Polaris 280 leader hose pops off - Cleaner line and Return jets connected?

[Steve-D]

This post is basically 2 separate but related questions regarding my Polaris 280 and how it is connected to the pumps...

My Polaris 280 has seen its leader hose pop off 3x recently. The first time I totally botched reconnecting it, not noticing that the leader hose and two nuts were still sitting on the bottom of the pool and surprise surprise it disconnected again. I thought I got it right the 2nd time but it popped off again. Common sense is telling me that the pressure is too high for the Polaris when the leader hose pops off so I'm wondering if maybe I'm setting my pump speed too high when I'm also running the booster pump for the cleaner/Polaris? I think I had the filter pump running at 2250 rpm each time that the leader hose popped off. I reached out to my pool installers and they tell me that there is no restrictor disk behind the wall mount for the Polaris cleaner line...do I need that restrictor disk or is it only required if I am running the pump at higher rpms while also running the booster pump (or is that something I'll need to experiment with on my own)?

And in related wonderings, is it a standard installation practice to install the cleaner's booster pump so it adds flow to all return jets (in essence making it just another return jet with a connection for a pool cleaner or is it somehow isolated to only the cleaner line? I've asked my installers how they connected this but haven't heard back from them yet. As best I can tell the cleaner line is plumbed with the return jets.

In reattaching the leader hose to the Polaris I think I may have mistakenly placed the feed hose nut over the hose before slipping the hose onto the feed pipe on the Polaris instead of placing it onto the feed pipe and then screening it onto the leader hose from that direction...at least that is how i read the various troubleshooting tips. Which is correct so that I can do it correctly if/when it pops off again.

 

[ajw22]

I reached out to my pool installers and they tell me that there is no restrictor disk behind the wall mount for the Polaris cleaner line...do I need that restrictor disk or is it only required if I am running the pump at higher rpms while also running the booster pump (or is that something I'll need to experiment with on my own)?

See page 7 in https://images.inyopools.com/cloud/documents/polaris280-manual.pdf and do the Wheel RPM Check.

And in related wonderings, is it a standard installation practice to install the cleaner's booster pump so it adds flow to all return jets (in essence making it just another return jet with a connection for a pool cleaner or is it somehow isolated to only the cleaner line? I've asked my installers how they connected this but haven't heard back from them yet. As best I can tell the cleaner line is plumbed with the return jets.

No. The booster pump should feed one dedicated return that the Polaris cleaner is plugged into.

In reattaching the leader hose to the Polaris I think I may have mistakenly placed the feed hose nut over the hose before slipping the hose onto the feed pipe on the Polaris instead of placing it onto the feed pipe and then screening it onto the leader hose from that direction...at least that is how i read the various troubleshooting tips. Which is correct so that I can do it correctly if/when it pops off again.

Post pics of the way you put on the hose and nuts.

 

[Steve-D]

The Polaris is in the pool running so I can't take pics of it directly, but this diagram is how I have it connected.
Do I have it backwards?
Should I have placed the nut on the feeder pipe, then connected the hose, then screwed the nut onto the hose from the feeder pipe?

Edit:
Looking at P7 instructions I don't recall seeing a "clear hose," just the gray leader hose which is seated to the feeder pipe. If there is/was a clear, short curved section of hose its somewhere in the pool with what I imagine should be two more nuts that would be needed to connect it to the leader hose.

Edit #2 - My diagram is wrong...or at least it does not depict how I connected the hose. In the diagram I believe the orientation of the nut is correct, but I put it on the other way (wide side facing the stem).

 

[ajw22]

I am sure the Polaris will appreciate the break from cleaning for its photo op.

 

[Steve-D]

This is the leader hose to feed pipe connection on my Polaris with the feed nut initially placed over the hose, then seated the hose to the feed pipe and then tightened the nut on the hose screwing towards the feed pipe.
The Polaris diagrams were less than helpful but I think I misread the directions if what they want is to place the nut on the feed pipe and work it to the hose from there. That seems like it would be harder to do but maybe that's what makes it a tighter fit?

I also checked for flow from the feed line for the Polaris with the booster pump off and the filter pump running...it is definitely pushing water into the pool as a standard return jet would so it does not appear to be plumbed separately as its own flow driven only by the booster pump. When I run the Polaris later today I'll give one of the return jets a before and after check to see if the flow there increases when the booster pump is turned on...I suspect the answer to that will be yes from looking at how the installers inserted the booster pump into the rest of the equipment.

 

[ajw22]

This is the leader hose to feed pipe connection on my Polaris with the feed nut initially placed over the hose, then seated the hose to the feed pipe and then tightened the nut on the hose screwing towards the feed pipe.

This is the way my 380 is connected. It looks like the pipe is deeper into the hose on mine then yours.

I also checked for flow from the feed line for the Polaris with the booster pump off and the filter pump running...it is definitely pushing water into the pool as a standard return jet would so it does not appear to be plumbed separately as its own flow driven only by the booster pump. When I run the Polaris later today I'll give one of the return jets a before and after check to see if the flow there increases when the booster pump is turned on...I suspect the answer to that will be yes from looking at how the installers inserted the booster pump into the rest of the equipment.

Post a pic of your equipment showing all the pipes especially on the return side.

 

[Steve-D]

Looking more closely at the Booster pump and how its connected it looks like the Polaris does have its own return line. I think that the flow I'm feeling from the Polaris QuickConnect feed is just pressure from the filter pump passing through the booster pump to its own line (at the looping flexible hose lower left).
In the pic above the flexible hose arching up and to the left feeding the booster pump comes from the line exiting the filter before it passes to the heater...which explains why Polaris instructions say to always turn on the filter pump first.

I guess my negative reaction to our installers was premature, though I do see that a top feed off a horizontal line feeding the Polaris booster pump is not recommended...less chance of introducing air into the system?

 

[Steve-D]

@ajw22 ..., in your pic the nut is reversed as compared to my picture (and prior diagram). Have you done the reconnect yourself or has it just always been that way for you? Is any of the hose visible on the back side of that nut at the stem on your 380? To me your picture looks more like the nut started on the stem and was screwed onto the hose than starting on the hose and screwing towards the stem (which is what I did).

I forced the hose as far down the stem as I could but I didn't get very far. Maybe if I wait for a very hot day the hose will be flexible enough for me to try and seat it further onto the stem.

 

[ajw22]

That top feed is not optimal and may cause the booster pump not getting as much water as it should.

Water does not naturally flow up so most of the water flow is going to flow horizontally direct to the heater.

I would have it changed.

 

[jedigrover]

I find it easiest to put the nut on the pipe 1st (oriented as @ajw22 shows), then slip the hose on the pipe, then screw the nut onto the hose. The point is to secure the hose beyond the "bulb" of the pipe, so that the hose is wedged between the "bulb" and the nut.

Yours appears backward. The smaller circular section of the nut should be toward the cleaner.

 

[ajw22]

@ajw22 ..., in your pic the nut is reversed as compared to my picture (and prior diagram). Have you done the reconnect yourself or has it just always been that way for you?

Hmmm ... it has been a while since I connected it.

It is the same setup as my backup valve that came connected to the hose from Polaris.

Look at the way the nuts on your backup valve are connected.

 

[jedigrover]

From the manual.
Nut goes on the pipe, smaller / circular (non-threaded) side down toward cleaner. Hose goes onto pipe, nut threads onto hose.
Don't worry that it talks about a clear hose. For some time they shipped with clear lead-in hoses, now it's just a little bit different gauge of white hose.

 

[Steve-D]

Thank you @jedigrover ...I did see that (eventually). If/when the leader hose pops off again I'll reattached it correctly. Until then I'm not going to worry about it.
I believe I also figured out that the Polaris return line IS dedicated and IS plumbed <mostly> correctly except for its vertical feed from the line between the filter and the heater.