Choosing a cleaner and fixing the booster pump

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joshearl

joshearl

0
Apr 5, 2011
61
Northern California
Getting tired of manually cleaning the pool and looking to get a pressure-side cleaner. Is the 280 still the standard? It's what I used to have but I see a few other models now (360, 380) that are belt driven and otherwise different so I figured I check to make sure I'm getting one that will last.

The old booster pump that I've had since I got the house +6yrs ago is still supplying lots of power out of the pressure side return, but it appears to have a leak. Being that it appears so old (its exact age is unknown to me) should I replace the whole thing, or just fix what's broken here? Looks like it's a gasket, but is there anything else I should do to it while I'm fixing that?

Here's some pictures of the make of booster pump, as well as it shooting out quite a stream of water:






 
Wow, what you have there is an old Arneson booster pump, originally designed to drive the Arneson Pool Sweep. I haven't seen one since the late 90's! The vertical design virtually guaranteed that no water could get to the bearings, that's why they lasted so long.
Any of the booster pumps on the market today will work as a replacement. I would suggest staying with a powered cleaner. Polaris has the 280,380, or 3900 which will work, or Pentair has the Legend. Do not confuse these with the Polaris 360 or the Legend II, those run off the main circulation pump and tend to be less effective.
 
Thank you. I've had my eyes on the 280 as it seems to be higher in price everywhere. I guess the older design is still holding up!

Is it worth replacing the gasket and seeing if that fixes things (if I could even find one)? For a new pump, is 3/4hp enough? Do they still make them vertically mounted?
 
I can't comment on fixing the pump. But I can say that we LOVE our Polaris 280 (Bruce). A robot just doesn't fit with us and our schedules. Bruce runs 2 hours a day and keeps the bottom of the pool very clean. We use the Polaris "sand and silt" bags all year except fall. In the fall we use the larger leaf bags. Another trick, dry bags are easier to empty than wet ones. So, we have two of each type of bag.

Hope this helps,
Bryan
 
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