Picking up used Polaris 9550

[robl45]

Hello,

Sadly my smartpool nc74s cleaner is being retired due to being discontinued and getting stuck on the main drain. I"m picking up a used Polaris 9550 which from all the reviews should have no problem with the main drains. I'm wondering from people that have had these Polaris cleaners for a bit, do they tend to last? I can repair the whole thing myself, but the parts themselves are still quite pricey. Thats what I loved about the smartpool was that if it ever broke (It never did) I could replace the parts fairly cheap.

I read on some thread here that someone said there is an issue with the fan on the back and it causes the motor block to go bad or something?

I also read that the motor block can stop working because a motor gets disconnected and you can fix that but they don't sell the gasket to put it back together. Has anyone successfully repaired one of these?

 

[kimkats]

Here is a bump to get this in front of more eyes.

 

[pilotbob3]

I have a 9450 and really like it. I did have a faulty motor block, and the fine folk at Polaris were kind enough to send me a replacement unit after my local pool supply repair place (rhymes with Peslies) was totally incompetent to repair it (they insisted that it was the controller, motor block and cable all needed replacement for a total of $1600).

I did tear down the faulty motor block, and the gasket had failed and the motor block flooded. All the motors had frozen up due to corrosion, but I was able to fix each one of them by dissembling them, cleaning out the rust and using some lithium grease. The controller electronics was a different story. I am an electronic engineer, so know how to repair such boards. I removed all the corrosion and replaced a few capacitors that I though might have been the problem, but no joy. Unfortunately, the manufacturer will not provide schematics so even though all the parts used were extremely common, there was no way for me to troubleshoot further.

Shame that the manufacturer will not provide schematics, nor a replacement board or gasket. A replacement motor block runs between $300 and $500 making repairing an iffy proposal.

Only other thing for me is that you need to empty the leaf basket, and occasionally wash with soap the basket fabric or else the unit can flip over and get stuck. Otherwise it does a great job cleaning.

 

[robl45]

Not good news. I assume you could silicone the motor block but does no good if you can't get the board