Still having trouble with Polaris 360

[lynns]

I can't seem to get this thing to work correctly. The back wheels just seem to stay up off the bottom. It doesn't climb the walls and keeps getting stuck in the corners.

*I have the thrust jet at 11 o'clock
*I made sure the head float was all the way pushed in
*At first the tail wasn't "whipping" around but I adjusted the screw and when it does move it is whipping
*I did the RPM test and it has enough pressure

Below is a picture of it in the water. You can kind of see the back wheels not touching bottom. The second picture is of one of the swivel hose fittings. When I lift the hose out of the pool water comes out of these fittings. Should this happen? It is a new unit. I've only used it 3 times and never with any satisfaction.

I don't know which was more frustrating today the Polaris or the greenheads!

 

[Ashbourne]

Water comes out of the hose in various places on mine also, and mine too is new this year (got it about 45 days ago).

Have you checked the filter inside the hose (where it connects to your return)? I have to clean mine out fairly regularly - more often before I got new cartridges a few weeks ago. When it gets clogged, everything appears normal pressure-wise, the wheels still move, etc. but it gets stuck in corners and the "reverse thrust" mode (which is supposed to occur something like every 3 minutes) doesn't work to make it back up out of the corner.

 

[lynns]

Yes, I forgot to mention that I did check the filter (screen) on the end of the hose. It was perfectly clean.

 

[busbeepbeep]

I have a similar problem with my Polaris 360. It seems to fall forward and get stuck. I'll be watching this thread for answers.

 

[yblaser]

Below is a picture of it in the water. You can kind of see the back wheels not touching bottom.

Mine sits that way when the pump is not running. As soon as the pump comes on the combination of the water jet in back and the torque from the wheels causes the back to come down. It only climbs the walls by about a foot if it happens to hit it head on, although running it once without the mesh filter bag it seemed to climb all the way up.

I don't have any good ideas for your problem, but I would make sure there are no air bubbles in your return line getting caught in the filter bag and maybe try to play with the position of the first hose float. If all else fails you could try attaching a small weight to the back but obviously a kludge you shouldn't need to do with a brand new pool cleaner.

 

[donaldm823]

My 360 also periodically raises the rear wheels. Easily fixed by adjusting the float on the 360 closer into the 360.

If that does not work or its all the way already, try adjusting the Polaris water supply valve (on the pump skid) to less pressure. Mine works well when I adjust filter pressure so only 4lbs higher when running the Polaris (normally 22psi, I adjust the pump discharge 3 way valve so filter pressure 26psi.

The third option is to loosen the pressure relief valve so it bypasses more water. My relief valve is on the T fitting that connects to the Polar hose to the water discharge fitting on the pool side wall.

 

[forbiggs]

lynns did you ever resolve your Polaris 360 issue? I'm having the exact same problem with mine.

 

[Herkdriver]

My 360 also periodically raises the rear wheels. Easily fixed by adjusting the float on the 360 closer into the 360.

If that does not work or its all the way already, try adjusting the Polaris water supply valve (on the pump skid) to less pressure. Mine works well when I adjust filter pressure so only 4lbs higher when running the Polaris (normally 22psi, I adjust the pump discharge 3 way valve so filter pressure 26psi.

The third option is to loosen the pressure relief valve so it bypasses more water. My relief valve is on the T fitting that connects to the Polar hose to the water discharge fitting on the pool side wall.

I agree with all these tips. I've had a Polaris 360 for about 8 years, and it can be very finicky at times, and it requires some patience. I found that when it comes to adjusting the pressure relief valve, going from one extreme to the other first (very high pressure to very low pressure) will give me an indication if that's the problem or not, then I just tweak it from there. One downside to the Polaris is the tendency for the internal gears and jet ports to sometimes get clogged up with small debris. That will also lead to problems. I've become an expert on taking mine apart and putting it back together again. The best advice I can give is to echo what donaldm823 suggested, and to have patience while working with the unit. I can't say I'm happy with the high maintenance, so to speak, but overall the 360 has done it's job well. Good luck.

 

[mulljac]

we have been having problems with our polaris tilting forward. then I noticed that when I took the bag off while it was still hooked up to the return that one of the jets was not shooting out water. we took it apart and blew out whatever was clogging the jet. put it back together and now it is working great.

 

[bconant]

I don't know if anybody is still following this thread. In case anybody has the same problem, my Polaris 360 looked like the original picture, with the rear wheel floating up. I was able to solve my problem by increasing the pressure (by changing the return eyeballs). In my case, I increased it by about 4 PSI.

In the process I realized what was happening. If the venturi jets (the things that squirt water up into the bag and suck up the debris) aren't working properly, it won't have enough suction to keep it on the bottom and it'll try to float up a little. In addition to low pressure, I could also imagine a clogged jet causing this problem.

The tech support folks also suggested adjusting the thrust jet to 11 or 1 o'clock position. Once everything is running correctly, aiming the thrust jet up will cause it to do more wall climbing.