Hayward Navigator - buy or don't?

[prov431]

Hayward Navigator pool vac ultra - $374 with additional $75 rebate.
I searched the forum and read a few topics, but really wasn't satisfied enough to hit the buy button.
Was says the Trouble Free Forum? Is this a good product worth my $ ?
(I think so, how about you?)


Thanks!
Dan

 

[Lake Lurker]

Dan from all I have read about them they do a decent job of cleaning the pool. But I think they are pretty high maint. with several high wear parts. I was going to purchase one but kept looking around and found the Poolvergnuegen Pool Cleaner. Mine is supposed to be delivered today. I have a thread on this board with several people responding with some favorable comments.

To get back to your ? is it worth it? With the rebate probably so, if you don't mind the maint issues.

 

[Guest]

The navigator is a dependable suction side cleaner. It does not had random patter cleaning so it standS a better chance of cleaning the whole pool than a random pattern one (the ones with the big rubber discs). It does require yearly maintenance but then again, so does just about every other cleaner on the market. Usually all you need to do is replace the 4 feet on the bottom. They retail for about $20. It will require more than that every couple of years, however. (Then again so does just about every other cleaner also!) We probably sell more navigators than Barracudas and Polaris combined where I work (and price is NOT the factor. It's about the same price as a Barracuda G4).

 

[revstriker]

I'm on my second year with the Navigator. So far, it's done a pretty good job at cleaning the pool. It really does get just about every square inch of the pool, except for the benches and the steps. The only issue I had with it was when some mulch got into the pool and got stuck up in the Navigator and caused it to stop working. It was an easy fix though.

I pretty much keep mine in the pool and working all the time, except when we're actually in the pool swimming. After a year, I do not have a lot of wear on the feet, or the wings.

 

[tagprod]

I've got a couple of years with my navigator. Parts are easy to find and it's pretty easy to take it apart and put back together. I've had to do it a couple of times. Mine seems to be really sensitive to filter pressure - but I'm sure all suction cleaners are. It doesn't work near as good when pressure is between 25 and 30. Around 20 PSI my little buddy will work all day :lol:

300 dollars seems like a real good price. There are different brands out there and some people swear by them. I can't offer any comparison data, but I've been satisfied with the navigator.

 

[chrisexv6]

Ive had mine for 4 years now. The first season it was perfect. But for the last few its been not working so hot. I never replaced any parts on it, I did pull it apart a few times to clean it.

This year I was on a mission to get it working tip top again. Had Leslies pool check it out (they do it for no labor cost, which is cool)....it didnt need any new parts but they cleaned and lubed it for me (for free!)

Dropped it into the pool and it was working OK but not great. Had the grand idea of checking the flow, and sure enough I was sending too much suction to it. Hayward gives you a gauge to use to determine the correct suction amount.........make sure you use it!! Once I adjusted it correctly, it basically worked perfectly. One of my hose sections cracked, so it rarely went to the shallow end, but I figure once I have the right length hose it should be good to go.

Overall, one of my best pool purchases. Currently a distant second to my LQ though so much nicer not having to dump bleach every night, yet the pool remains perfect!

 

[revstriker]

Ive had mine for 4 years now. The first season it was perfect. But for the last few its been not working so hot. I never replaced any parts on it, I did pull it apart a few times to clean it.

This year I was on a mission to get it working tip top again. Had Leslies pool check it out (they do it for no labor cost, which is cool)....it didnt need any new parts but they cleaned and lubed it for me (for free!)

Dropped it into the pool and it was working OK but not great. Had the grand idea of checking the flow, and sure enough I was sending too much suction to it. Hayward gives you a gauge to use to determine the correct suction amount.........make sure you use it!! Once I adjusted it correctly, it basically worked perfectly. One of my hose sections cracked, so it rarely went to the shallow end, but I figure once I have the right length hose it should be good to go.

Overall, one of my best pool purchases. Currently a distant second to my LQ though so much nicer not having to dump bleach every night, yet the pool remains perfect!

I actually had the opposite problem. My navigator seemed to get hung up every now and then for no apparent reason. I thought that maybe it wasn't getting enough suction. So I adjusted my two skimmer valves closer to closed (I have a dedicated suction line), and since then, the Navigator has worked perfectly.

I don't have a gauge to measure the flow. Is this something I can get at the pool store or online somewhere? I would be interested in purchasing one.

 

[chrisexv6]

The Navigator came with something like a flow meter, it plugs in place of the cleaner itself, and snaps onto one of the hose sections. You then adjust suction until the little flapper is in the max/min area. I aim for halfway in between, and thats when I realized I had been using too much suction (I use a 3 way valve to adjust the amount of suction to come more from skimmer when using the cleaner........apparently I was over adjusting).

Its not a true flow meter like people install in the plumbing, its merely something to gauge the correct amount of suction for the cleaner.

Mine also would stop for no reason occasionally. It turned out that really only seemed to happen when the filter needing backwashing, or the skimmer basket was full....I guess it went from good suction to not enough pretty quickly. Backwashed filter/cleaned out basket and then the cleaner worked fine again.

-Chris

 

[Steve]

I've had 2 Pool Vac Ultra's (essentially same as Navigator) in the past 16 years, I'm about to get third. At one time I tried literally every suction side cleaner on the market and the Navigator is the only one that would not get stuck by the stairs. It runs pretty much 7 days a week, 8 hours a day. Yes, it does have more moving parts between the feet, wings, flaps, pods, a frame, gearbox, etc, but in 16 years have never changed a gearbox, a-frame and bearings only once. It's usually just the wear items like feet wings and flaps. For me its and easy choice since its the only one that works 100% in my pool, but it does work well. Parts can be had fairly inexpensively on ebay.