What is the best location for the Polaris Booster pump suction source?

[redixson]

Just went through a pool remodel and I replaced all of the equipment. The company set up the pressure side pool cleaner suction source right after the cartridge filter. This makes sense except that now I am losing pressure to the pool and spa return jets because a large amount of water is being routed to the polaris line. I've seen setups where they put it after the heater on the pool return. Will I have the same issue with very high pressure on the polaris line with this setup? The problem with the pool return line is that the chlorinator is on that line. I mainly use liquid chlorine so it's not a big deal. Also, with my current setup the polaris keep running (very slow) after the booster pump stops because of the excess pressure.

I also have a dedicated suction line for the water feature. What if I tapped into that line and I would not even need to have the main pump running to use the polaris. Would this be a good setup? My equipment is slightly below the pool level so I would not have to worry about priming.

Thanks for the help.

 

[n240sxguy]

My polaris pump is plumbed right after my sand filter. I don't think that there is a noticeable decrease in pressure to my returns when the polaris is running, but it probably is a little less. Do you use the polaris all the time or something? I can't see that it would justify the effort to move the supply line, but that's up to you. Putting it after the heater would result in it getting a little less pressure due to the pressure loss through the heater. I would make sure it came off before the inline chlorinator though. Don't use the dedicated suction line to feed the polaris pump. They are designed to boost pressure, not create it all. Best case, the cleaner wouldn't work as it should. Worst case, the pump could be damaged from cavitation. Can you program your vs pump to run at a higher rpm when you run the booster pump?

 

[duraleigh]

What if I tapped into that line and I would not even need to have the main pump running to use the polaris.

Nope. Main pump must be on to operate a booster pump correctly.