Major crack on Polaris 280 backup valve casing

[dawndenise]

Hi all,

There was a thread about a month back about a cracked casing that houses the backup valve on the Polaris 280. It sounded like it was a fairly minor crack.

In my case, the crack encompasses the entire diameter of the case, except for about 1" Water comes gushing out the cracked opening. This happened within the past day or so.

Prior to this, I felt the cleaner was operating correctly. We've only had this house and pool for about a month. The pool is about 3-4 years old but the Polaris cleaner was added sometime later, as near as I can figure. I don't know what problems, if any, the previous owners had with this unit.

My question is what do I replace...the casing alone or the entire "assembly"? And...what would cause this to happen? Anything I need to do to prevent this in the future?

 

[CRG_80cc]

You can replace just the case. Most pool places may try to tell you they only sell the whole valve. If you can't find the case locally, just go to eBay.

 

[dawndenise]

Thanks CRG...I don't know exactly how that backup valve works and wasn't sure if it got ruined by the crack developing. I like the price of just the casing a whole lot more than the price of the entire "kit."

 

[Congo123]

If you have time on your hands you can always fix it with AB putty or something similar (JB water weld etc). The pool at my house is 40 years old, so if a part breaks, I either can fix the part or have to purchase a whole new component. It molds very easily and dries over night. Can sand it after with sand paper or dremmel.

 

[dawndenise]

OMG...one of DH's favorite garage/car repair items is JB Weld!!! How funny if I brought home its water equivalent for the pool!! Meanwhile, I just bought the replacement collar on eBay. After seeing the innards of the backup valve, it's probably best I didn't try JB for the first time on that as I would have undoubtedly mucked up all those little plastic wheels inside. May keep it in mind for the next repair, though....thanks.

 

[Pool Clown]

Those backup valves are designed to pull the unit out of an area that it has become "stuck" in (of course). Have you ever seen the unit get stuck? Not all pools have areas where the unit can get stuck in. If it doesn't get stuck, Go and buy a swivel (a lot less money) Replace the back up valve with it and see how it goes. If you know your unit gets stuck, you'll probably have to get yours repaired or replaced.

Update: Sorry, didn't see you already got parts.

Just a clown talking, ignore him...

 

[tbenton]

Help. I have been replacing my entire Polaris 380 backup valve every time the collar cracks which seems to be every couple of years and it just cracked badly again. I think its a design flaw. Just found out I can just replace the collar....duh on me. I want to buy one but I need to know how to get the old one off. There are what looks like thumb print 'grippers' but if it screws off I can't do it by hand. Tried one of those rubber strap wrenches too. Is there some trick to do this? HELP Please

Thank you
Terri

 

[tbenton]

There are three swivels on our Polaris hose but it still gets stuck sometimes on the deep end loveseast when climbing and often at the shallow end steps so the back up valve is very useful. I have no experience using a Polaris without the valve.

Terrib

Those backup valves are designed to pull the unit out of an area that it has become "stuck" in (of course). Have you ever seen the unit get stuck? Not all pools have areas where the unit can get stuck in. If it doesn't get stuck, Go and buy a swivel (a lot less money) Replace the back up valve with it and see how it goes. If you know your unit gets stuck, you'll probably have to get yours repaired or replaced.

Update: Sorry, didn't see you already got parts.

Just a clown talking, ignore him...