A representative at Polaris, when asked the question, should my Polaris 280 live in the pool when not in use. I was told yes. So, for over a year the Polaris has lived in a sea of green, not being used. Now after more than a year of being idle, I am trying to get the pool back into swimming shape. After some cleaning, and tinkering around, the Polaris is moving okay, but not picking up any debris. The ports that spay the water was stopped up, and I put a paper clip in them, and now they are spraying water, so I am not certain why the Polaris won't pick up any debris. Any recommendations to try would be appreciated.
Polaris 280
- Thread starter Pamela01
- Start date
Had a friend recently whose Polaris wasn't "acting right"... it was moving and water was flowing, but it didn't move quickly, nor did it pick up much debris. He also noticed that his returns had lower pressure than normal. He regularly cleans his filter cartridge, but eventually replaced it with a new one and both of these issues went away.
The general efficiency of the polaris units is that they have to have enough water pressure... but also not TOO much to operate efficiently. You may want to check that your regular pump and booster pump are working at the expected capacity and also check the filter that is in the hose for your polaris. If the water pressure isn't right in there, it won't work well.
One other note: I would have "assumed" that when the Polaris rep said it could "live in the pool", he probably meant during normal swim season when the water is clear... not during pool closure or times of non-attention. I leave my polaris in the pool most all the time, but I keep my pool open and functional year round. I would seriously not expect anything sitting in a "sea of green" algae to operate properly after any decent length of time.
The general efficiency of the polaris units is that they have to have enough water pressure... but also not TOO much to operate efficiently. You may want to check that your regular pump and booster pump are working at the expected capacity and also check the filter that is in the hose for your polaris. If the water pressure isn't right in there, it won't work well.
One other note: I would have "assumed" that when the Polaris rep said it could "live in the pool", he probably meant during normal swim season when the water is clear... not during pool closure or times of non-attention. I leave my polaris in the pool most all the time, but I keep my pool open and functional year round. I would seriously not expect anything sitting in a "sea of green" algae to operate properly after any decent length of time.
Had a friend recently whose Polaris wasn't "acting right"... it was moving and water was flowing, but it didn't move quickly, nor did it pick up much debris. He also noticed that his returns had lower pressure than normal. He regularly cleans his filter cartridge, but eventually replaced it with a new one and both of these issues went away.
The general efficiency of the polaris units is that they have to have enough water pressure... but also not TOO much to operate efficiently. You may want to check that your regular pump and booster pump are working at the expected capacity and also check the filter that is in the hose for your polaris. If the water pressure isn't right in there, it won't work well.
One other note: I would have "assumed" that when the Polaris rep said it could "live in the pool", he probably meant during normal swim season when the water is clear... not during pool closure or times of non-attention. I leave my polaris in the pool most all the time, but I keep my pool open and functional year round. I would seriously not expect anything sitting in a "sea of green" algae to operate properly after any decent length of time.
- Jul 21, 2013
- 54,124
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Have you disassembled the 280 and cleaned out all the pipes in the Water Management System? Part 30, part 11, and the tail hose?
Thank you for your help. I believe the filter cartridge is clean enough, but does have a small tear in it. I didn't think that much mattered since the filter is a screen. Does it matter that it has a very small tear?
I took "live in the pool" literally, and have never taken the Polaris out. Recently the man at Leslie's said, I should store it in the garage when not in use for long periods of time.
Thank you for your help. I will take a look at the water pressure tomorrow.
I took "live in the pool" literally, and have never taken the Polaris out. Recently the man at Leslie's said, I should store it in the garage when not in use for long periods of time.
Thank you for your help. I will take a look at the water pressure tomorrow.
I was trying to avoid that, but it looks like I should do that. Since the water was coming out, I thought it was okay. But apparently there is not enough pressure on the water spouts, so it probably needs a good cleaning.
I took the Polaris apart and cleaned it, and it is working better than it did, but I believe it is not picking up debris as well as it should. Should I put a restrictor plate in the quick release?
- Jul 21, 2013
- 54,124
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60