HAYWARD AQUAVAC 500 PROBLEMS

[jgarden]

Purchased the Hayward Aquavac 500. It worked fine for 2.5 years. Then it stopped working. Fortunately, was still under warranty. It took them 4 or 5 tries to fix it, each time I had to drive it 60 miles to the service center (and each time I brought it home, it still wouldn't work). A 60 mile drive in So Cal equates to about 2 hours.

Finally, hayward sent me a new one. About 1 year later the new one has stopped working. Truly unbelievable for a $1,000 robotic cleaner. I spoke with Hayward and they referred to me a warranty center closer to home.

Authorized service center 1 - We don't work on those.
Authorized service center 2 - We don't work on those.
Authorized service center 3 - We don't work on those.
Authorized service center 4 - We don't work on those.

I went back and forth with Hayward via email as well.....and then they stopped responding. Basically, their products are not very good and their customer service is the same.

Anyone have an Aquavac 500 that actually works more than 3 years?

What life expectancy should the consumer expect from a 1k robotic pool cleaner?

Are there any robotic cleaners that are solid reliable? What's the life expectancy of those models?

 

[mknauss]

Sorry your post has not received any replies. I honestly have not seen many of that type robot cleaners on the forum.

Take care.

 

[Neefer]

I realize the original post is a few months old now, but I'm responding in case someone is researching the Aquavac 500 and wants another view. I bought mine 4 years ago. It did break down on me once a couple of years ago and I sent it to authorized repair which cost me shipping to the shop, but everything else was covered including shipping back. Everything was fine til just last week when it's now pooped out again. So I was starting to research the much praised Maytronics models, and realized that Haywards 3 year warranty beats out the other's 1 or 2 year warranty for an equivalent model. I'm buying another Aquavac 500 because I've been very satisfied with how it's operated...never turtled, never cord tangled, and cleaned to my satisfaction (not perfectly though).

This was my first robot, so I have nothing to compare it to. But I can also say that my swim season is April through all of October and my Aquavac got me through 3 floods, so I feel I worked it hard. I'm assuming my first unit is not worth fixing now that I've researched and found it unusual to get over 5 years anyway with any brand. I'd love to hear opinions about that statement, though.

Also affecting my decision to buy another Aquavac is the fact that I can keep the first one for spare parts. And I realized I can purchase with my AmEx card to extend warranty to 5 years with it! Geez I hope I'm right about that!!

It seems this product doesn't have many fans...or really many testimonies period...so I thought I'd chime in with my experience.