Polaris 3900 Question

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T

toyguy5538

0
Feb 16, 2011
8
Hi, I'm new to the forum, but this looks like the place to be for unbiased pool advice. Thanks for being here.

I have an in-ground pool that I had put in when we built the house in 2002. It's our first pool, so I have been learning as we go. Lots of experiences so far that have taught me a lot. We put a Polaris 280 in the pool when we opened it, and it has worked well. It cleans very well and I've only had to "overhaul" it once. I installed the Polaris overhaul kit myself, and it has worked fine since. I'm very pleased with it.

Recently, while at a little out of the way flea market, I saw a pool cleaner on a table for sale. I bought it for $5.00 (his asking price)! It turned out to be a Polaris 3900, complete with sweep hose and wear rings. It appears to have had little use, so I thought I'd see how it runs in my pool. I purchased the feed hose connector it requires, and tried it out today. It appears to work, as water comes out of the thrust jet, sweep hose, and up into the bag, but the wheels don't turn. My question, before I take it apart, is does anyone have a repair manual in pdf form? I have the owner's manual, but would like more info on it if it is out there.

Thanks for your help,
Bill
 
Thanks, Scott. I have downloaded that manual, but I was looking for the service manual with more detailed repair and diagnosis instructions. I'm not sure if there is such a manual out there, but thought I'd ask before I turned the first screw.
Bill
 
You probably won't find a lot of tech info online as Polaris doesn't publish much of that to the general public.

My first question for you would be in regards to the booster pump. Is the Polaris 3900 hooked-up to the same outlet as the 280 was hooked up to? If not, it needs to be as that is the booster pump line.
 
I fixed it this weekend. There were three bearings that were "frozen" with debris. I was able to free two of them up but the tires still didn't turn and it still didn't move. The frozen bearing that was the hardest to find was in the impeller inside the gear box. I couldn't tell there was a bearing on the impeller, and thought it was hex-splined to the shaft. Once I figured out that there was a bearing in the impeller, I was able to free it up and get it spinning. It now works great! Thanks for your help.

Actually, these things are pretty simple to take apart and fix. Even the gear box is easy to take apart and repair. I think what threw me off in there was all the bearings in the 3900 are white with blue seals, and the bearing in the impeller is black like the impeller with a black seal. Hard to see in there. Now I know.
 
I've had this problem with my 3900 a couple of times now where the wheels just stop spinning. While I can take the unit down to my local pool shop and they will clean it out for me (for free... so far) it's still inconvenient and I'd love to know how do to it myself.

I've pulled the bottom cover off but then, confronted with a LOT of screws and no obvious way to the gear boxes, not continued pulling my 3900 apart. Looking at the exploded parts diagram in the manual, it appears as though after removing the bottom casing you should then be able to remove the WMS Assembly (part 19) to get to the gear box but I can't seem to get this off.

Given the lack of servicing information available on the web for the 3900, any chance you could shoot a video of you dismantling the 3900 and cleaning the gear boxes and throw it up on YouTube? it would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks
 
Anthony,

I can’t video the process because it is done, but I think I can tell you how to do it. First, refer to page 8 of your owners manual for the reference numbers.

I think the underlying problem with the 3900 is the bearings are precision with minimal internal clearances, and only sealed on one side, thus allowing fine silt and grit from the water to get in the unsealed side and clog them up. When I turned my stuck bearings, very fine dirt and dust fell out.

Taking the 3900 apart is actually quite simple. After removing the three screws that hold the bottom cover on, remove it and then remove the WMS assembly (#19). The O-ring is holding it in - just wiggle it and pull it out. I don’t recall any screws there. Then there are 4 screws (#17) that hold the gear box (#18) - two on the big housing end and two on the chain sprocket end. Remove it and you can just pop the big end of the housing open. It splits into two pieces along the length of the shaft. You may have to help it a little with a screwdriver.

There are two white bearings on the little idler gear shaft that comes out with them when the housing is open. There is also a white bearing on the end with the sprocket, and there is a black bearing inside the water wheel. Those four bearings were frozen on mine. I had to work each one to loosen it up and get it to spin. Once all four were spinning freely, I put it back together and it worked fine. There are white bearings on the wheels, too, but they didn’t seem to be affected at all.

The other problem I found on mine was the brass hub was loose in the single wheel. The hub and wheel have hex holes that fit onto the hex axle, and the hub appears to have been pressed into the wheel. My hub had loosened inside the wheel, and the screw that goes into the end of the axle was also loose. I drilled small holes into the hub area of the plastic wheel in a couple of places and used JB Weld to glue the hub in (let it dry mounted on the axle so the hub and wheel are positioned in a correct relationship to the hex). Then I put Loctite on the screw and added an internal tooth lock washer and tightened it down. It seems to be working fine.

Hope that helps. These things look complicated, but they are really pretty simple. It’s pretty hard to put them together wrong. Good luck.
 
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