Davey LeafWIZARD Automatic

Tricky to set up – Have had leaf wizard for some years. Works extremely well for me but, it's a tricky thing to get set up properly. Still able to get spares but I don't expect that to continue. It's a shame Davey didn't do product support. A few small issues but very pleased overall.

Piece of useless rubbish – This cleaner does nothing it supposed to do . Had the cleaner installed by local pool shop & never worked properly from day 1, my pool is fbreglass 7.0 x 3.5 all it did was sit in one spot & going back & forth headbutting the wall . I had the pool shop come out again to try & get it too work satisfactory all to no avail. I asked for a refund but… Read more

was told the 6 month warranty period was up, i put up with this pile of garbage for 12 months before i finally decided enough was enough & put it in the bin .Will never buy another davey product again.

Piece of junk – This leaf wizard would have to be the biggest piece of junk ever made. Nothing but a pool ornament that sits in one spot on the bottom of the pool. Bought an eyeball to see of that would make it move , which it did for about a month , then back to getting to one spot and staying there. Maybe Davey should put a recall out on this. Cost a small… Read more

fortune and have had nothing but problems with it. Davey you should be ashamed of this product. I know I will never buy a product with your brand on ot again.

Great for gum leaves - lasted 6 months – This cleaner solved our gum leaf problem for about 6 months. Then we stared replacing bits. The reversing arm rubber, the reversing arm plastic, the tyres, the knobs on the end of the bumpers. I lost track of the repairs and my partner patiently dealt with it. Finally after 2 years it is so worn out it won't move at all and repairs are as… Read more

expensive as a new one. Disgusted with Davey selling this disposable junk. picks up gum leaves without stalling lightweight junk - obviously not built to last; spare parts prohibitive

Very poor design – I've used this vacuum system for almost 14 years and have had nothing but problems.Ii thought maybe they would be better when Davey took responsibility for the product (previously called Max-i-vac) but that wasn't the case. My first L.W. lasted less than a year and was replaced under warranty. The current one hasn't worked for 2 months and it is… Read more

less than 2 years old. The problem is in the plastic components (spindles I think) that keep breaking, leaving only one wheel working. I'm now looking for spare parts to fix it myself as repairs are also very expensive. How effective it was as a cleaner during the first three months after installing. How ineffective it was through the remainder of its short, miserable life; how expensive it is to repair

A piece of crap – I have had a pool for over 25 years and about 3 years a go I purchased one of these Leafwizards after 12 months the little eyes fell off, then it didnt turn in one direction now dosnt work at all. Do not waist your money on buying one of these you would be better off flushing your hard erned cash down the toilet. the first month it actully worked. it falls appart

Sucked in by Davey – These things are useless. The wheels just stop spinning at the slightest sign of debris. The hoses fall off when you try to pull it out. The skimmer box fitting is "super-glued on and sometimes comes off." Davey in Perth told me mine had sand inside it. Ummmm, I kind of hoped that the machine would deal with that! The problem is that it never… Read more

worked from scratch. My Kreepy Krauly wore out after 8 years of a clean pool, and I figured I was getting an upgrade! Spent plenty of time on the phone to pleasant staff members who are obviously used to the complaint calls. Even one of the Davey reps from another division said "Pool cleaners are not our strongest division." No offer of trade in, exchange, or assistance was made. The colour

Great leaf eater! – I bought this just over 2 years ago. Behind our pool is a euclypt forest, and also our neighbour had a large euclyptus that overhung our pool till recently. Bazza (Our barracuda) was struggling more each month, constantly getting it's diaphram blocked, stretched and broken. It was getting too expensive for parts and was such high maintenance… Read more

unclogging it all the time. After 2 years of 'the Wizz' I am very happy with the leaf removal. The problem is, we live in Brisbane and our pool in summer sits between 28 and 30 degrees.

The hose that comes with the Wizz, is too soft and actually ends up bending instead of curving, causing the cleaner to stop and water to stop going through to pump. Even when it doesn't bend, it will suck itself in and the same happens.

Only seems to happen in the warmer weather, never a problem in Winter. It also doesn't clean the corners, so we often get a build up in the corners and have had blackspot outbreaks as a result.

Sometimes longer grass type leaves get caught in small wheels and eventually stop it working. Still easier to deal with than Bazza's problems. Also, now it's turning arm needs replacing but nothing else replaced in 2 years. Picks up large Euclyptus leaves really easily. Goes and goes and goes. Hose gets elbows in it in summer months, long grass plants clogg small wheels, doesn't do corners well. Steps/ledges need to be swept regularly as it doesn't climb.

Disappointed – Bought a Leaf wizard as I was looking for something that did not cavitate the water in the pump like most of the "clicker" type cleaners. Yes, it did not cavitate the water in the pump but the rest of it was useless. It spins a full 360 when it has it's reverse cycle so it would often stay in the same spot at the edge of the wall shredding the… Read more

rubber tyres, sometimes climbs walls but more often not, took it back under warranty was told it was faulty, got a new one, even had 2 specialists try to help set it up (as a mechanic shouldn't have to ask for help for a simple pool cleaner), tried different pump pressures, with/without filtration. Might have been a good design in theory, but not in practice. Could leave it running the whole day and not have the pool (50,000 liters) clean. Just bought a $99 "clicker" from ebay, yes it cavitates the water in the pump a bit, but the pool was clean in less than an hour. Davey Leaf Wizard.

No good for us! – We have had this model for 1 year and already we are looking to replace it. It only cleans in one spot. No matter how much tweaking, we have never had any satisfaction from this model. Great at picking up leaves providing they're in that corner where it gets stuck. Disappointed at a very costly exercise. Picks up large leaves Gets stuck in corners, resorted to manual cleaning.

Takes some adjustment and is touchy but once you get the hang of it is great – We have a pool sitting literally underneath a great big moreton bay fig (+ 3 large gum trees). (Yeah, I know. I didn't do it). The muncher fills the leaf basket not less than six or seven times a week. Does get jammed on twigs and sometimes stuck on palm nuts. (Yeah, I know. Did not do that, either). Have not vacuumed the pool manually… Read more

for two years now. Does not climb sides on aggregate.

For the first three months I wrote it off as junk. My problem was it just went to one end of the pool and stayed there. I finally worked out that the hose has to be at the correct angle from the unit (closer to 90 the better). If it does not the "randomly turn around" function does not work, so it just stays in one spot. Once I put in a few extra hose lengths and a bit of pool noodle under the second section back from the cleaner I never looked back.

I dont think you are supposed to leave it in there 24/7 to avoid premature wear, but I do. Will buy another. Picks up leaves. Lots and lots of leaves. Takes a fair bit of tweaking to get it working

Better than most – We have a very leaf infested pool- lots of leaves around ALL the time. Over the last twenty odd years, we have had about four cleaners including a Kreepy And Barracuda, and have now nearly worn out our second MaxiVac. The MaxiVac is streets ahead of the others. No other cleaner handles the leaves better! If set up properly as per instructions,… Read more ·  2

it works efficiently, without getting stuck in any place for too long, or clogged with leaves and lasts very well. The power turbine is separate from the dirty water suction, so doesn't get jammed with leaves.

However, you must follow instructions on setting up suction correctly, or you will wear it out prematurely. It's easy, but you must follow instructions, pretty basic really! I would virtually guarantee those with premature failure have not done this!

My gripe is the cost of parts- I could easily have repaired the worn out one if parts were reasonably priced, but it comes to the point when it's better to just buy a new one- which I will have to do soon.

I'm still waiting for the perfect cleaner, but this is pretty close, particularly if your problem is leaves. Excellent for leaves, fast. Wears out eventually, (They all do!) with expensive parts

Only good for square pools – Hopeless, i have a square pool with rounded sides. All it did was rotate on the spot or stop completly. After reading reviews on what it could do it proved to do the opposite,,,,,,,is there a pool cleaner that works!! I guess i should go back to the old manual method, then i can slap myself if the job is not done right Round in circles, stopped and did not perform to the standard promised

Good at Getting the Bigger Leaves!! – Previously I had a pool Rover ST which did a great job if there were no large gum leaves in the pool and it would just freeze up. The Davey leaf Wizard does live up to its name as far as I'm concerned. I've only had to unblock it once and that was due to gum tree bark, and lots of it. I can be forgiving of that. After a full day of operation it… Read more ·  1

seemed to have covered about 95% of the bottom surface. I had a fine silt on the bottom and could see where it hadn't been.

Its also quiet and I have to keep checking its alive (just habit, not a bad thing) as I cant hear the pulsation vibration I was used to from my old pool cleaner.

Also compared to my old cleaner, it doesn't get up the walls at all but nothing a brush down wont make up for every now and again.

Overall, after 3 weeks of having the cleaner I'm quite happy with it.

My pool surface is a fine pebble crete. Sucks up most of the larger leaves leaves sometimes get stuck in the wheels but it still seems to keep moving

Rubbish !! – This cleaner, when not sitting in a corner, runs over leaves without picking them up, it wont climb the walls, its slow, build quality is doubtful, its rubbish! I've tried adjusting all speed controls but with no affect. Avoid it if you can! Cheap It does not clean the pool.

Excellent – I look at this and shake my head! I'm astonished it works. Everytime I check on it its head-butting the side of the pool, it backs up, turns around then goes straight into the side of the pool again. I stand there debating weather or not to pull it up and spin it round to change its direction, but in my contrary-ness i don't. I walk away, and… Read more ·  1

come back later only to discover it head-butting a different spot and half the pool's cleaned. My eternal question is..how the HELL does it manage to get the pool clean when everytime i see it, its snuggeling up to the wall!!...beats me lol, but it works :) After my previous Zodiac cleaner(Barracuda?)with its thumpthumpthumpthumpthump, this little guy is completley silent, its great! The hose DOES NOT tangle. No if's or buts, it just doesn't. We get a lot of gum leaves in our pool and it picks them up without blocking, no probs. My pool has a corner the old cleaner simply would not clean, the Wiz gets it without any trouble. It manages to clean the steep incline between the shallow and deep ends without any problems. Doesn't get caught on the stairs. Doesn't get stuck over the floor valve. There are a few settings you will ned to adjust for your pool, one on the vaccuum plate and one on the head but it was very easy to do. There's nothing actually wrong with it the way it is, it works fine. But it could use a little fine tuning in its preset patterns. It has a preset pattern of so many meters forward then a turn of so many degres, so many meters forward then a turn of a greater amount of degres. Both the turns seem to be too close to full circle, so it just seems to end up back in pretty much the same place against the side of the pool. But having said that, it must move around the pool, because it works. It probably just waits till i'm not looking! It doesn't climb up the walls a bit the way a creepy-crawly does, it only goes on the bottom of the pool.

Don't bother trying to contact Davey, they don't seem too concerned with customer service. Good thing it was only a question, not a problem.

It just does not do the job – I have an inground, exposed aggregate surface, kidney shaped pool and previously used a Kreepy Crawley poll cleaner that did a good job but struggled with the larger leaves that get into the pool and jammed every day or two and eventually died after more than 10 years of use. I purchased the Davey Pool Wizard based on the claim that it could… Read more

handle larger leaves. It may possibly do that if it only managed to move around the pool. The unit moves to the edge of the pool where it grinds away against the wall of the pool and can't move. The reverse gear then starts to operate which is intended to change the direction of movement of the unit, but it either lifts the reversing wheel off the ground or rotates 360 degrees and then tries to continue in the original direction up against the wall. On this basis, about half a square metre is beautifully clean and the balance of the pool is untouched. It seems like a good concept if only it operated the way it was supposed to. It spend all of its time in one spot and will not move around the pool. Small leaves also seem to jam in the smaller wheels. When I physically move it from against the wall and it moves across the pool it only manages to vacuum a very small number of the leaves that it passes over. It then gets stuck against the wall on the opposite side of the pool and stays there until I get around to manually moving it again.

Huge difference – Living in a very bushy area I was always unblocking my old vacuum and manually removing the leaves. The Davey LeafWIZARD has made a huge difference, i run it the whole time the filter runs and as long as i regularly clean out the filter box it works very well. Very efficient, works well in a very leafy pool area

Best pool cleaner around – This pool cleaner is great. I have tight corners and protruding stairs in our pool and this cleaner doesn't get stuck. You have to tune it to your pool (get the speed right and fit the correct tyres) but once set you don't have to touch it again. My old pool cleaner (Barracuda Quattro X7) would only half clean my pool and usually end up stuck… Read more

in a corner. I got sick of replacing parts on it (flexi joint, diaphragm and it was only 14 months old) and decided to buy this cleaner. Best buy ever and I would highly recommend it to anyone who has a fiberglass pool with tight corners.

The funny thing with this cleaner is it looks like it always just keeps bumping into the same spot then spins around then bumps into a similar spot. I was thinking "How will this clean the pool". You come back after an hour and the pool is pretty much clean.

I have tested other robotic pool cleaners in my pool which are 5 times or more the price of the Davey LeafWizard and they have not worked as well as this little beast. It really works with tight corner fiberglass pools unlike others say they do Should come with a 90 degree fitting as standard to connect to pool filter. Thats the only fault.

Good in part – With patience and perseverance, the LEAF WIZARD will work but it won't last. I've been using the Leaf Wizard now for about a year. It took a little bit fiddling to get the LW to work well, as one needs to ensure that there is enough pressure coming through the system. This means ensuring that the pool is regularly back-washed, leaf box emptied and… Read more

no connections sucking water from anywhere but the LW. Once I worked all this out and trialed different lengths of hose the LW worked excellently with only the occasional time it needing a prod. Our pool is kidney shaped and because of this the LW would tend to get clean one end better than the other. For most of the year the pool has been spotless. After about a year the LW started to get stuck much more often. It is now looking worn and faded after a year in chlorine, sunshine and water. The cog mechanisms are now looser and so it just stops working. I've taken it apart to see if it could be tightened without any success. I'm now back to where I stared and thinking of a new system which will last longer than a year. Good while it worked. If you go with this product, I thoroughly recommend you extend its life by only using it a couple of times a week and take it out of the pool when not in use. That way you may get 2-3 years out of it...

Great little leaf eating robot – I was hesitant to order the Davey LeafWizard after reading some negative reviews on this site. But I was tired of scooping leaves out of the pool and the price was great on Ebay. So I took the gamble. I am really glad I got it. It has saved me heaps of time and it's great to watch it cruise around the bottom of the pool picking up leaves.… Read more ·  3

Better it than me.

Of course its not completely perfect and I offer the following tips based on a months use (this is a month I have not manually had to clean the pool!).

Firstly, you need a good pump. Davey says in their manual:"For optimum cleaning performance, your LeafWIZARD® automatic pool cleaner requires 140-200 litres per minute (lpm) of flow from the pool pump."

My pump, replaced two years ago is rated at max 185 lpm. I actually throttle it down just a touch. So you need some good suction. The frill-necked pool cleaners need less than half pressure to work.

Secondly, this product is only really meant to work the bottom, so don't expect it to climb the walls.

3. Make sure you have enough hose cause it can, at the shallow end of the pool, get stuck, especially if the hose is looped. I have had to bump it, or unwind, a couple of times.

4. You can throttle it down at the skimmer connector cause if it moves to fast it can 'pop a wheelie', and the hose weights work better closer to the unit so it also stops it falling back.

5. Get an additional leaf eater. This goes on the first length of hose just outside the skimmer and can hold two or three times as many leaves and is easier to empty than the skimmer basket. The unit will stop moving when leaves slow down the flow or occasionally get stuck in the small, middle drive wheels. You may need to switch off and bring the unit to the surface and pull out any leaves. I consider this to be normal equipment maintenance.

The leaf eater was made my another company and would insist its vital if you have lots of leaves and/or a small skimmer basket.

This is the first pool cleaner I have owned and my pool is superbly clean with only a minimal amount of maintenance of the unit. I am surprised that people expect to do nothing.

I give this product the thumb up and wonder why I wasted so much time manually cleaning the pool or when lazy, looking at a sunken compost heap at the bottom of the pool. efficient little robot, price, an additional leaf catcher really helps Doesn't empty its own leaves or mows the lawn

Dont like – After all the good reviews I purchased one. I have a salt pool and when I add salt it seems to get into the gear box of this unit and it jams. I have to open it up and clean the whole until. It tends to be prone to jamming with the slights bit of grit. The gears are made of plastic and dont look very strong. I have had it for to weeks and I have had enough. I am buying a Onga Hammerhead. Cheap Jams Gearbox

don't even think about wasting your money on this pool brick – I purchased this only because our excellent zodiac baracuda needed new parts and whilst it had always cleaned the pool well (4 years old) it did get stuck on very large gum leaves. Davey's claims for this cleaner were that it was able to handle all manner of leaves. In practice after trying all settings for a year I have given up - I will scrap… Read more

it and buy a new barracuda instead.

You have been warned. The manufacturers claims The manufacturer obviously made the claims up in the office without trying to check it in the pool