Does a Polaris 280 cleaner need a separate cartridge filter?

[jacob_coulter]

The house I'm at has a line with a separate, small cartridge filter for a Polaris 280. Is this necessary considering it feeds off the Sand filter and it's a pressure powered cleaner?

Thanks, a newbie trying to figure this all out.

 

[UnderWaterVanya]

Re: Does a Polaris 280 cleaner need a separate cartridge fil

My Polaris 380 which is very similar does not need a separate filter. If the source water is the sand filter and this cartridge filter is downstream from that I'm very confused. Only the dedicated booster line is hooked to this 2nd filter -right?


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[jacob_coulter]

Re: Does a Polaris 280 cleaner need a separate cartridge fil

My Polaris 380 which is very similar does not need a separate filter. If the source water is the sand filter and this cartridge filter is downstream from that I'm very confused. Only the dedicated booster line is hooked to this 2nd filter -right?


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I'm still getting all of this figured out, but it looks like the dedicated booster line is what has the separate cartridge filter.
What would the purpose of this be?

I went to change the filter, and the more I thought about, the more I just thought it was silly and decided to leave it out. My fear is if ever got too restrictive it could ruin my Polaris pump.

 

[carolina pool]

Re: Does a Polaris 280 cleaner need a separate cartridge fil

The 280 has its own booster pump that is plumbed afer the filter and doesn't need a filter at the pad. There are a lot of pressure side cleaners that work from the pressure supplied by the main recirculaion pump and plumbed between the main pump and filter. Because of this they require an inline filter at the equipment pad.

 

[JasonLion]

Re: Does a Polaris 280 cleaner need a separate cartridge fil

There are different ways the system can be setup. The most common approach is to use just the one normal filter and then after the filter split the line to returns and the cleaner. However, some setups split the line before the main filter, putting a more efficient small filter on the pressure side cleaner line and the usual main filter on the primary line. This setup is just slightly more efficient, as the cleaner doesn't get the pressure loss of the main filter and instead only has the much smaller pressure loss of the small high efficiency filter. However, it adds complexity and requires you to clean the small filter in addition to the main filter.

While it is pointless, I have also seen people use a small secondary filter on a pressure side cleaner that splits off after the main filter. This presumably comes from plumbers mixing up the two normal plumbing diagrams and using elements from each one. In this setup the small secondary filter serves no purpose, because the main filter has already caught everything that the secondary filter could possibly catch.

 

[jacob_coulter]

Re: Does a Polaris 280 cleaner need a separate cartridge fil

I apologize for the confusion.
So it looks like the cartridge filter is actually in line with the discharge pipe of the booster pump, not the intake. My booster pump is mounted vertically so it sort of threw me off .

Considering the Polaris cleaner itself has a small screen filter in the hose, it seems superfluous that there is also a cartridge filter as well on the discharge. I almost think this is actually destructive as the pump has to work a lot harder.

Am I right to simply remove it? I'm new at all of this and I would think the person that installed all of this knew more about pool equipment than I do, but I can't see a purpose for this filter.

 

[JasonLion]

Re: Does a Polaris 280 cleaner need a separate cartridge fil

It all depends on how carefully you have traced out the plumbing. If the small secondary filter is after the main filter then it is best to remove it. But if the booster pump is drawing water from before the main filter you want that filter where it is.

 

[poolweasel]

Re: Does a Polaris 280 cleaner need a separate cartridge fil

ALOT of cleaners use a cartridge filter due to the needs for the cleaner i.e RAYVAC. If it is after the filter I would say it is not a necessity as far as you keep the wall screen clean of debris and it is after the filter.

 

[DrBackYard]

Re: Does a Polaris 280 cleaner need a separate cartridge fil

The filter was most likely installed as part of another pressure-side pool cleaner. The Polaris 280 does not "require" it. However, if the screen in the universal wall connector gets clogged, it will reduce your Polaris speed and suction abilities. So I would leave the filter in place as long as it is not reducing the pressure to your cleaner.

 

[jacob_coulter]

Re: Does a Polaris 280 cleaner need a separate cartridge fil

The filter was most likely installed as part of another pressure-side pool cleaner. The Polaris 280 does not "require" it. However, if the screen in the universal wall connector gets clogged, it will reduce your Polaris speed and suction abilities. So I would leave the filter in place as long as it is not reducing the pressure to your cleaner.

My concern is not having "extra" clean filtered water go to the Polaris, but the fact that it's a lot of extra wear and tear on the pump to have to push water through a cartridge filter that it wasn't designed to do. My guess is it can "handle" the flow restriction, but why create the extra burden on the pump? I could see it taking years off the pump life, in addition, the more resistance, the less efficient the pump is, which means higher utility costs. I would think with both the sand filter and the universal screen filter, a 3rd cartridge filter is a waste. And I also don't want another filter to clean/replace at regular intervals.

That's why I was asking why it was here in the first place because I see no mention of an additional cartridge filter with any of the Polris pump instructions, but I'm a newbie at all of this and maybe I was overlooking something.