Onga Hammerhead

Really quiet. Our previous barracuda could be heard in some of our bedrooms and always at poolside. The hammerhead is silent unless some leaves get caught in the pressure adjusting intake in the skimmer box.

In the month we've had it only once has anything got stuck in the head. That was a strappy bit of a poolside plant. The nearby gum trees have been dropping heaps in the pool too. It has never got stuck against the stairs as the barracuda did sometimes.

Assembly instructions didn't quite match the device but near enough it was easy to assemble.

Design looks like it will be more durable than the diaphragm style, we went through a few diaphragms.

Only problem we have had is when the pool gets lower it sucks air via a whirlpool into the pressure adjusting intake in the skimmer. I fixed that by putting the old barracuda skirt on top of it so the whirlpool can't form.

Seems to stay in the same corner of the pool no matter what. And the back is heavier than the front so the round pad isn’t flat to the ground. All the parts seem sturdy and strong. Just wish it would move around the pool. Not sure how to fix it.

Replaced my old Zodiac Genie 2 with this a few weeks back and very impressed so far. Has run for 8 hours a day faultless so far and has cleaned the pool very well. I like that it does not have the diaphram that most suction cleaners have which is one less piece to replace and should hopefully allow small gum nuts etc to pass through without affecting the suction. For the price so far with a 3 year warranty I am very glad I stuck to this simple design rather than spending big $ on the fancy new types of cleaners.

The hammer head worked really well for 6 months or so and now ends up on its side every time and does very little cleaning. Have done all the problem solving perhaps I should return it to the supplier?
Has anyone really solved this problem / yes the head is free / weights and pressure make no difference

Heard glowing reviews regarding this product and at $100 thought why not, even if it only lasts 3 of so years. Didn't last 3 months. Suction action become intermittent which went mostly unnoticed until propped failure. Spent many hours checking and re-checking, pump, hoses, PVC fittings and everything else associated for cracks and leaks to no avail.

Finally decided to disassemble the Pentair Hammerhead and found a number of splits in the rubber suction bellows. After 3 months this is just terrible, awful qaulity. What's more having just returned to the seller "ALDI" I am now stuck with it as they've been told me they have no responsibility after 60 days.... I'm on my own!!

Avoid ALDI for a start and beware of cheap imatations. Hoping chasing a replacement will be easier than having to deal with the outlet where it was purchased.

Without doubt the best pool cleaner I've had - Just goes about the job of doing was it was purchased for. Despite leaves, seeds etc it goes about the task with no issues at all - So simple its hard to believe and really makes the old Zodiac G4 totally antiquated ( and super expensive in parts as well )

Read the reviews and agree with others its the best cleaner out there

I bought one of these around 5 months ago based on the strong reviews on this site, but have been disappointed. It initially worked well but after about 3-4 months, I looked out at my pool and noticed the pool cleaner was on its side. I straightened it back up again, and a few minutes later, it was on its side again. Nothing in my pool had changed - it did this completely out of the blue. I contacted Onga/Pentair about this and they said it must be an issue with the weights, but the weights never changed. This has been going on for around 4-6 weeks now and I find myself constantly having to straighten the hammerhead to make sure it cleans my pool. Now the sides of the hammerhead are scraped and i have been told i need to buy a new body for it. If nothing has changed in my pool, I would have thought this is a product issue. Needless to say, am very disappointed as i bought this product based on the reputation of the company and the good reviews and now they are telling me i need to buy a new body for it (which is not going to happen by they way). Should this not be covered by the warranty? Disappointing!!!

Best Pool Cleaner I every had. Love the fact that it is almost silent the most about this cleaner and it has lasted many years. I couldn't find the receipt to verify how long I had it but I am guessing at least 5 years. It is now time for another one and I get the same again. The hose is starting to develop holes at the joints and elsewhere and the base is also worn quite a bit from years of crawling on the pool surface.

Returned to pool shop and updated to the Rebal model.
They told me that the Hammerhead is a cheap cleaner for the online shops. Rebal is the best cleaner I have had. Doesn't get stuck and covers the entire pool. The hammerhead kept getting stuck and jammed. Looked cheap and Chinese.

Bought this Onga (Pentair) Hammerhead Pool Cleaner from Pool & Spa direct as was cheapest and reviews I had read were quite good.
On delivery and assembly I was initially concerned about this pool cleaner as it seemed very light weight and nothing to it? Assembly must taken about 5 minutes and then threw in pool and turned ON pump - was all too easy.
Been in pool running for about 7 weeks now and love it! It did take about a week to settle though (learning the pool shape etc.) an was playing with supplied weights etc. but in the end did not need any weights at all.
So now it never gets stuck like my old Barracuda G2 and have not had any other problems.
It cleans the pool well, so overall I am happy and would highly recommend this pool cleaner.
PS. I did not purchase the 'ring' and it works fine without it in my pool.

Have owned the hammerhead for a couple of years now and it has been by far the best pool cleaner to date. Unlike some other more expensive cleaners we have previously owned, there are minimal moving parts, which means there is very little that can break. We have a slightly curved fiberglass pool and the hammerhead gets around it without problem ( the only exception being the set of steps). It was one of the more budget cleaners when I bought it, but it does exactly what it's meant to, so is very good value. Our pool is approx 8.5m by 3.5m.

After owning a full robotic cleaner with not great results we bought a hammerhead
It cleans all the walls and most the stairs
It’s able to pick up gum leaves and nuts
We have loads of very large trees around our pool and nothing has stopped it yet.
It hasn’t got stuck or stopped.
I was a little bit sceptical buy a lower cost cleaner and I am so glad we did.
I can’t recommend this cleaner enough it’s fantastic in all ways and the best price @ $295

I bought this product in late June 2017 and it has worked really well. I used to have a Zodiac but it stopped with any size nut. That has not been the case with this and I have waited a few months since buying to see how it has handled lots of leaves. It's done really well and only occasionally have had to clear the head because a branch has fallen in but it still goes. I'm really happy with this product.

I bought a hammerhead around a year ago due to the previous cleaner going through a number of diaphrams. Based on reviews here I gave it a go and worked perfect - for 3 months. After that, I experienced the same as others have reported. Doesn't matter what the leaf size, leaves gets stuck in the hammer mechanism and it stops. Easily fixed, just pull the head unit up, remove stuck leaf, then drop back down and it gets stuck on a leaf a minute later.

After a while I emailed Onga support asking what I might be doing wrong. The response was simply it is designed to clean, not suck up debris.

I removed it from the pool last week and have replaced with a 2 wheel turbine cleaner which appears to work wonders. Unfortunately the hammerhead cannot do what the majority of people would expect - clean small debris. Lesson learnt.

Replaced our old Kreepy Krauly with a Hammerhead (concrete pool) 3 weeks ago. Works perfectly straight out of the box. Just had to set the suction pressure with the supplied device. Didn't need to add hose weights or make any other adjustments. The first thing I noticed is no more jack hammer noice, just silence. This alone was worth changing from the Kreepy. But also the Kreepy used to get stuck in the corner at the steps several times a day and choke on long leaves and nuts from the palm trees. Not had either of those problems with the Hammerhead, not even once.
Very happy!

I live in a treed area nd used to own a krawly one. After dozens of diaghrams and continually having to remove stick and large leaves the got stiuck i bought this one. In 7 years it has not missed a beat. About to replace the skirt for the first time It eats leaves sticks and anything else that falls into the pool. Great low maint cleaner

We have used our Hammerhead for 3 years and it has been reliable and done a great job of cleaning the pool. We will be replacing it shortly because after three years of constantly being in the pool the plastic has started to break down. We replaced the skirt twice in three years with genuine parts and the replacement skirts didn't last very long. That would be my only complaint.

Purchased this as read good reviews. Didn't want to spend a lot of money on robotic pool cleaners or pool cleaners with a lot of moving parts. Settled on this simple and well priced pool cleaner. Previously owned 2 Kleeva Kleena and was not happy with gradual deterioration of the cleaner and cost of spare parts. Even when refurbished, it did not perform well. I was after a simple pool cleaner, one I could just leave in the pool, low maintenance, durable and cheap to maintain.

So far I have had the Hammerhead for 3 weeks and it has worked flawlessly. I'm sure that it will have it's issues but so does other cleaners but value for money, I think it's spot on. It moves pretty quick too. Love the one moving part and reasonably priced replacement parts. It was easy to install and to adjust the flow. I have a frangipani tree next to the pool. It has managed to suck up the large leaves without problems. Other cleaners I looked at had small vacuum mouths which I consider would clog up very quickly with large leaves.

It doesn't look fancy but does the job nicely for a fraction of the price of other cleaners on the market.

Highly recommended cleaner.

Update: June 2018
This pool cleaner just keeps going on. There has been no breakdowns and it remains in the pool 24/7 and has been in there since I purchased it. I was doing significant renovations and there was a lot of building debris that went into the pool. Didn't stop the pool cleaner.

All of these pool cleaners that have an opening that opens and closes are the same. Leaves get halfway through the opening then the cleaner stops & you have to unclog it. If you have to buy one of this type, buy the cheapest cause you get nothing more for spending more.

When I moved into my new house the pool cleaner I inherited was a Barracuda. It constantly got caught in the corners and wouldn't clean the walls of the pool. I ditched the Barracuda and bough two different Aldi models over the next two years. They were a complete waste of money. Bits fell off, they wore away from scraping on the pool walls and just didn't do the job. Then I did some research on the internet and decided to give the Onga Hammered a go relying on the five star ratings that constantly came up. I Couldn’t be more satisfied with the results. The Onga is quiet, it cleans all of the walls, doesn't get stuck, is completely random and has me marvelling at my sparkling clean pool. For the money you can't go past this great little sucker.