Hayward Navigator tangled up in blues ....

[PoolFool123]

Hello,

The hose on my Navigator keeps getting entangled resulting in a substantial decrease in cleaning range. Before anybody even mentions it, stretching the hose out on the deck for a few days solves nothing - in a matter of a few hours it's tangled again. Anyone know enough about the inner workings of this device that would cause it to loop the hose so consistently? My theory is that that is is rotating clockwise more often than it is CCW - but the pods move freely equally and there isn't anything I can see that is hindering the mechanism intrnally.

Any ideas appreciated.

TIA

[thepoolman1]

If, when you dis-assemble the hose, the sections are curved instead of straight, you will not solve the problem except by replacing the hoses. It is the ONLY solution.

Never store the hose in a coil, even when taking the cleaner out for a few hours. It looks neat, but will ruin the hose. Always lay the hose out straight. If you don't have room for the full length, break it apart so that they can lay straight. Keep the hose out of the sunlight when stored. If you winterize your pool, take all the hose sections apart and store in the box in which they originally came, away from a strong heat source.

Never coil the hose(s) on any pool cleaner, even temporarily. You will have this type of problem every time.

[PoolFool123]

Well, I never coil the hoses when I take the cleaner out of the pool. Most of the time, the cleaner is in the pool.

I haven't gotten the chance to check the individual hoses for curvature yet, but I will.

But you don't think this coiling phenomena is caused by anything the navigator is doing?

[CAL7]

I am guessing the gear mechanism is not reversing. It is supposed to turn right for a while (a few minutes) then go neutral, then turn left, etc.

To test, hang the Navigator in the pool so that the feet are not touching (e.g. just a foot into the water) and watch the rotation. You should see it cycle left-right-left.... If it is turning in just one direction, that is your problem. Cleaning it may work, but it probably will require a new gear box.

Sometimes it will stop because of small blockages in the feet that cause it to turn only one way (which is why you want to do the above test whiel suspended freely). Clean out any debris, and check for freedom of movement in the bearings on the A-frame. If you're lucky, it will be something that cleaning will fix.

[TimThePoolManTaylor]

Another cause for the turning is the wheels on the a-frames that ride on the turbin wear out after awhile depending on how much dirt your pool sees, when they wear out pods on one side will move slightley faster than the other side.

Most pool stores will repair them while you wait. Most places only will charge for parts.

[nansigali]

Wow, I actually threw out my old Navigator (very old) because it was doing the same thing. Figured it was time to bury the old guy. Bought a brand-spankin' new one, and replaced ALL the hoses since they were included...and guess what! The same darn thing is happening. Could it possibly be a defect? Nah..then why did the old one do the same thing. Boy, if anyone has the answer to this, please post before we fill the hole in with dirt
Nancy

[nansigali]

PROBLEM SOLVED!! Look on the sides of the pods, you'll see a "pod plug" (that's what it's called in the Navigator manual)...pop this off with a flat screwdriver and see if the "nut"(for lack of a better word) is loose. One of ours was, and luckily we found a tool to tighten it back down. Sorry I don't know what you'd call this tool but ours fit exactly over this nut and we could turn it to tighten.
Only one side was loose, which would explain why it kept going in one direction making circles until the hose was completely tangled in a knot.
This is a brand new Navigator, and I'll assume it came from the factory this way since it was doing this from day one.

Hope this will help others out there who are having a similar problem....it's just one more thing to rule out. Apparently if those 2 pods are not moving equally, it will cause your vac to go in one direction resulting in circles.

Here's the killer....we had some pool guy check it out (before we figured out what the problem really was) and he said we had scale on our diamond brite finish and needed to have it redone. Suckers that we are, we spent over 3 grand to do it and still had the same vacuum problem after all that....and the guy who came to do the diamond brite job said "You don't have any scale in this pool!" So obviously that wasn't the problem with the vacuum!

Nancy