Polaris 380 Suddenly Tail Not Moving and Slow

[Hoster]

1. Checked the hose filter - OK, clean
2. Disassembled and nothing clogged
3. Belts tight and no issues
4. The water pressure from the "jet tail / swivel" seemed to have dropped

I did have the booster pump run dry (accidentally and main pump was not running) for 2 hours one day, and thinking that may cause "something" - although when I did a quick research, running dry should not impact much but I could be wrong Any thoughts?

 

[crabboy]

Have you checked the entire hose length for leaks? How many wheel rotations/min are you seeing?

Surefire way to check for pump issues is to check the pressure at the end of the hose with a pressure gauge.

I'd be a hack, but you can try to put a larger diameter restrictor plate behind the socket, but then you are only circumventing whatever problem you do have.

 

[Hoster]

Crabboy, thanks for the feedback. I did check the hose which seems to be fine but will check again!

 

[crusemm]

I know you said disassembled, but I once had a leaf get up into the vane/turbine areathat I couldn't see until I pulled the vanes out. Every time I took the cover off, it would just fall under the wheel out of sight. Also check the little internal hoses, make sure none of those is cracked or has come off.

 

[jdurban]

I appear to have this same issue. I've had the hose and Polaris unit checked for leaks and obstructions. I even borrowed a neighbors Polaris to eliminate the my unit. It had the same behavior, slow movement and the tail is not sweeping.

The booster pump is running, but I can't be sure if the output is being directed to the robot. There's lots of pressure coming out of the pump outlet jets. Is it possible the valve that controls where the booster pump directs the pressure is in the wrong position? I cannot determine how to manually change the valve position.

Here's my setup. Is the Jandy valve in the correct position to be driving the pool cleaning robot? Thanks for any and all input.

 

[crabboy]

Looks to me like your booster pump discharges directly into a dedicated pipe, just as it should. there are not valves to adjust. The pump looks fairly new, so that's probably not it.

Make sure the pressure relieve on the wall socket is tight and that is not leaking.

My polaris was under performing this spring and I replaced all the swivel connectors on the hose. They would leak in some positions, but not all the time. Try double checking those.

 

[Hoster]

Did you fix it?
As crabboy indicated, I would check the socket and the restrictor plate AND the swivel connectors - I do have minor leaks but has not affected the performance / speed of my polaris yet (knock, knock).

Also, replace the wall fitting kit including the pressure relief valve - which I have replaced in the past. I am assuming the wall fitting not seating properly is not the issue as if they don't sit / plug in properly, it pops out due to the pressure. Good luck!

 

[VetteBlue]

I replace the tail on my Pentair Legend every season. They get brittle and don't flex as well after they spend the summer in the pool and then dry out over the winter.