Polaris 380 won't roll!

Hal3

LifeTime Supporter
Jul 29, 2008
272
San Antonio, Texas
Pool Size
9000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
I have a Polaris 380 that was working great and now won't roll.
I took the unit to Leslie's and they said there was nothing wrong with it and gave it back.
No roll.
I took it to another Leslie's and they said nothing wrong with it - bring in the hose.
I brought in the hose and they replaced the backup pod and the swivels.
No roll.
I have a new pump. Lots of pressure.
All the parts are squirting water just fine. No roll.
I can spin the wheels and they all roll together as if the gears and belts ar OK but they just roll to a stop.

Any thoughts?
 
Re: Polaris 360 won't roll!

All the zip ties are in place.

Checking the pump is a good suggestion.

I'm going to check the impeller for clogging and make sure all the lines are clear.
 
Re: Polaris 360 won't roll!

It sounds like your turbine jets are blocked. A good sign is to first check your screen filter if it has a hole in it then debris has got through into the WMS. (water management system). Like someone said above, check the turbine jet if this is blocked then that's your problem.
 
Re: Polaris 360 won't roll!

DBfan187 said:
Be sure to check the jet inside it that drives the turbine, I've sent out a few that I said were fine and somehow I forgot to check that. It gets clogged sometimes.

DING, DING, DING !!!!!

We have a winner!

The drive jet was clogged.

It started this way: My Polaris filter got clogged. Hey, I hardly ever do anything to my pool ...
The end of the screen blew out. That apparently allowed material to clog the main jet. Two trips to Leslie's and $130 in unneeded repairs later, I cleaned out the drive jet and all is well. New filter for the Polaris, of course.

Thanks!
 
I'm having this exact same issue right now, and when I googled it this site came up! What a goldmine this place is!

My question-- how do you clean the jet drive? We are new pool owners and I'm clueless. I just checked our filter screen and it has a blow out in the end as well so I'm guessing this is our same issue. I'll be getting a new filter screen obviously.

Help?
Thanks,
Beth
 

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Thanks for all the tips. My 380 quit rolling this weekend. Began troubleshooting. I noticed the wheels were not turning. Also, I turned the unit upside down, and noticed the front water jet (of the three jets in the throttle) was not pumping near as strong as the other two jets were. So, took the unit apart, and took the bottom part off, and used my air compressor to blow backwards through the water jets to clean them out. Sure enough, about two little shrub seeds came out of the front water jet, and one little seed came out of the wheel drive water jet. Put everything back together, and bingo, working great!
 
DBfan187 said:
I use a paperclip or a finishing nail. lol

I have and carry a special high-tech tool in my tool box for this.

Before I attacked it with the cutters, My wife used to call it a coat-hanger. About 10" long (so I can get it down the neck) it fits perfectly.

:hammer:
 
I had the same "wheels don't roll" problem with my Polaris 360. I finally took the time to take it apart and found that yes indeed there was seed stuck in the water jet tube that powers the cog wheels. One poke with coat coat hanger and all was solved. Empowering! I was about to go buy a whole new $400 unit!

For those who haven't done this, just take apart the Polaris one screw at a time until you find the area that you need to access.

Part of the problem was that I hadn't had the filter screen in place for 2 years. But when I used the filler screen, it clogs quickly (in 15minutes), so I guess I'll take my chances until a bit of debris reclogs the jet, or until my current leaf pond/algae lake turns back into my crystal clean pool.
 
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