Polaris 380 not as powerful as before

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yankeestonk

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May 4, 2010
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Hi, Hope someone can help me. I have an inground pool with a Polaris 380 pool cleaner running off a Polaris Halcyon (spelling?) booster pump. The pump and pool are 4 years old. This year it has a marked loss of power. It gets stuck in the corners, wheels stop sometimes, and spends most of it's time crawling along the walls. I don't remember ever checking the pressure coming out of the return but when the Polaris is disconnected it seems to me it should be more powerful when I put my hand over it. The wheels of the unit spin close to 28 revollutions/minute.

What I've done:
replace seal and o-ring in motor. Checked for air leaks in lines. Took Polaris unit apart and inspected and tightened belts. Adjusted settings. Same thing. It does work, just not very well. I think I'm not getting the same pressure.

My question is of course what do you think could be wrong? I contacted polaris and they don't think it's the motor itself, although at this point I think it is. The main filter for the pool is clean, backwashed, rinsed, etc. Pressure is good.

Should I just break down and get a new pump to see if that's it?

Any help would be appreciated.... I hate vacumming!!!

Thanks much
Ken from across the pond.
 
Hi, thanks for the response. No, there's no pressure reductng disk and the screen is clean. I even changed the wall connector and the thing that pulls it back. (forget what it's called, the thing that pulls it to a new location. Even that doesn't pull as hard or as far as it normally does. A lot of times in the low end it just pulls it along the floor when it used to pull it up off the floor.) Polaris tech told me that these motors usually either work or they don't, so he doesn't think it's the motor. I'm not sure I'm buying that 100%. I can get a new motor for $255 here in the states, but would need an electrician to put it in. Do you think it could be a bad motor, even though it seems to run pretty quiet? I did check for air leaks by shutting the motor off and looking carefully for any spray coming from the intakes...nothing. No water leaks anywhere that I can see.

One thing I am going to fix on the main filter though, but don't know if it can be the problem, don't think so. When the main filter starts up and is priming water does spurt from the top of the sand filter O'ring area. I tried tightening but doesn't fix it. As soon as it's primed the water stops leaking. Could air getting in from there affect the polaris? I have parts on order and will fix that. But I don't see how that could be the issue.

When I run the Polaris pump with the P-380 disconnected there is a constant floor of tiny air bubbles coming out of the return. Don't know if that indicates an air leak in a line or could it be the pump, or is that normal. I don't notice it when the unit is attached. Is there a way to purge the line of air that could be trapped? As you can see it is almost impossible for me to narrow this down to what it might be!!!
 
I'm not really a good source of advice on plumbing issues before the water reaches the wall. I will say I'm inclined to think that the motor is not the source of the bubbles, and you should try to track that down first. Bubbles usually indicate a suction-side leak, which in the case of the booster pump could be the filter or the plumbing between the filter and the booster. And sometimes air will come in under suction when water won't come out under pressure.

SO, I would address the filter issue first, since you need to do that anyway; and if that doesn't fix the Polaris issue, then next look at the plumbing upstream of the booster.
--paulr
 
The relief valve in the wall connection should not be letting any water get by. I had the same problem with a brand new 280 that turned out to be the relief valve leaking water. I replaced it and the new one also leaked. I contacted polaris and they told me they were having problems with a lot of the valves. I finally took the valve out and replaced it with a plug and the cleaner started working like it should.
 
If you will take the Polaris out of the water and open up the top cover, you will be able to see how it operates. The water from the pump goes through some little jets, some goes to turn a paddle wheel like device that runs the wheels. Some goes up the tube to create suction to pull debris into the bag. So, if it is not running, then you may have lack of water pressure. That could be lack of water from the pump, or loss of water at the wall connection. It could be something blocking the jet that pushes the wheels. Or any of the tubes that go to the jets could be disconnected.

Sometimes you just have to take a peek under the hood.
 
Guys, I have a 280 with the same issue and have tried all of the above to no avail. I finally decided to get into the guts of the cleaner. Once I removed the top blue cover, I immediately noticed there is a tube that connects the water pressure from the hose to the mechanical gears for the wheels. Once side of the hose was disconnected. I reconnected and added additional tie wraps. Put it back together and good as new. The little ******* took off like a rocket. Simple fix, but could be costly considering I had tried everything and was ready to dish out another $500-$1000 for a replacement Polaris.
 
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