Background: California, no-close, no-cover, water in the 40s currently, leaves almost done falling for the season. "Splash" as we call our Polaris 280 does a pretty good job with leaves, but gets full too quickly when the full brunt of the leaf fall is in the pool. Maybe someday a cover of some sort, but from what I can tell those are their own kind of special to keep cleared unless going the Loop-loc route. And then I couldn't brag that the pool is balanced and "open" year-round (if you're willing to swim in 45 degree water!)
Last year I bought a K-15 leaf bag, hoping it would gather 2-3x the volume and make quick work of it. After a few tries I gave up on it then and again this year. The problem is that it seems to be too stiff, the throat too narrow, or the the mesh too non-smooth. After running for 5-10 minutes (which is enough to fill the regular K-13 bag chock full) there'll be just a handfull of leaves caught right at the beginning of the bag, the rest of the bag empty. I've tried straightening the first part out, attaching or not attaching the velcro to the clip on the hose. When I watch the K-13 bag in action, leaves fly up to the top and down into the back pocket, as they should. Has anyone else noticed this behavior and/or fixed it?
In the end, Splash and I have made a deal -- I spend 20-30 minutes scooping out the bulk from the bottom with a leaf rake on a pole, and he'll happily suck up the rest of the debris over a few hours with a few changes of the K-13 bag. And the dog agrees to watch amused, waiting to be "chased" buy the full leaf rake or Splash's tail popping out. Not the end of the world, but I'd like to know if I just got a bad K-15 bag, if there's something else wrong with my setup, or if that bag just doesn't work well.
Last year I bought a K-15 leaf bag, hoping it would gather 2-3x the volume and make quick work of it. After a few tries I gave up on it then and again this year. The problem is that it seems to be too stiff, the throat too narrow, or the the mesh too non-smooth. After running for 5-10 minutes (which is enough to fill the regular K-13 bag chock full) there'll be just a handfull of leaves caught right at the beginning of the bag, the rest of the bag empty. I've tried straightening the first part out, attaching or not attaching the velcro to the clip on the hose. When I watch the K-13 bag in action, leaves fly up to the top and down into the back pocket, as they should. Has anyone else noticed this behavior and/or fixed it?
In the end, Splash and I have made a deal -- I spend 20-30 minutes scooping out the bulk from the bottom with a leaf rake on a pole, and he'll happily suck up the rest of the debris over a few hours with a few changes of the K-13 bag. And the dog agrees to watch amused, waiting to be "chased" buy the full leaf rake or Splash's tail popping out. Not the end of the world, but I'd like to know if I just got a bad K-15 bag, if there's something else wrong with my setup, or if that bag just doesn't work well.
