18 year old Polaris 280.... Buy a new one, 'upgrade' to another pressure side cleaner, or just keep repairing/rebuilding existing unit

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BRSAustinTX

BRSAustinTX

Active member
Feb 1, 2015
32
Austin, TX
I think I've been VERY lucky and have a Polaris 280 that is going on 18 years. Have done normal maintenance (tires, bearings, hose, etc) and it's still going but things are breaking more frequently.

1. New one is $600. Have they changed anything in the design that would be a plus (or minus) to buying a new one?
2. Is there another pressure cleaner that's better? (just replaced the booster pump so not looking to move to a robot... plus this setup has worked VERY well for me over the years. If it ain't broke....)
3. Keep fixing / rebuilding parts on the old reliable workhorse.

Thanks!
 
2. Yes. The Polaris Quattro picks up finer material, climbs walls to the waterline, and has rubber scrubbers front and bottom. The problem is that it costs over $1000.
 
Are you just replacing a part here and there? Have you tried rebuilding the whole cleaner? I had a Polaris 360. I would buy a factory rebuild kit that replaced every part but the frame. It was not cheap but still a lot cheaper than a new cleaner.
 
Rocket J Squirrel said:
2. Yes. The Polaris Quattro picks up finer material, climbs walls to the waterline, and has rubber scrubbers front and bottom. The problem is that it costs over $1000.
Click to expand...
Is the Quattro as rebuildable as the 280/380?
 
Homebrewale said:
Are you just replacing a part here and there? Have you tried rebuilding the whole cleaner? I had a Polaris 360. I would buy a factory rebuild kit that replaced every part but the frame. It was not cheap but still a lot cheaper than a new cleaner.
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I’ve replaced specific parts over the years and had Leslie’s do their rebuild but never did the whole thing. Just ordered a non OEM rebuild kit ($120) which I’ll use to replace most everything. Much cheaper than $600 for a new one. Especially since the body is in good shape for the age.
 

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BRSAustinTX said:
I think I've been VERY lucky and have a Polaris 280 that is going on 18 years. Have done normal maintenance (tires, bearings, hose, etc) and it's still going but things are breaking more frequently.

1. New one is $600. Have they changed anything in the design that would be a plus (or minus) to buying a new one?
2. Is there another pressure cleaner that's better? (just replaced the booster pump so not looking to move to a robot... plus this setup has worked VERY well for me over the years. If it ain't broke....)
3. Keep fixing / rebuilding parts on the old reliable workhorse.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
We were in the same boat but ours was beyond repair. Bought the Polaris 360 (there’s a thread from a few weeks ago I started on it). To sum it up we returned the 360 after 2 days (crawled and useless without booster that supposedly wasn’t needed or acceptable to use) and purchased the 280! Happy as a clam - works perfectly. The casing is a new style and has another wheel but functions as the almost 20 year old that was beyond repair. Only thing different is the bag design is not compatible.
 
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My 280 is 21 years old according to the serial #. I got the $100 rebuild kit off Amazon this year and used roughly half of the included parts to fix up mine - it's back to running like new. Hoping to get another 5-10 years out of it.

I also have a robot, which cleans better than the 280, but not by enough to be worth the extra trouble to haul in/out of the pool and the extra expense to fix or replace when it eventually dies.
 
My take is that if the 280 does a good job, and you can keep it going without pain, do so....

Why I make that recommendation: My pool had a 380 when we moved in. It was 14 years old and in bad shape. I changed many parts, and it worked well for another two years. But then more parts needed replacing including the hose. The old one had petrified. And then the main body plastic broke. It was heavily discolored and brittle. All in all I figured it would be worthwhile to buy new. So I did. Mostly it's fine. Construction quality matches the old one afaics. But for reasons I can't suss out, it does not work quite as well. Not a huge difference, but not perfect. Mainly, it spends too much time in corners and climbing walls, so the middle of the pool doesn't clear very quickly. I've tweaked the jet, hose floats, restrictor plate, etc. Never seems as well-tuned as the old one.

I conclude that minor build variations can make a difference. So if what you have is working, don't fix it.
 
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