Polaris 360 wheel turning very slow

[Zenghaidong]

Just moving the house with pool a few weeks ago, previous owner left the Polaris 360 to us (he said about 3 yrs old). Have another old Polaris 360 in the garage ((before the newer one, I guess).

Anyway, I found that the Polaris 360 wheel turning very slow (It always like that since I moved in, not suddenly change). Tested it to be about 12 rpm, and far less than recommended 28-32 rpm.
Checked the filter, looks clean, the skimmer and pump basket are all clean. Tried to choke the other return line to give more pressure to Polaris 360, does not improve much. I can't remove the pressure relief valve, not sure if it is functional or not. There are some leakage in the hose connection, but not much and I don't think it cause that.

One thing I noticed is that the Polaris 360 is almost flowing in the water, the rear wheel barely touch the ground. The tail swings very slow as well.


Can anybody give me an advice how to troubleshoot it?
Thanks.

 

[Rocket J Squirrel]

The bearings in the wheels wear out over time. 3 years may be enough time to wear them out depending on how many hours a day the previous owner ran the 360.

You can get replacement bearings, which you can replace yourself inexpensively. Or you can bring your 360 to your local pool store and they can diagnose it and repair it for you.

Amazon.com: Wheel Bearings 4 pack Replacement For Polaris 360 / 380 Pool Cleaner 9-100-1108: Garden & Outdoor

Amazon.com: Wheel Bearings 4 pack Replacement For Polaris 360 / 380 Pool Cleaner 9-100-1108: Garden & Outdoor

smile.amazon.com

 

[Zenghaidong]

Thanks!
I figured it might be the bearing’s issue. It’s kind of challenging for me to replace the bearing. Just want to see if I can exclude some other simple possible cause before bring it in the pool store.

 

[yann]

Hi!
I had the same Polaris and eventually ran into similar issues.
i found out the hard way that once a part started to fail, the other parts weren’t far behind and I ended up spending too much money fixing bits and pieces as they were falling apart.
my advice, knowing what I know now, is either get a rebuild kit, which is a couple hundreds $ cheaper than a brand new unit, or bite the bullet and buy a robotic cleaner.
Though it was fun dismantling the Polaris and fixing it (I’ve realised there’s isn’t much to it really), i went option 2 have had no regrets.