New Hayward 4-Wheel "The Pool Cleaner" Will Not Get Enough RPM

[zollan23]

Hello everyone -

I recently bought a Hayward 4-Wheel "The Pool Cleaner from ebay. I have it connected to my dedicated suction line with the appropriate length of hose and a Hayward Leaf Cannister in between the 1st and 2nd hoses coming off the wall per the instructions. I have my VSP running at 3,400 RPM with the skimmer completely shut off and I'm still only getting roughly 6-7 rotations per minute on the wheels. The cleaner will move but it will not climb the walls. I'm curious what I might be doing wrong. Any suggestions are welcome. I do see a little bit of air bubbles in the cannister and for the life of me I cannot get it to run without them. I've done everything I could think of to get the air out including running a garden hose through the pipes to ensure they're all filled with water.

The only other thing I'd call out is that my upper hose assembly seems to be a bit different than videos I've seen where it's one piece. Mine pushes down a bit when I try to connect a hose to the cleaner and I had to take the housing off to get a snug fit. However, I don't see any air coming out of the cleaner head at all so it seems like I have a good fit there.

Here is a link to the listing if it's helpful. Hayward W3PVS40JST The PoolCleaner 4x Suction Side Pool Cleaner 4WD White | eBay

 

[1poolman1]

Hello everyone -

I recently bought a Hayward 4-Wheel "The Pool Cleaner from ebay. I have it connected to my dedicated suction line with the appropriate length of hose and a Hayward Leaf Cannister in between the 1st and 2nd hoses coming off the wall per the instructions. I have my VSP running at 3,400 RPM with the skimmer completely shut off and I'm still only getting roughly 6-7 rotations per minute on the wheels. The cleaner will move but it will not climb the walls. I'm curious what I might be doing wrong. Any suggestions are welcome. I do see a little bit of air bubbles in the cannister and for the life of me I cannot get it to run without them. I've done everything I could think of to get the air out including running a garden hose through the pipes to ensure they're all filled with water.

The only other thing I'd call out is that my upper hose assembly seems to be a bit different than videos I've seen where it's one piece. Mine pushes down a bit when I try to connect a hose to the cleaner and I had to take the housing off to get a snug fit. However, I don't see any air coming out of the cleaner head at all so it seems like I have a good fit there.

Here is a link to the listing if it's helpful. Hayward W3PVS40JST The PoolCleaner 4x Suction Side Pool Cleaner 4WD White | eBay

Is your filter clean? Pump RPM means nothing without the proper flow to go with it. Which pump do you have?
Was this a new machine or used?
Sadly, there's a reason people sell used pool equipment on those sites.
I used to get requests to find a customer a "good used" heater. I had to tell them that if it was working, no one would sell it. And, in order for me to sell one I would have to know that it was absolutely working properly and that kind of inspection would make the heater cost more than new.
The same would happen with pool cleaners as well.

 

[zollan23]

Sorry, I would also add that I'm not quite sure what to do with these two rings if anyone knows.

Is your filter clean? Pump RPM means nothing without the proper flow to go with it. Which pump do you have?
Was this a new machine or used?
Sadly, there's a reason people sell used pool equipment on those sites.
I used to get requests to find a customer a "good used" heater. I had to tell them that if it was working, no one would sell it. And, in order for me to sell one I would have to know that it was absolutely working properly and that kind of inspection would make the heater cost more than new.
The same would happen with pool cleaners as well.

Filter just cleaned and it seemed to have great suction but I guess I wouldn’t know how to judge. It was new, listed as an open box. The weird part for me was when I pressed the hose down on the connection to the cleaner, it seemed to not stay in place like it did in the videos so perhaps the listing was incorrect. I kept seeing bubbles in the leaf canister too despite filling it with water and connecting underwater. Wanted to see if maybe I was missing something obvious

 

[zollan23]

Sorry, I would also add that I'm not quite sure what to do with these two rings if anyone knows. View attachment 613839

Filter just cleaned and it seemed to have great suction but I guess I wouldn’t know how to judge. It was new, listed as an open box. The weird part for me was when I pressed the hose down on the connection to the cleaner, it seemed to not stay in place like it did in the videos so perhaps the listing was incorrect. I kept seeing bubbles in the leaf canister too despite filling it with water and connecting underwater. Wanted to see if maybe I was missing something obvious

Actually can I throw one more thing in here? I’m attaching a photo of my equipment. On the lower right it splits into two which I believe is my skimmer and suction port. So if I turn that valve to block 70% of skimmer, I would have 70% of the suction coming from the dedicated suction line… what I’m unsure is how I would stop the suction from the main pool drain. How do I do that?

 

[proavia]

In your picture...
On the suction side - look at the actual labels on the pipes:
- the pipe on the left (written 'skimmer') is the spa suction
- the next pipe to the right is the pool skimmer (and likely the main drain is plumbed thru the skimmer)
- the pipe on the right (written 'suction') is for the suction side pool cleaner

It is ok to shut off the skimmer to allow all suction to come from the cleaner if necessary.

Look in the bottom of your skimmer - basket removed. There should be two pipe sided openings - the one furthestfrom the pool usually runs back to the equipment pad and the one closest to the pool is plumbed to the main drain.

 

[zollan23]

Ok. And when I turn the valve in the right to close off skimmer and go 100% suction, I do see the skimmer shuts off and I have quite a bit of suction coming from the suction line. So if my main drain is plumbed through the skimmer, is it accurate to say that shutting off the skimmer completely effectively also shuts off the main drain? The water is too cold for me to go check right now

Is this a common way to plumb? Pool is about 4 years old.

If all of this is true, I will chalk this up to a bad suction cleaner and move on - just want to make sure I understand it correctly.

Lastly… I have a diverter in my skimmer… is it necessary to remove or mess with this when using a suction cleaner?

Thanks

 

[proavia]

The diverter valve in the skimmer pretty much guarantees the main drain is plumbed thru the skimmer.
Many builders plumb the main drain this way. The diverter valve allows one to adjust how muchthe main drain works. It also has a float in it which is supposed to close off tge skimmer only if the pool water level drops too low.
We recommend the main drain and skimmer(s) are all home run back to the equipment pad to allow finer tuning of the suction sources.

You don't need to mess with the diverter to use the suction side cleaner.

 

[zollan23]

Thanks so much