Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought mine in May 2014 and have been very happy with it. I've never understood why the name brand pool cleaners are so expensive - $350-$400 in my area, and the parts are also expensive, all for a bunch of plastic and rubber. The kit came with all the necessary parts - the cleaner itself, the hose sections, the hose weights, and the pressure regulator that allows you to adjust the water bypass at the skimmer connection. The hose sections are the same size as the ones you can buy for a Barracuda or Kreepy Krauly at your local pool supply store. One guy at a pool store told me they only expect them (the name brand ones) to last about two years, so if you believe that you'd spend about $175-$200 per year on average. I figured that for about $80-$85, I could buy one of these every year if necessary and still save money! I did run into one problem though and it took me a while to figure it out. It may be a coincidence, but once the water got cold all of a sudden my generic Kreepy Krauly wouldn't move when the pump came on each day. The flapper seemed to get stuck against one side. Interestingly, if I reached into the water and fiddled with the flapper with my fingers, I could get it moving again and then it would run for several hours until my pump cycled off. But the next day when the timer started the pump again, it wouldn't move again until I started it manually. I did all the usual fixes - I made sure the pool was backwashed and the pressure was correct. There was no debris inside the head obstructing the flapper, or in any other part of the cleaner. There was plenty of suction - obviously that wasn't the problem because once I started it manually it would run just fine. After much trial and error I finally figured out that the baffle plate was rubbing against the flapper, just barely, but enough to keep the flapper from starting to move. It always got stuck against the same side where the screw holds the baffle plate on. All I can guess is that the flapper is mostly rubber and expanded just the slightest bit now that the water is cold. One side of the baffle plate is held with a screw, and the other side is held in place by two small protrusions from the plate that fit into holes in the cleaner head. The holes allow the baffle plate to move up and down just a little bit on one side, maybe just 1/8", but the other side where the screw is cannot move. I tried loosening the screw, but the suction just pulled the plate against the flapper. So I finally hit on the solution of putting a small washer under the baffle plate, held in place by the screw. This lifts the baffle plate just enough to keep it from rubbing up against the flapper. I bought a stainless steel washer at my local hardware store so that it wouldn't rust. The screw that comes with the Kreepy Krauly is also stainless steel. I have posted photos of the fix with this review - I hope it saves somebody else some time! In the picture the screw is not tightened all the way down yet, just for illustration purposes, but I did tighten it snugly against the washer before I put it back in the water. December 2014 Please see the other posts and replies from other users - there is lots of good information. I did buy another one of these in Feb 2016, so the original one lasted about 21 months. See the third picture that shows the wear on the original one compared to the new one just out of the box. The baffle cover tabs eventually wear against and enlarge the slots that they fit into. So my original washer technique only worked when the holes were only beginning to wear. But the larger the slots got, the more drastic the effort became to keep the baffle plate from touching and thus hindering the movement of the flapper. It has been four months since I got the new one, and there is no sign yet of the slots getting larger. It's still working great. Hopefully the manufacturer has used harder plastic or increased the thickness of it around the tab slots. I know there are some doubters, but I still think it's worth it. I just checked a national pool supply web site and the name brand Kreepy Krauly is listed for $350 and the Baracuda G3 is listed for $280. (I'll never get a Baracuda again - those rubber "throats" wear out too quickly and I just checked that same pool supply web site and they list for $52!!) June 2016