Hayward TigerShark

Don't buy Hayward – I'll never buy from Hayward again - the quality is terrible Show details

Bang Average – Pro’s Quiet Does walls and floor ok Con’s Cable constantly tangles and twists Go’s round in circles Doesn’t pick up as much as some premium products Foam rollers carry tonnes of water when taking it out so leak everywhere Show details

Breaks down and very expensive to repair – Cleans pool ok but didn't like shallow end. Broke down a lot over it's 6 year life and became uneconomic to repair. Cable twisted and power unit stopped working. One wheel broke and track had to be replaced twice Show details

Wouldn’t buy another one – We’ve had ours for about 2.5years. Stopped working after a month, and had to have it replaced. Worked well for about 6 months then had to bring it back. They replaced the external cables. It stops working for no reason and then will start again after afew days. We have a square pool, and constantly gets stuck in corners or on steps. Spent about… Read more

$150 getting the tracks replaced because they kept coming off. That still happens and pushes the trap door clips open, so when I take it out of the pool, all the crap falls out the bottom back into the pool. For $1500 spent, I expected it would last 5 years..... going to have to replace it over the holidays. Not a happy customer

Not Quite excellent – Had a Zodiac Baracuda T5 before this unit (check out my review on that little Gem) so anything would be a step up. I am however very happy with the Tiger Shark. It was a toss up between this unit and the Dolphin. I primarily went with this unit because of it's extra large leaf litter collection area. Must say it is huge and does a great job.… Read more

Cleans all of the pool, up and over the water line. It climbs so high, if the water level is not right I reckon it would climb out of the pool. Very impressive. There is nothing this thing will not pick up - long palm frondy things, palm nuts, every conceivable leaf - large and the smallest possible. I have even emptied construction rubbish inadvertently flicked into the pool. Emptying and cleaning is a breeze - takes about 2 minutes and we are ready to go again.

I use the unit only once a week - seriously don't need to run it anymore and coming from a world of having that stupid Zodiac thing running all the time and constantly cleaning leaves and kicking the thing when it stops - this was quite a difficult concept to come to terms with.

I no longer have pump suction issues, the filter is just doing the job it was designed to do, filtering the water. My pool has been cleaner or the water cleaner. The skimmer basket actually works again! I have reduced my operating hours and I feel the entire pool thing is working and can actually be efficient.

What I am not too impressed about (which is why it is not quite perfect)

I understand that the floating arm thing is there for a reason and it does work well in letting the unit creep along the water line, but I can never remember which side I had the thing on the last time around.

The power cable seriously needs an anti-twist device. This is the one thing that the Dolphin has over the Tiger Shark.

Initially the unit did experience some trouble. Maytronics was great with their support - send me out immediately some additional components to help regulate the high water flow so the unit ran more effectively. I find that the unit works better as it gets older - I put this down to the unit's filtration system (not the robot learning) placing a slight limiting factor on the units water flow which was too strong to begin with. Hard to imagine a manufacturer making allowance for componentry wear.

The other thing that annoys me now - I have leaves on the surface of the pool that I now notice - the bottom is clean, the water is clear and now I actually notice the water surface - great, fix one thing and it leads to something else needing fixing. There is nothing useful on the market to actually solve this problem - but I am working on this one myself - can't wait for someone else to come up with that solution. Before you respond, yes I know there is a product that claims to solve this problem - but try purchasing one.

Recommendations for any robotic pool cleaners:

DON'T WATCH IT - just let it go, don't study it's progress and think it misses things let it roam free and wild.

As the manufacturer states, it does take time for the unit to settle in from new. I wouldn't begin to suggest that I believe that the unit actually learns the layout of the pool - I try my best to put it in the pool in different locations just to prove this point.

Take it out of the water after cleaning. The leaves and crap collected in the collection bin will deteriorate if left in the pool. I made a custom storage box for the cleaner, which allows it to properly drain and keeps it out of the sun - tried to purchase something to do this job - absolutely nothing out there.

The caddy - completely useless, unless you can't lift 10kg and move 3m away from the edge of the pool.

Make sure you get all the air out of the unit before it sinks to the bottom - it certainly will not work well if it has any air inside the unit.

Hope that helps.