Polaris Quattro vs. auto-cover

[Rocket J Squirrel]

I recently upgraded my pressure-side cleaner to a Polaris Quattro P40. (I always thought it said "Quattro PRO" but it's "P40" with my glasses on.) It cleans much better than my old 3900.

The Quattro runs 2 hours a day under my Infinity 4000 autocover. It climbs the walls pretty aggressively, which makes me wonder whether it might damage the autocover by hitting it too hard.

So I'm asking whether anyone's experienced such damage. Hopefully, I'm just over-thinking this and being a worry-wart.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

I looked up your pressure side cleaner and I don't think you have to worry too much. Its rounded front may push up slightly on the cover but I don't think it will snag it, or push against the cover too much.

I thought I was the only one here with the Infinity 4000 cover!

Maddie

 

[Rocket J Squirrel]

I did have a disaster once with my old Polaris. Unknown to me, the Polaris was at the top of the pool, pulled by the backup valve, while I was opening the cover. The Polaris got stuck in the cover bar and tore a couple of nice big holes in the vinyl.

I now make sure the cleaner has been off long enough to sink to the bottom before opening the cover.

 

[rphpool]

You can adjust the jet nozzle on the back to make it not climb the walls all the way to the top. You will have to play with it to get the adjustment just right for your pool. Love my Quattro

 

[Rocket J Squirrel]

My fears have been realized. The Quattro's front rubber scrubbers have been pulling out the cover's thread. I find the threads wrapped around the rollers and the Quattro not moving.

I need to find a way to ensure the Quattro doesn't climb to the top and continue to destroy the cover.

I turned the rear jet down all the way, and moved the frontmost float back away from the unit, and it still climbs. I forgot to try re-aiming the jet for less climbing, so I'll do that tomorrow. There's a lot of water coming out of the pressure relief valve, so I'll also try replacing the blue disk with the red one. And maybe remove the frontmost float altogether.

Any other suggestions are welcome!

 

[Rocket J Squirrel]

I did everything I could think of: thrust jet pointed down and set to minimum power. Red restrictor disc inserted. Pressure relief valve opened a bit. Frontmost float moved far back from the unit.

And still it was able to climb to the waterline and potentially damage the auto-cover.

I finally put 2 rocks in the debris basket to weigh it down. I think that may have done the trick. Quattro now struggles to reach the waterline.

One thing I'm not sure of is the thrust jet. Pointing it down (6 o'clock) "decreases climbing" according to documentation. I wonder how that relates to the amount of thrust I allow? Would stronger thrust at that position decrease climbing even more? Or would it, as I initially thought, increase climbing due to increased overall velocity?

Some labor-saving device this is.

 

[Rocket J Squirrel]

If anyone is still reading this thread, rocks in the debris basket didn't work. They shift around and cause the Quattro to become unbalanced.

I've been tweaking everything I can on the Quattro, but am coming to the conclusion that it's simply impossible to run it under a closed auto-cover. Why not open the cover first? In the 2 hours it takes Quattro to clean the pool, enough debris will fall in from the trees that the pool will have as much junk in it as when I started.

I think I'm down to 2 last things to try: attach a more secure weight to keep Quattro from climbing, and phone Polaris and ask for help.