Hayward AquaVac 500 Robotic Pool Cleaner - Review

The Hayward AquaVac 500 is a very solid and well made robotic pool cleaner that seems to be overlooked in the market. It s priced in the mid-range as far as robotic cleaners go and delivers a lot of features.

I like the easy access filter area and I like the design of the filter itself. It has a large area for leaves and the two filter inserts trap the dirt and small debris.

This cleaner has no problem climbing up walls and moving around the pool. It just zips around the pool on a mission to clean it in the allotted 3 hour time frame. In my testing the pools I put it in come out spotless. While it is climbing the walls it also cleans the pool tile area which is a nice touch.

I like the cord swivel as it prevents one of the major plagues of robotic cleaners - the cord getting tangled up in the pool. 60 ft of cord is plenty for most pools.

Many consumers worry about this compact design I think as early cleaners that used this flat design would "Turtle" in the pool - turn over in it's back and need to be assisted. I spoke with the engineer who designed this cleaner at a pool show earlier this year and he says Hayward corrected that issue by increasing the rear thrust by 30%. It seems to work because this thing has yet to "Turtle" in my test pools.

The first thing I noticed about the cleaner is the simplicity of everything. The Control panel has three function. An "on" button, an Icon for selecting bottom only cleaning or bottom and wall cleaning and a simple 7 day timer with four options - 1 time clean, every 24 hours, every 48 hours or every 72 hours (it resets every week so you will have to reprogram it every seven days for safety reasons). That is it. Even a 6 year old could get this thing going.

The cleaner itself lends to the same simple design. The lid pops open with a simple button and the entire filter comes out in one fluid motion. The flat design allows the user to retrieve it from the pool with ease - although it is still heavy at 27 lbs. So it is easy to operate.

I suggest purchasing it with  the cart/caddy as it makes it easy to store and transport. The only negatives I found were that the cart is a little too much plastic - but it is sturdy and effective, and there is no remote for the cleaner so you can't really have fun playing with it ;). Not major negatives but noted.

There are a lot of good points to this cleaner:
Easy filter access
Compact design so it is easy to remove from the pool
Cord swivel to prevent cord tangle
Adaptive seek control for full pool coverage
60 feet of cord
Easy to set-up and program
3 year limited warranty

Robotic cleaners are a good choice for several reasons. They work independently from your pool s filtration system so all of the dirt and debris is trapped by the robot cleaner and doesn't enter your system. They are much more energy efficient than a pressure side cleaner and can clean your pool faster than either a suction side or pressure cleaner.  Most robotic cleaners like the AquaVac 500 can climb your pool walls to the tile line and can clean larger pools.

So if you are in the market for a good robotic cleaner don't overlook the Hayward AquaVac 500. It is a well constructed product built here in the USA and it is backed by a strong 3 year warranty from a manufacturer you can trust.

There is some confusion about the warranty. Online you will read 1 year. In the manual in the box it says 2 years and printed on the box it says 3 year limited warranty. Hayward says the 3 year is correct.

Here are some photos of what it picked up running in my pool for 2 days. I couldn't believe the amount of hair my dog sheds into the pool. My pool has never look more groomed ;)

My Husky

2 days worth of hair in the pool - nice.