Hayward W560 PoolVac Navigator Standard Leaf Canister

Works perfect year round, tight fit and easy to clean out

Hayward quality is unsurpassed. Ive had 2 leaf canisters I’ve purchased here in Panama in 2 years and both failed quickly. This unit doesn’t leak and it works like a charm.

Have a lot of trees around the pool and I needed something to help make it easier to filter out the debris. After watching several reviews on YouTube I decided on the Hayward product. It is well made, seals tight (a little too tight, see below) and does the job. I basically wanted to keep large debris out of the pool pump strainer basket and the Hayward does just that and it is easy to see if the basket is full. It does not restrict water flow and is easy to clean. The only down side is that the 0-ring seal is very tight and makes removal of the lid more difficult. You can lube the 0-ring which helps somewhat but is kind of messy and it is still tight. A better solution is to remove the 0-ring from the groove in the lid and just place the 0-ring in the sealing ledge of the main housing. The top will still screw on and it seals fine.

EDIT: After four years of semi-weekly use during May-Oct seasons, the spiraled, plastic hose that acts as an adapter between the canister and skimmer/pump inlet finally began to unravel. Surprisingly, the failure did not occur at the mid-point where it was stressed most often or at the end equipped with the tapered end that sealed with the pump inlet; it failed at the point where the hose met with the reinforced "lip" that connected to the outlet fitting on the canister itself. This is a bit of a surprise as, once installed upon first use, it was never removed. It and the canister and have always been hung as an assembly in dry place - out of sun & chemicals - immediately after use. SOooo - time to replace that part. Note my star rating has not changed.Purchased this item new in conjunction with Hayward Diver Dave cleaner for use in large "Splash Superpool." Overall impression is favorable - I recommend it.Pro: Good design & functionality, Sturdy construction, Simple in-line connectionCon: Arrived w/o instructions, Tight o-ring seal that requires periodic lubrication, Adapters for other size hoses can be expensiveItem arrived on time and was everything vendor & description promised. Was quite surprised to not see instructions (reason for 4-Star rating) but was able to find them online. Canister connects easily (press fit) between hose sections and can trap an impressive amount of leaves and other litter without clogging. Added plus is that it traps air drawn through hose joints within the canister and uses it to float, thus preventing excess trapped air that could have a negative effect on filter operation. Recommend users check on filter and bleed the air after two or more hours of operation.Have only used it a few times but have been happy with it thus far. Will update entry if required.

It catcheslarger leaves a twigs that could get caught in the filter. I call it preventable care. It prevents damage that larger item could cause. East to put in, easy to empty.

This is great little invention that keeps your pump basket from getting clogged up and reduces the need to clean out the pump basket. Worst scenario when this leaf catcher gets a blast of leaves etc from a big wind is that your sweeper isn't sucking as strong which is much better than your pump overworking because the flow of water is restricted with mine running late at night due to cheaper electric charges. Works great in catching debris, great design features and relatively easy to open & clean out (that's only because it has a strong water tight seal). It does have a rubber seal that may need some lubricantion down the road to keep a tight seal and prolong it's life much like other pool parts. I like to keep things simple and don't want a lot of pool stuff but this is a must if you're like me and have quite a few windy days where I inherit my neighbors tree leaves and palm tree fibers which are hard for me to remove with a net.

I've had a Hayward leaf cannister for 20 years and it finally needed replacing. This unit appears identical except for the color (the blue collar for the lid was gray on the old one, and the black basket was gray on the old one).The unit works fine at catching leaves, but emptying the leaves is a problem. First, it's difficult to get the lid off. The old one was also difficult but not as much. My wife struggled with the old one, but she is unable to remove the lid on the new one at all. I can do it, but it is definitely more difficult.Second, the O-Ring in the lid is definitely not sized right. It's slightly too big in diameter so it's hard to get the lid back on without the O-Ring folding over and getting pinched (see photo of how the O-ring bulges out if you don't hold it in with your fingers). If the O-Ring gets pinched, it will be ruined. I found out my next door neighbor bought the exact same cannister earlier this year and had the exact same problem. She pinched the O-ring and ruined it, but it happened just a couple of days after she installed the new cannister, so she dug out her old cannister from the trash and swapped the O-ring from the old one. It fits correctly and solved the problem. Unfortunately, I didn't notice the problem until after the old one had been hauled away.