Polaris P9550 review...

[GOONiE]

I bought this on amazon prime from amazon for $1200 shipped to try it out. Ran it for 3 hours.

Pros: comes with caddy and a remote. Cleans well enough. Navigates the pool fairly well. Great at climbing walls and cleaning water line. Lift feature. Very easy to empty and clean canister. Ready to roll out of the box.

Cons: filter is not fine enough. Need to order silt filter for $60. Left some spots untouched. Rear exhaust lifts debris from the bottom. Cord tangled even with the swivel. Remote should have buttons for easier use. Does not climb stairs.

 

[GOONiE]

Ran it 6 hours today. Didn’t get stuck or flip over. Cord tangled a little but not terrible.

 

[GOONiE]

Ran it for 12 hours straight over night. Didn’t get stuck once. I’m starting to like this guy. Had a security cam posted on him and kind of cool to see it in fast forward do it’s job. It’s very good at cleaning the water line.

 

[GOONiE]

I demo’d The s200 from a local pool store and I like the Polaris so much more.

I’m actually starting to really like the Polaris. Might actually keep it.

 

[pilotbob3]

Only advice is that if possible, remove from your pool when not using. The Polaris motor drive assemblies can leak over time (the motor seals, the drive seal). Being under water pressure and under chemical exposure tends to hasten those problems. Gets expensive when the drive assembly fails as Polaris only sells replacement assemblies and not the individual components.

Other than that, my 965i does a really good job (same as your 9550 except for phone remote control).

 

[GOONiE]

I ended up returning it and picked this one up locally for $1200 at Leslie’s.

 

[IMissNimoy]

I ended up returning it and picked this one up locally for $1200 at Leslie’s.

View attachment 102186

That is a great deal. I've been waiting for the holiday weekend to see if they went on sale. They did not and are still $1479 before rebate. Was $1200 before the $125 rebate?

 

[GOONiE]

It was something like $1150 after rebate. It was only a weekend sale. He said there will be another one in June.

Very happy with the p965iq. It hooks up to WiFi so I can control it from across the world if I really had to. lol

 

[IrviPool]

Great product while it works. I have gone through 3 of these cleaners. max useful year range is 2.5. sometimes between year 2.5 and 4, I always waste my money by getting another motor block type D (don't do it. it cost over $500, which is half the price of a new one). For the price point, we should be getting around 4 to 5 years (remember the old 3000 Maytronics Dolphin 2001?)

Pros:
it does as claimed for the first 1 or 2nd

Cons:
It stops functioning properly after ~ 2 years
expensive to repair (The aftermarket on this is horrible. For parts I can print on my 3d printer (valued at 1-4 dollars), are being sold to customers for $40+
Zodiac strategy appears to be, "let us take money from these customers, they have disposable income". I say this because Zodiac can easily fix what goes bad with these type D motor block. Zodiac has refused to update the motor-gear assembly used in the type D motor blocks(e.g. r0638100) with metal gears or break resistance plastics. They are using cheap plastic gears. I can and will demonstrate how I am currently rebuilding the Top secret type motor block (Crud box) by putting in a planetary gear motor. I will upload photos and you will see why the box that anyone can rebuild for less than $150 should not be purchased for $500-800.00
if you already have a new one, make certain that you have it changed before the 2 or 3-year warranty is over/ ended

Irv (English is my second language, apologies if I am not clear)

 

[DjEclipse]

I have a polaris/ zodiac vortex 3 and it works great when it's working.

It never got stuck on the elevated drain. Never flipped over, stairs were fine too.

But it seems to break too often. Bad chord, broken wheel, now I think the motor is going as it always turns left and then stops working.

The motor for this thing is $500.00 as you have to buy the whole assembly, you can't just replace the one bad motor.

I'm shopping for a new pool cleaner but I won't be going with polaris as it seems they aren't built to last.

 

[IrviPool]

I have a polaris/ zodiac vortex 3 and it works great when it's working.

It never got stuck on the elevated drain. Never flipped over, stairs were fine too.

But it seems to break too often. Bad chord, broken wheel, now I think the motor is going as it always turns left and then stops working.

The motor for this thing is $500.00 as you have to buy the while assembly, you can't just replace the one bad motor.

Imay shipping for a new pool cleaner but I won't be going with polaris as it seems they aren't built to last.

Yes, you can. if you would like. check this website up. you can get it much cheaper than the 150.00 being asked for, but you need to do some tinkering....

Redirect Notice

I am putting together a repair and rebuild doc for the motor block

 

[DjEclipse]

Yes, you can. if you would like. check this website up. you can get it much cheaper than the 150.00 being asked for, but you need to do some tinkering....

Redirect Notice

I am putting together a repair and rebuild doc for the motor block

Where can you get the motor only? I would have to take things apart farther and see which motor it is or if it's the chord where It enters the motor housing.

Also I assume once you open the motor housing up there is a gasket that needs replacing?

 

[pilotbob3]

Yes, you can. if you would like. check this website up. you can get it much cheaper than the 150.00 being asked for, but you need to do some tinkering....

Redirect Notice

I am putting together a repair and rebuild doc for the motor block

Hey IrviPool,

Any chance you will get a schematic for the motor block controller board? I have a couple of flooded boards that I'd like to repair, but even though I have a few parts documented, I still need to troubleshoot. I'm able to repair the surface mount components. Specifically, I need to debug the reason that the communications between the power unit/controller and the motor box microcontroller. I've asked Polaris nicely, but they are politely refusing to provide any info.

 

[dclynds]

I could not agree more with what IrviPool said about life-cycle and replacement parts for this blasted thing. I am on my second Polaris 9550 in 3 years. The first one had issue after about 1.5 years and Zodiac made good on the warranty and sent me a new one (letting me keep the old one). This 2nd one now is out of warranty and is moving in reverse through much of the cleaning cycle (even in remote control mode, the unit moves in reverse instead of forward). I tried swapping control unit, floating power cable, and circuit board, but it still does not operate as it should. Very frustrating because I paid so much for the unit!

 

[dclynds]

But it seems to break too often. Bad chord, broken wheel, now I think the motor is going as it always turns left and then stops working.

DjEclipse,

See picture of two motor assemblies from my two Polaris 9550s. The one pictured at the top did exactly what yours is doing and just turned left. For me, it turns out the left drive motor completely burned out and wouldn't even turn freely (you can see the brown discoloration on it, close to the circuit board). With the left side motor locked up and the right side working, the robot went into a perpetual left-turning state during operation. I feel for you, man!

 

[DjEclipse]

Ya that is probably the issue with mine but I'm giving up on it and getting something new. I don't want to throw any more parts at this thing.

I'm waiting on the AquaVac 650. A local pool place says they will have 2 in by tomorrow.

 

[IrviPool]

Where can you get the motor only? I would have to take things apart farther and see which motor it is or if it's the chord where It enters the motor housing.

Also, I assume once you open the motor housing up there is a gasket that needs replacing?

I have spare motors for the 9550s, new. I may let them go for 100 a pc.

And, no. the gasket is reusable. you will have to either use some silicon or auto gasket adhesive, to get a better seal.
while you are in there:
* replace your moisture absorbers pads or add more.
* disconnect the control board and waterproof it (Amazon.com: TECHSPRAY 2108-12S CONFORMAL COATING, AEROSOL, 12FL.OZ: Home Improvement)
* add more adhesive on both sides of the terminal for the control board coming into the assembly. this area is weak and always needs a little more silicon or auto gasket adhesive
...let me know if I can help further

 

[DjEclipse]

Thank you for the reply. How do I test to see if it is rhe motor or the cable?

I tried resistance with a lead on either end of the cable and none of the pins showed 0 resistance so I have no idea what is going on.

I just bought a new AquaVac 650 and it's missing a few spots plus I don't think it picks up the dirt and sand, it seems to put it back into the pool.

 

[TechnoMage]

Not sure HOW I got here but my P9550 just healed itself after 2 days of taking apart and putting it back together. It was throwing an error 3 ever time it went parallel to the pool wall (EVERY TIME). So after two days of swapping parts with a spare P9450, I finally decided to buy another p9450 and in the mean time use the remote to keep it off the wall. Strangely, after cleaning the pool using the remote (20x40 pool, took a lot of patience) it decided to finish the cycle. Been working in both cleaning modes ever since and even works with the remote. I have NO explanation. It must have been in the logic switches I suppose. At any rate I will take it. I have had many cleaners over the years and for the capacity and excellent cleaning this machine does I am going to keep going with them only lasting 3 or so seasons. Even with the wearout of parts they have been reliable (except the canisters self destructing but they are improving it seems). I have had the basket draggers, the hoppers, and the tracked ones. This design seems to work the best overall. But IF I do buy another, it will only be from a local business that services them (for the warranty).

 

[rizzil]

I could not agree more with what IrviPool said about life-cycle and replacement parts for this blasted thing. I am on my second Polaris 9550 in 3 years. The first one had issue after about 1.5 years and Zodiac made good on the warranty and sent me a new one (letting me keep the old one). This 2nd one now is out of warranty and is moving in reverse through much of the cleaning cycle (even in remote control mode, the unit moves in reverse instead of forward). I tried swapping control unit, floating power cable, and circuit board, but it still does not operate as it should. Very frustrating because I paid so much for the unit!

Hey is there a fix for the zodiac moving in reverse, mine is now over 3yr old, moves in reverse only during cleaning cycle, and Everytime it goes to clean wall it falls over on its back and stays there with wheels spinning