Hayward The PoolCleaner Suction Cleaner

The PoolCleaner is Hayward's suction-side cleaner: it plugs into the skimmer or a dedicated suction port and runs on your pump's suction, driving its wheels with an internal turbine. Hayward sells it in two sizes, the 2-Wheel and the 4-Wheel, each in white or a limited edition gray.

At pool stores the dealer models are PBS20JST and PBS40JST, white, and PBS20GST and PBS40GST, gray. Online, the Open Line versions are W3PVS20JST, W3PVS40JST, W3PVS20GST and W3PVS40GST, and Amazon lists them under the name Poolvergnuegen.

It isn't Hayward's robotic R110 and R130, which also carry The PoolCleaner name. Like any suction cleaner, it sends what it picks up to your pump basket and filter; the cleaner type comparison covers what that means.

2-Wheel or 4-Wheel

From Hayward's sell sheet and manual:

• 2-Wheel: pools up to 16 by 32 feet, 33 feet of hose, 5.76 pounds. It travels 8 to 10 feet before turning, with five programmed turns from 90 to 450 degrees.
• 4-Wheel: pools up to 20 by 40 feet, 40 feet of hose, 6.6 pounds. It travels 11 to 14 feet before turning, with three programmed turns from 90 to 540 degrees.

Hayward's sell sheet puts the 4-Wheel on larger and deeper pools. Both clean floors and walls on in-ground pools, and Hayward's manual adds that the cleaner will only climb walls where the pool has a sufficient radius between floor and wall.

The steering works by periodically reversing the left wheel so the cleaner turns and heads off in a new direction.

Before the first run

From Hayward's manual:

1. Clear very large debris by hand first, after a storm or at spring opening. Hayward says not to use the cleaner to remove large debris in new pools.
2. Backwash or clean the filter, and empty the skimmer and pump baskets.
3. Balance the water. If you shock the pool, wait a day or two before putting the cleaner in.
4. Point all the return fittings downward, so they don't push the cleaner and hose around.

Setting up the hose

• The leader hose is the section with the gray cuff, which goes on the cleaner. The floats go on it 20 to 25 inches from the cleaner end.
• Join the rest male to female, wetting the ends if they're hard to join, then add the leader hose last.
• Length: Hayward says the connected hose should be one to two sections longer than the distance to the farthest point of the pool.

Getting the air out and connecting it

Air in the hose and cleaner is the thing to avoid. Hayward gives two ways to purge it:

• With the pump running, lower the cleaner in and hold the far end of the hose against a return fitting until the air stops coming out.
• With the pump off, lower the cleaner and push the hose down vertically into the water until it's completely full.

Then turn the pump off before connecting, which Hayward underlines because suction can be very dangerous:

• Into a skimmer: press the regulator valve and hose cone firmly into the bottom of the skimmer.
• Into a dedicated suction port: screw in the vac lock and insert the regulator valve, or push the hose straight into the vac lock and use your 3-way or ball valve to set the flow instead.

Turn the pump back on.

Setting the speed: 11 to 14 RPM

Hayward's target is 11 to 14 revolutions per minute on the right front wheel. It will still clean as low as 8 RPM, but it won't climb walls. Hayward says that range is equivalent to 7 to 10 inches of mercury on a vacuum gauge, which isn't included.

To count it: hold the cleaner by the leader hose just below the water, keeping it under so it doesn't suck air, and count the right front wheel's turns for a minute, using the hump on the tire as your marker.

To adjust it, use the regulator valve on the skimmer or suction line, which bypasses water so the cleaner doesn't run too fast:

• Screw the top in to bypass less water and speed it up. If it's all the way in and still under 11 RPM, open your 3-way valve for more suction, clean the filter, or take the regulator valve out.
• Screw the top out to bypass more water and slow it down. If it's all the way out and still over 14 RPM, turn the 3-way valve down for less suction.

Choosing the inlet matters too. The cleaner comes with interchangeable inlets: small for a small or variable-speed pump, medium for an average pump, and large for a large pump. Hayward notes that low-flow setups may affect the cleaner's ability to climb walls. Sizing a pool pump covers flow if you're unsure what yours moves.

Safety and storage

Hayward's rules:

• Take the cleaner out before shocking the pool, and before backwashing.
• Don't swim with the cleaner in the pool.
• Store it in the shade, away from children and pets.
• Store the hose straight. Don't coil it. If loops won't come out, Hayward says to lay the hose straight in the sun.

Servicing it

Clearing a blockage: the manual shows removing the screws on top, lifting off the upper body, and clearing the turbine and gears underneath. Before taking it apart, turn the right wheel by hand from behind: if it won't turn, something is stuck inside.

Turbine vanes only go in one way. Hayward's reminder is that they look like a wave breaking toward the front of the cleaner: convex at the front, concave at the back.

Tires come off and go back on by hand, as the manual's pictures show. Replace them once they're worn to the tread wear markers; if you can't see the markers, they're past it. Worn tires may damage the pool surface or trim.

Skirts and inlet: turn the cleaner upside down, press both sides of the inlet and pull it out, then clear any debris in the turbine chamber. One of the middle skirt assemblies pulls out, and the rest slide out after it. The inlet only goes back one way, marked L and R, and should click in on both sides.

What the troubleshooting table says

• Doesn't move, or moves too slowly: check wheel RPM; look for a blockage in the cleaner or the system; the pump may be off, on low speed or not primed, and bubbles at the returns point to a leak; clean the pump basket, skimmers and filter; check the turbine vanes aren't backward.
• Doesn't clean the whole pool: the hose is too short, the floats are in the wrong place, the hose swivel is dirty, or the returns are pushing the hose away.
• Climbs too far or climbs out: worn tire treads and skirts, too much suction, not using the regulator valve on a skimmer connection, or an auto skim or vac plate that needs adjusting.
• Won't climb the wall: too little suction, or the floats in the wrong place.
• Falls on its side and is slow to recover: floats misplaced or missing, hose too short, returns pushing the hose, or wheel RPM off.
• Turns in circles: worn wheel hub, large drive gear, steering slide or right drive gear.
• Hose pops out of the skimmer when the pump stops: make sure the hose cone is seated, and look for an air leak in the system.
• Wheels wobble: worn bearings.
• Hose loops won't come out: it was stored coiled. Lay it straight in the sun, and clean the swivel under a tap.

Air bubbles in the returns covers finding the air leak Hayward's table points to.

Buying one

Hayward's Expert Line PBS models are sold only through pool professionals and stores, with two years of parts and one year of in-store labor. The Open Line W3PVS models are sold online with one year of parts and no labor. Either way, tires and skirts are wear items, covered only for manufacturing defects.

The four Amazon listings on this page show Hayward as the manufacturer with the matching W3PVS model numbers. When checked, other sellers' listings titled "Replacement for Hayward W3PVS40JST" cost $958 to $1,058, far more than the $529 genuine white 4-Wheel, and the one checked listed another brand as its maker. Check the manufacturer and model number before buying.

Where Hayward's documents disagree, or fall short

• The skirt color. Hayward's parts lookup describes PVX043042BKPK4 as white on the 2-Wheel lists and black on the 4-Wheel list; the BK in the part number matches black.
• The Open Line 2-Wheel's weight. Hayward's product pages give the white W3PVS20JST a 19 lb shipping weight, the same as the 4-Wheels, while the other 2-Wheels show 16 lb.
• What the parts lookup leaves out. It lists no part numbers for the hose, leader hose, regulator valve or hose cone, all of which the manual shows in the box.