Pool Cover Pumps matchup
Little Giant APCP-1700 Automatic Pool Cover Pump vs WAYNE WAPC250 Automatic Pool Cover Pump
the cover-pump head-to-head, ruled August 2026
Tale of the tape — this fight hasn't been booked yet
No showdown has ruled between these two. What follows is the verified data, not a verdict.
Ringside notes
The only two cover pumps that publish a head curve, which is why this is the one matchup in the category worth ruling. Read at the lift that matters rather than the box figure, WAYNE wins the capability fight outright: 2,350 GPH at 5 feet against the Little Giant's 1,400, and 1,600 against 1,000 at 10 feet — done on a SMALLER motor, a 1/4 HP against a 1/3. Its iSwitch also cuts off lower, around three-quarters of an inch against under an inch, so it leaves less water on the cover, and it is the only one of the two claiming freeze protection. The Little Giant still takes the belt, because the binding constraint on a cover pump is not capacity. At 5 feet it already moves about 23 gallons a minute, far more than rain puts on a residential cover, so the extra headroom goes unused on most installs — while Little Giant publishes a 26-foot shutoff head and a 3-year warranty term where WAYNE publishes neither, rates 4.5★ across 5,628 ratings against 4.3★ across 4,471, and costs about $32 less. Buy the WAPC250 when the lift is long or the cover is large. Otherwise the cheaper pump with the deeper base and the stated warranty is the better bet for a machine that has to survive five months alone.
Tale of the tape
| Model | Best for | Owner rating | Warranty | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The one that runs when you are not there | 4.5★ / 5,628 | 3 years | ~$147.99typical at AmazonCheck price → | |
| More water per hour, at every height that matters | 4.3★ / 4,471 | Not published | ~$179.99typical at AmazonCheck price → |
Prices move constantly — any Amazon price shown is as of the date noted and subject to change; tap through for today's number.
Prices move constantly — tap through for today's number.
What would decide it
- Owner proof: Little Giant APCP-1700 Automatic Pool Cover Pump reads 4.5★ across 5,628 owners; WAYNE WAPC250 Automatic Pool Cover Pump reads 4.3★ across 4,471. Depth of sample matters as much as the star.
- The money: Little Giant APCP-1700 Automatic Pool Cover Pump streets ~$148, WAYNE WAPC250 Automatic Pool Cover Pump ~$180 — MSRPs, not sale lows, decide the tier.
- Little Giant APCP-1700 Automatic Pool Cover Pump — your pick if: Anyone leaving a cover pump out through the fall and spring rains, which is what a solid winter cover requires.
- WAYNE WAPC250 Automatic Pool Cover Pump — your pick if: A big cover, a rainy climate, or a long carry to the discharge point — anywhere the pump has to lift water several feet and keep up.
The full cards
Little Giant APCP-1700 Automatic Pool Cover Pump
The one that runs when you are not thereYour pick if Anyone leaving a cover pump out through the fall and spring rains, which is what a solid winter cover requires.
“This Little Giant pool cover pump works great and has yet to clog (which, unfortunately, cannot be said about a cheaper one I tried).”— SSH, Amazon
Pro review “When you’re dealing with frequent storms or a high volume of rain, the Little Giant is a pump you can count on.”Hands-on: 7 pumps, 2 wks, on an inground cover after rain (tester Paul Rankin). Award heading printed 'Bet For Heavy Rainfall' (sic). Subscores Ease 4.5/5, Perf 5/5, Durability 5/5, Value 4.8/5; no overall. ~13 mo old; only credentialed hands-on test found.— Paul Rankin, Tony Carrick, Bob Vila
- Automatic by design — the float switch means it handles a rainstorm at 3 a.m., which is the entire point of a cover pump and is exactly what a manual utility pump cannot do
- Deepest owner base in the category at 5,623 ratings, and unlike most deep bases in adjacent categories these really are pool-cover owners
- A 25 ft cord, which is usually the difference between reaching an outlet and buying an extension cord you did not plan for
- Legacy US pump brand (Little Giant, Franklin Electric) on a first-party listing rather than a marketplace rebadge
- Shuts off at 1 inch, so it never gets the cover dry — that is true of every automatic cover pump and is the trade for unattended operation
- At about $148 it is roughly double the generic 1 HP pumps, which buy more flow and no float switch
- 115V US pump — the visible one-star reviews include a European buyer who found that out the hard way
It dies around the warranty line. Owners report failures at one to two seasons — one pumped fine in December 2024 and was dead by December 2025 — and a separate thread has it losing prime or air-locking mid-winter, which is exactly when nobody is watching the cover. Several also confirm the caveat this guide already publishes: it stops with about an inch of water left, because that inch is what keeps the float from cycling dry.
5 of the 10 visible critical cards (of 495, against a 5,623 base) are failure inside a season or two, 2 are priming or air-lock, and 2 independently confirm the inch of standing water we already warn about · critical reviews read August 2026
WAYNE WAPC250 Automatic Pool Cover Pump
More water per hour, at every height that mattersYour pick if A big cover, a rainy climate, or a long carry to the discharge point — anywhere the pump has to lift water several feet and keep up.
- Moves the most water of any automatic here at a realistic lift — 2,350 GPH at 5 feet, against 1,400 for the Little Giant, from WAYNE's own published head table
- Shuts off at about 3/4 in. rather than 1 in., so it leaves measurably less water sitting on the cover
- Automatic freeze protection is built into the iSwitch, which none of the others claim
- Ships with a 25 ft pull-to-shore rope, so you can reposition it without walking on the cover
- WAYNE does not publish a warranty term or a shutoff head on the product page, and Little Giant publishes both
- Rated 4.3★ against the Little Giant's 4.5★, on a smaller base — 4,471 ratings against 5,628
- About $32 more than the Little Giant for capability most covers never call on
It is a consumable, and owners buy it on a schedule. "I've lost track on how many I've purchased since 2013, almost every year"; "I'm on my third one of these in about 3 years — they work well for a while but expect to buy a [new one]"; "my first Wayne pump died after 2.5 years"; "good but short life... I have two, both failed dangerously the same way: the black elec[trical cord]". The second theme is support: "BIG WARRANTY PROBLEMS, DON'T EXPECT [help]" — which lines up with what this page already says, that WAYNE publishes no warranty term where Little Giant states three years. Around those, the intake clogs and the body is top-heavy: "it frequently stops pumping", "overly top heavy".
10 critical cards read on page 1 of 4,471 ratings; a two-to-three-year life or repeat purchase appears in 5 independent reviews, warranty or support failure in 2, and clogging in 2. 10/10 Verified Purchase, 0 Vine. · critical reviews read August 2026
FAQ
Which moves more water, the Little Giant APCP-1700 or the WAYNE WAPC250?
The WAYNE, at every height both companies publish. At 5 feet of lift it moves 2,350 GPH against the Little Giant's 1,400 — about 68% more — and at 10 feet it is 1,600 against 1,000. It does this on a 1/4 HP motor against the Little Giant's 1/3 HP. The advertised headline figures (3,000 and 1,700) are quoted at zero and one foot respectively and are not comparable to each other.
So why is the Little Giant the pick?
Because flow is rarely the limiting factor on a cover. 1,400 GPH at 5 feet is roughly 23 gallons a minute, well beyond the rate rain lands on a residential cover, so most installs never use the WAYNE's extra headroom. What you can use is a published 26-foot shutoff head and a 3-year warranty term — both of which Little Giant states and WAYNE does not — plus a higher rating on a deeper base, at about $32 less.
Which one leaves less water on the cover?
The WAYNE. Its iSwitch shuts off at or below about three-quarters of an inch; the Little Giant's float shuts off below one inch. Neither gets a cover dry, and neither is meant to — that residual water is what keeps the float from cycling dry. If you want a cover genuinely dry you need a manual pump and a person standing there.
Full fight coverage
Every number on this page derives from the same verified data that renders our showdowns — dated owner-rating reads, MSRP-based tiers, and rulings only where a real fight happened. Data last verified: August 2026. Methodology and monetization disclosure: how we test.