Hi everyone,
I've been reading this forum for a while but this is my first time posting. I moved into my house 6 months ago, and this is the first time I've owned a pool. I am the sort of person who likes to know how things work and DIY as much as I can, so I've been trying to learn all that I can. I live in central Florida, so I don't bother shutting the pool down in the winter.
My pool is 15 years old, about 16,000 gallons, has a screen enclosure, a pressure-side cleaner (using a Polaris 360 left by the previous owner), a solar heater, and was operating on a 4-cartridge extended-cycle filter. The filter was a real pain, because it was installed so close to the plumbing that it made it almost impossible to get the top on and off (perhaps there was a smaller filter there when it was originally installed). Since the previous owner hadn't replaced the cartridges in 3 or 4 years, it was time to do something, and I decided to just replace the whole thing with a new DE filter (Hayward DE3620).
The pool company came out to do the work this morning. For the most part, they are great - the staff in the store is very patient and helpful. But the technician who came out to do the job, who has been here before, doesn't seem very interested in helping to educate me. In addition to replacing the filter and installing a new valve, which he did, he also at my request took out an old energy filter that bypassed the main filter, I suppose for whatever cleaner was originally in the pool, so that we'd stop pumping dirty water back into the pool through the cleaner.
After doing this, I noticed that the Polaris was very lethargic. It was barely moving at all. I counted the RPMs of the wheels and got about 12. I told him that I read it should be 28-32. He said:
1. They should have never put a pressure-side cleaner in this pool to begin with. They are typically only for unscreened pools, and suction-side cleaners do better for pools like mine. Maybe mine didn't have a screened enclosure when it was originally built.
2. I really only need to run the cleaner one hour a day, or perhaps a few hours once a week.
3. If we adjust the newly-installed valve to increase the flow to the cleaner, then the flow to the pool will decline and I'll have chlorination problems. Also, it will result in the parts in the Polaris getting worn out quickly as it doesn't do well with higher pressures.
4. I could just do without the Polaris, and brush or manually vacuum the pool once a week or every other week and probably be fine.
I just want to know if this makes sense. The same guy came out when I bought the house and never told me any of this (he told me to leave the Polaris in the pool all the time). It seemed to me like he just wanted to move on to the next job and wasn't really interested in getting the Polaris to work properly, which it had been before he came.
I'm hoping that some folks here who know about this stuff much better than I do can either re-assure me that what he's saying is correct, or give me the ammunition I need to go to the store manager and complain. Thank you!
I've been reading this forum for a while but this is my first time posting. I moved into my house 6 months ago, and this is the first time I've owned a pool. I am the sort of person who likes to know how things work and DIY as much as I can, so I've been trying to learn all that I can. I live in central Florida, so I don't bother shutting the pool down in the winter.
My pool is 15 years old, about 16,000 gallons, has a screen enclosure, a pressure-side cleaner (using a Polaris 360 left by the previous owner), a solar heater, and was operating on a 4-cartridge extended-cycle filter. The filter was a real pain, because it was installed so close to the plumbing that it made it almost impossible to get the top on and off (perhaps there was a smaller filter there when it was originally installed). Since the previous owner hadn't replaced the cartridges in 3 or 4 years, it was time to do something, and I decided to just replace the whole thing with a new DE filter (Hayward DE3620).
The pool company came out to do the work this morning. For the most part, they are great - the staff in the store is very patient and helpful. But the technician who came out to do the job, who has been here before, doesn't seem very interested in helping to educate me. In addition to replacing the filter and installing a new valve, which he did, he also at my request took out an old energy filter that bypassed the main filter, I suppose for whatever cleaner was originally in the pool, so that we'd stop pumping dirty water back into the pool through the cleaner.
After doing this, I noticed that the Polaris was very lethargic. It was barely moving at all. I counted the RPMs of the wheels and got about 12. I told him that I read it should be 28-32. He said:
1. They should have never put a pressure-side cleaner in this pool to begin with. They are typically only for unscreened pools, and suction-side cleaners do better for pools like mine. Maybe mine didn't have a screened enclosure when it was originally built.
2. I really only need to run the cleaner one hour a day, or perhaps a few hours once a week.
3. If we adjust the newly-installed valve to increase the flow to the cleaner, then the flow to the pool will decline and I'll have chlorination problems. Also, it will result in the parts in the Polaris getting worn out quickly as it doesn't do well with higher pressures.
4. I could just do without the Polaris, and brush or manually vacuum the pool once a week or every other week and probably be fine.
I just want to know if this makes sense. The same guy came out when I bought the house and never told me any of this (he told me to leave the Polaris in the pool all the time). It seemed to me like he just wanted to move on to the next job and wasn't really interested in getting the Polaris to work properly, which it had been before he came.
I'm hoping that some folks here who know about this stuff much better than I do can either re-assure me that what he's saying is correct, or give me the ammunition I need to go to the store manager and complain. Thank you!
