Continue w/ Polaris vs. switch to Doheny's Discovery, S200, Active20, Triton

[bbrock]

Hi TFPers,

So, today I replaced the shaft seal on my very old Polaris booster pump, only to find that it is leaking worse at the motor shaft now. Thus, I don't know if this means the impeller is bad, the volute, it's the rusty motor shaft, or I installed the shaft seal incorrectly. The first time I replaced the shaft seal a couple of years ago it was fine; I did it right. But, when I had run the booster pump dry just one time accidentally, that was enough to warrant this eventual replacement that I put off for a long time. Perhaps I waited too long and the rusty motor shaft is the problem.

Anyhow, since I really don't know what to trouble shoot next, it got me thinking if this is a sign that it's time to replace the Polaris with a Doheny robot cleaner. I have been following the Doheny Discovery, S200, Active 20, Triton thread here at TFP for some time. I ran some rough costs once on break-even point (using a max of $0.32/kwh), and if I recall it would take approx 20+ or so years to come out ahead with the Doheny.

Regardless, perhaps now it is time to re-evaluate my pool cleaner since possibly my booster pump may warrant a replacement of a new one (approx $255) or maybe it just needs a motor replacement (Century AO Smith B625 $155). Doheny's look like they could run approx $700.

Some thoughts/questions:
1. I really like how I can just leave my Polaris 280 in the water and take it out once per week (or two) to empty the bag. With the Doheny, sounds like it has to be taken out at least every week (perhpas 3-5 days) to untangle cord and clean filters. Sounds like it needs more hands on in this sense.
2. There is no work around for the power cord that will now be across the pool deck. Even if it is covered up by some safety strip or something, it will still be across the pool deck.
3. We take vacations up to 2+ weeks at a time to our secondary home. We have a pool sitter neighbor. With the Polaris, my neighbor doesn't have to do anything except in the very rare situation when the Polaris' wheels get caught in the solar blanket. With a Doheny, sounds like over a 2 week period, my neighbor would at least have to be emptying the filter and untangling the cord.
4. May save energy, even though there is a long break even point, but it does appear that it needs more routine hands on attention vs. my Polaris. Sure, the Polaris has parts that break down, but it needs less attention on a weekly basis.

Please help me if I'm am missing something. I'm having a tough time deciding on whether to continue with the Polaris and doing something with my booster pump vs. switching to a Doheny.

Tx.

 

[Pool Amateur]

1. I really like how I can just leave my Polaris 280 in the water and take it out once per week (or two) to empty the bag. With the Doheny, sounds like it has to be taken out at least every week (perhpas 3-5 days) to untangle cord and clean filters. Sounds like it needs more hands on in this sense.


You do not need to take it out to untangle cord, but my active 30i twists, the company says it is not supposed to twist. I detach from the base then can be untwisted.


2. There is no work around for the power cord that will now be across the pool deck. Even if it is covered up by some safety strip or something, it will still be across the pool deck.


Agree a cord has to go across deck, but if no one using it is it a problem?


3. We take vacations up to 2+ weeks at a time to our secondary home. We have a pool sitter neighbor. With the Polaris, my neighbor doesn't have to do anything except in the very rare situation when the Polaris' wheels get caught in the solar blanket. With a Doheny, sounds like over a 2 week period, my neighbor would at least have to be emptying the filter and untangling the cord.


Depends how many times the unit is run before it needs to be untangled, can probably get away with 4-5 times before you really have to although the tight cord may alter the path of the robot. Unless pool is real dirty I do not see it needing to be cleaned that often. But then what about polaris and cleaning the bag I would think it would be similar. Now if the fine filters were in there after 4-5 runs I would probably want to clean the filters. I always leave the fine filters in, they catch so much more dirt and that is one of the big advantages over the Polaris IMHO.

4. May save energy, even though there is a long break even point, but it does appear that it needs more routine hands on attention vs. my Polaris. Sure, the Polaris has parts that break down, but it needs less attention on a weekly basis.

I inherited 2 ploaris cleaners with my pool but they needed to be rebuilt and the pump was missing, the cost to fix and get a new pump was close to the cost of Doheny or the A20/s200, but that may be because I do not have the knowledge of how to do it myself and get parts online as I have found pool stores to be very expensive compared to doing things myself. So after a lot of reading I went with an Active 30i. If you read my reviews, I am very critical of the units, because they are not as advertised and customer service is poor at best. My biggest 3 complaints are; twisting of cord, which is not supposed to happen. Hanging up on bottom drain especially if bottom drain is open and pump running. And the poor bluetooth reception and poor flexibility with the app and features of the app. If they would fix these issues it would be a fantastic unit. Some do not have the twisting problem or the hanging up on bottom drain problem, and these are the 2 that would be relavent to the Doheny/ a20 units you are looking at.
The big thing I really like about them is how well they clean, much better than the polaris.

 

[bbrock]

Tx Pool Amateur. I'll have to take a look at your reviews on the units.