Zodiac G3 Suction-Side Inground Vacuum Pool Cleaner

I've used 5 different automatic pool cleaners in 22 years and this is the best vacuum for my use by far. It's inexpensive, never gets stuck, climbs the sides, rarely gets clogged, has only one moving part and cleans excellent. I've tried the Zodiac MX-8 and it works really well but it's more expensive than the Barracuda and started having problems after one year because of my sheading gritty pebble tech finish damaging the gear train (not the MX-8s problem but something to consider if your pool has a lot of grit). I also tried the navigator but it doesn't climb the walls and got stuck often. I also tried a Zodiac Barracuda copy for about 1/2 the Barracuda's price but it didn't perform as well and fell apart in about a year. The worst automatic cleaner i've tried by far is the Polaris Vac-Sweep 360 pressure side cleaner. The hose connections with o-rings are terrible wasting much of the pool pump's operating pressure , the hose mounted "reverser" with cheap plastic gear train gets damaged by grit in no time causing the cleaner to get stuck constantly, the leaf bag seems like an after thought and it was almost $500. It doesn't clean the sides and barely cleans the bottom with it's very narrow path compared to almost a 2' cleaning path of the Zodiac Barracuda G3 that picks up EVERYTHING! The Polaris 360 got stuck for who knows how long actually wearing places in my pool finish from the wheels spinning in one spot and i was constantly messing with it. I tried to sell this almost new Polaris 360 in a yard sale and couldn't even get $50 for a $500 cleaner so i threw it in the trash. THAT'S THE WORST $500 I've ever spent in my life. If you need a cleaner you won't be disappointed in the Zodiac Barracuda G3 or the MX-8 if your pool finish is smooth without grit.

. Recognize that I was skeptical about the G3 because there are devices that cost 8-10 times as much as this device. This Baracuda G3 is sooooooo awesome I was literally stunned at how well it worked. I truly mean stunned; fascinated, standing on the pool deck watching it work. I was mesmorized! For a while, I was in a state of disbelief. Why had my pool builder and supplier not mentioned this to me? Sure, I have vacuumed the pool hundreds of times over 15 years and while I listened to music, got a tan, more recently listened to podcasts but seriously, what’s 90 minutes X 15 times a season (this is a MN short season) X 15 years? 338 hours of wasted leisure time! I could have been biking, walking, inline skating… napping for Pete sake and my vac head would still NEVER perform as great a job as the G3 because I’ll only vac for about 90 minutes whereas this G3 can work all day and it sucks up every bit of organic detritus from the bottom and sides of the pool especially if you use a product that eliminates phosphates and drops dust and other organic matter to the bottom of the pool. I own a 24,000 gallon, vinyl lined, L-shaped pool so it has a long deep to shallow rectangle and a 12X12 shallow end L. I told my wife it will never get out of the deep end and it will never climb the vertical walls of the pool. WRONG! It clearly has a random action but I am still fascinated that if you let something randomize long enough in your pool it will cover just about every square inch on the flat, on the sloped, AND on the vert! Amazing. A couple of tips: You must have enough hose to reach one complete hose section beyond the furthest point from your skimmer attachment (I am purchasing a few extra sections). You MUST go to the company website in order to view or download the owner’s manual. Do NOT attempt to assemble and run this great tool by reading only the quick start guide that come in the box! Come on Baracuda….put the full manual in the box… the manual is only a couple of pages but I consider it to be vital. All I did was follow every simple step. The engineering is so simple and so effective. It comes with a suction gauge and the only thing that will mess you up is if your system is too weak (or maybe too strong). If your system lacks sufficient suction power, you might have to return it but I have a standard filter motor, three skimmers and a main drain so there are a lot of ways to increase the suction where the G3 connects to a skimmer to generate the exact amount of suction required…. No more or no less. Even if you only have one skimmer…. Give this thing a try. So much fun. Enjoy all the time you will be saving and you will have a cleaner pool than you would have if you were running the vac yourself.

Ok, I have had the G3 for about 3 months. It generally works well and for the type of technology it is fine. One problem I had was that it does get stuck on the ladder when it climbs the wall and hits the vertical ladder pipe that is a few inches off the face of the wall, something others have said in reviews. The large plastic ring jams. So I took off the ring and it no longer got stuck there but did start sticking at the corner of the steps in the shallow end which it did not do with the ring on. I then took out one section of hose, which remedied the problem but then there is an area in front of the stairs that does not get vacuumed due to the shortened hose. It also does not go up on the stairs, perhaps an additional section of hose would help this. Before I use the G3, I now brush the stairs and corner that does not get cleaned first and it is good to go. It does a good job on the rest of the pool, some areas take a while before the G3 goes over it but it eventually does. Perhaps if the manufacturer could provide plastic rings of different diameters the problems I have would not occur, but I do not know. Bottom line I would buy it again for it's simplicity and good cleaning and put up with the minor issues.

Without hesitation, I bought a G3 to replace my old G3 that has been running great for well over a decade (see side by side photo). I decided to replace mine because 11+yrs submerged in pool water has finally caused some pitting and degradation of the plastic on the outer housing. Every so often, the inner diaphragm doodad, the round spiked blue pad on the base, and rarely the bright yellow rubber foot on the bottom need to be replaced due to wear, especially if you have pebble plaster. All those parts are cheap, easy to replace, and readily available on Amazon The G3 appears on many pool websites’ “Top 10 Cleaners” lists. That’s because it works great, uses a minimum of moving parts, and is relatively inexpensive. For reference, my parents had a similar design (but a different brand) in the early 90s which cost them $750. The G3 is refreshingly about half the cost of that. I used a pool vacuum before the G3 which had the big goofy wheels on either side and that design DID NOT work for my pool. Terrible design, the wheels are just something else to fail/break down Pros: Works great. Easily climbs the uneven sides of my deep end, which is about 7-8ft (see photo). Basically only one moving part, so no turning wheels to break or jam. Repair parts are cheap and available. Works great on pebble but amazing on standard plaster Cons: Almost none. If your pool has uneven corners or sharp curves (mine has a weird oval step in the deepest corner), it may take minor adjustment not to hang up. Also, large debris with sharp edges (like garden bark chips) can tear the diaphragm and damage the vacuum when they get pulled through In short, I’ve had a G3 or something similar for a long time. I don’t think pool cleaners need wheels and it’s just another part to break down. Love my G3

I'd had a Hayward Blu suction vac since 2019 and had done a few rounds of overhaul on the thing, replacing worn out parts. This season it steadily gave up the ghost and so I replaced it with this - which is way more powerful and does a much better job than the Blu had done in years. Easy to assemble and set up on the dedicated suction line, too. Very happy so far.

this is my 3rd one ,first one lasted for 7 years with no problem just normal maintenance which is just diaphragm at about 20 dollars , then it just got chalky and started cracking it was used 8 to 10 hours in a Florida pool all day all year , so i think thats pretty good , then i bought no.2 and it only lasted one year ,thats unacceptable, but it was a flimsy one to start with looked was a zodiac g 3 but did not fill the quality maybe it was a knock off i don't know , ,so now number 3 witch seems to be a better unit and better quality then the second more like my first ,so maybe it will last a 4 or so years ,,maybe ,, as far as cleaning it will randomly go around picking up everything it goes over ,hair sand bugs bees etc including leaves like oak or small leaf but i don't have big leaf trees so i can't say about a broad leaf like maple ,i guess it would if it can break them up if they are dead but green i don't know about i, don't have a screen incloser just fence ,it goes all the way up the walls and falls down to the bottom and across the deep end and back to shallow it eventually gets 90 percent of the pool over time , it doesn't get stuck in the corner around swim out or steps as long as you adjust it properly , you can also turn your jets to face corners to help blow it away from getting stuck and blow those areas clean , steering is your jets and your hose coil by that i mean the spring in the hose will help unwind it when it winds up ,if your taking it out and just doing a day or so when needed then it should last for years ,but me i just throw it in a forget about it ,i use a dedicated port for cleaning its in the middle of the pool a foot from the top thats the best place ,or you can use the skimmer if you want , i close of the bottom drain and open the port for the cleanup and then close off the skimmer just a little to get suction up around 4 which seems to work better then middle 3 , i gave a 5 star for now and if it don't last a few years i will drop it to a 3 for longevity , this is a vacuum cleaner not a electric it works off your pool pump suction and has only a couple of moving parts that are replaceable with little effort ,and its not 600 to 1200 dollars or more i will buy again if it last a few years time laps video is about 5 minutes pool is 16x32 , 3 to 7 ft deep , i hope this helps you in buying a pool cleaner ,

Works great. Live in AZ and works great on the dust. I bought one of the new beatbots because I like the idea of no hoses but it did not work as good. It is good quality and really gets the pool clean.

UPDATE: Well, I spoke too soon because the very next day the thing stopped moving and my pool pump lost prime to such an extreme it took hours to get it going again. There doesn't appear to be anything stuck in it and suction is happening, but it doesn't move and doesn't even make the annoying bipbipbipbip. I downloaded and printed the manual (which wasn't included in the box) and it told me there was a quick release cassette but didn't tell me where it was. I deduced from the drawing the general location but couldn't get anything to twist or unscrew. So much for quick release. Went over and turned off the pump and zoom! Out the hose flew from the wall just as it had been doing—along with a hoseful of leaves it had sucked up. So I can't travel even for a day without expecting to come home to a burned-out pool pump and am sending it back. Happily Amazon made the return easy. _____ I was losing my mind trying to get this thing to stop hopping up onto the swim outs and this shallow walk-in area. Plus it constantly got hung up on the vacuum wall connection, sucking air and causing my filter to lose prime. AND when the filter shut off the Barracuda hose would shoot out of the vac. connection into the pool. It also was spending all its time doing the walls and not the floor where all the leaves are. There was NO MANUAL included in my box, just a quick-start guide, so I talked to customer support with no success. I already had a VAC-LOK connection and I had already attached the weight to the first section of the hose. Turning down my pressure 50% didn't help either. I tried taking two lengths off the hose but put one back because it wouldn't reach to the other side. Back this thing was going because I travel for weeks at a time and can't have my pump burning out because it has lost prime. THEN SUDDENLY I got a brainstorm to take one section of my old Hayward Navigator hose, fill it with water, loop it through the black steering-wheel thing on the top of the Barracuda and put the whole thing in the water (don't ask me what inspired me to try this). I also took off the 45-degree angle fitting that came with the Barracuda and plugged the hose directly into my vacuum port. Amazingly it hasn't hopped up, gotten stuck or shot off the wall since! I watch it go over the vacuum connection, change its mind and go away without sticking. It climbs up to the swim-outs and walk-in but then goes back down without getting on it. I have enclosed a couple of photos showing my pool set up and how I rigged this hose thing to the Barracuda. The one thing I still hate is the noise it makes…a constant bibbipbipbip which, in addition to the sound of the filter pump, makes sitting outside near the pool in daylight hours (when I have to run the pump to get solar heat) an annoyingly noisy affair. And being in the pool with it gives me a headache. At least the Navigator was quiet. BUT unlike the Hayward Navigator, it has very few parts and I am so sick of dealing with Hayward equipment which seems to be built to break and designed to be tough for owners to repair themselves and the parts are ridiculously expensive for what they are. Plus terrible/no documentation. So for now this Barracuda is staying despite the noise and I will come back and update this space if I have to return the product.

Have owned a pool for over 20 years but never had an auto vacuum. Didnt want an entry level vac, so I went with the mid-priced, but well established Barracuda model. Used for a week now and my pool has never been cleaner. Works very well and never gets caught up on stuff either. Impressed so far... a few observations however > worked better after I added a extra weight near the head (only comes with one weight/needs two) > play with the hose length to see what works best... adding or removing a hose unit will chance the characteristics of the pattern it will follow. What works best? try different lengths... > terrible instructions in box... go online for real manual and WATCH a few youtube vids on the product... OVERALL. a good unit that is working very well in my pool. Hope its lasts for years...

I love my baracuda. One if the best purchase decisions ever. Great suction power= always a clean pool. Delivery was on time and no complications from this seller. 👍

Absolutely the best product!!! Simple to operate, thorough in its cleaning of the pool, and biggest bang for the buck. I would recommend this product for anyone in the market for a pool vacuum.

If you have lines on your pool bottom , expect it to get stuck. Other than that, nothing but great things to say. Works well, and quickly.

excellent product for pool cleaning!