Great pool cleaner but requires many adjustments to work properly
Written: Dec 29 '04
Product Rating:
Pros: Constantly working, good cleaning performance.
Cons: Requires lots of fiddling to get pressure just right.
The Bottom Line: Good cleaner but you may wish to have it professionally installed if you are not comfortable working on your pool return pipes and valves.
I recently "upgraded" my pool cleaner from a very hold Polaris 280 pool cleaner to a new Polaris 360. My old Polaris 280 was at least six years old (I have only owned my house for a year so I don't know the actual age), and possibly as old as ten years old. Instead of fixing the old unit I opted to tear it out and go with a brand new 360. The advantage of the Polaris 360 over the 280 or 380 is that the 360 does not require a separate booster pump.
Eliminating the booster pump will drastically cut your electricity bill so the Polaris 360 makes better long-term financial sense than a unit that requires a booster pump.
Overall the unit was a snap to install as I had the old Polaris hose to use as a length guide. I removed the old Polaris quick disconnect adapter as it was very old (in fact it broken when I tried to take it out of the threaded female pipe fitting) and installed the new quick disconnect. Next you have to test your water pressure using the included plug to determine if you have sufficient pressure to run the Polaris. This is where the fiddling comes into play!
I didn't have enough pressure coming out of the Polaris feed line so I need to install flow reducing adapters in all of the other return lines. Unfortunately some of my fittings have been plastered into the pool wall so this will be much more challenging than I had originally thought. Since my old Polaris had a dedicated return line from the booster pump I was able to install a pressure balancing valve to control the flow of water between the two return lines. If your pool does not have separate returns that are accessible in your pump shed you will need to install the flow restrictors in the pool. If you have a standard 1.5" ball adapter you are set as the Polaris comes with two flow restrictors in the kit. If not then you may need to order the correct size to fit your pool. Once you have adjusted the flow properly you are ready to hook up the Polaris and clock the rotation of the wheels while the pump is operating. Be sure to also check that the pressure relief valve on the Quick Disconnect adapter is not leaking or your pressure may be too high (although the manual is not clear on this I was concerned that too much pressure may damage the Polaris).
The final adjustments entail setting the pressure to the tail whip and adjusting the orientation of the rear jet so that the the Polaris doesn't spray chlorinated water all over your plants(like my old 280 unit used to do). Even though the Polaris does occasionally get stuck it has a built in backup valve that pulls it away from walls every 360 seconds or so (the actual time will depend on the flow rate of the water through the backup valve as it is mechanically driven). I have found that this unit does a great job of cleaning the pool and is excellent at picking up leaves as well as sand and small gravel.
Another benefit of the Polaris 360 over units that require a booster pump is that it does a better job of distributing chemicals and hot water from solar pool heaters. This works especially well in my pool as I only have a single skimmer that feeds the pump. Also, the 360 runs whenever the pump is running as opposed to the booster versions which only run part of the time (I run my main pump 6 hours a day and ran the old booster pump 3 hours per day with the Polaris 280).
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