees?) but won't climb up the vertical walls. I've not had it clog up or or get stuck. Well, some times it will get hung up on the main drain for awhile, but it usually works itself loose. I think, I've only had to unstick it once or twice.

Not trying to be a commercial for it. Just sharing my user experience with it. I've had good luck with it, have no regrets.

I had another thought. If you were interested in a pressure side cleaner, POOLVERGNUEGEN makes a no-booster pressure side cleaner. You wouldn't have to plumb and add a booster to use it. I considered it for awhile, but I passed since most of the debris I get is very fine. Just bringing it as food for thought.

Thank you -I'll take a look at it

The fact that it does not like climbing walls bothers me though - my pool is relatively deep, with large areas of vertical wall.