Who loves their Polaris 380?

I am curious: I hear people say all the time how much they LOVE their Polaris 380. I've had one for 4 years and pretty much hate it. Am I the only one? I'd love to hear comments from owners.

If I had a nickle for every hour I've spent dinking around with the jet in the back to make it run a circuit of the whole pool, I'd be rich. I don't even have any obstacles. It cleans the pool just OK (20x40 rectangle with 8 1/2' deep end). It's never totally clean. I've talked to a specialist at Polaris (really, really great customer service, I'll give them that.), posted on the old forum for tips, etc. Now I just want to know if I'm the only one...

I've got the same Polaris and the same size pool, and mine Polaris works great. I've had it 8 years and have changed the belts once or twice, other than that it is the greatest machine invented by man.

I love mine, too--the only problem I've had with it in 4 years is that I've replaced the belts once, the wheels once, and the backup valve once--but then again it "lives" in my pool, and is used year-round since I live in a very warm climate. I would absolutely buy another one!

18 x 36 IG liner pool....
Janet

We've had ours 1 year and are extremely happy with it. Only thing I had to adjust was the water pressure exiting the 'tail'. It would occasionally come up out of the water and spray the windows of the house with salty water which looks pretty crummy when the water evaporates and you're left with a salt film on the glass. I got tired of washing windows so I just cut the pressure back a little and no more problem. We would definitely recommend the 380.

As you have noticed, the polaris 380 is either loved or hated...

I loved my old 280 until the dog destroyed it, the trade in program got me into a new 380. For the first year I could not get the thing adjusted right, but one day I lucked up on a perfect setting for my pool. The 380 has been great ever since... It's all in the setup (luck)!

I love mine as well. Thing is worth it's weight in gold. I have had 4 seasons and just replaced the belts and wheels at end of last season.
Make sure your hose is the proper length, you also want to have the adjustment nosle at about 11:00.

I have the Polaris 180 and was always struggling with it because it would go in circles in the deep end of the pool and not go up to the shallow end. I played around with the little jet in the back and that never helped. Finally, what worked was to move the direction of the hose that connects to the robot. My polaris would constantly run in circles towards the side with the one wheel. What I did was turn the hose towards the two-wheel side to the 4 oclock position from the normal 6 oclock position (i.e., if your looking from above and the two wheel side is on the right). Now it covers the entire pool.

Love it. Only had it one year but it works like a charm (knock wood). I bought a new bag because the original got a few holes. Probably from overloading or twigs - my bad.

It also occasionaly shoots out water on the deck but my pool is far away from the house so it only wets the pavers.

I inherited an old beat up one when I bought my house - it wasn't working quite right and didn't even have a backup valve. So I ordered a rebuild kit off eBay last year (essentially an entire new 380, including the backup valve, except for one part - the inner plastic base - for much less money), rebuilt it (it was easy - I had posted the story in the old forum), and it works great. So put me in the "love it" category too.

Man. Makes me really wonder what the deal is with ME? Or better; with my Polaris. So NO ONE ELSE sits there at the side of their pool and watches it endlessly. Watches it go back over the same spots over and over. ...Then tweak the directional nozzle on the back and watch it some more.

I have put on new wheels. Polaris sent me a new timer valves that backs it up twice as often, which has helped some, but it also has increased the time it takes to clean because it is spending so much time backing up and away instead of cleaning.

It DOES eventually clean the pool. It does miss large areas on the incline between the deep and shallow ends. I use a brush and redistribute the dirt and keep it going. I DO use the sand/silt bag because it works better for me. I just can't imagine buying one of these knowing what I know over something like a Dolphin. But I guess I'm really in the minority. And it makes me wonder if my cleaner is a lemon.

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Originally Posted by jenmenke

Man. Makes me really wonder what the deal is with ME? Or better; with my Polaris. So NO ONE ELSE sits there at the side of their pool and watches it endlessly. Watches it go back over the same spots over and over. ...Then tweak the directional nozzle on the back and watch it some more.

I have put on new wheels. Polaris sent me a new timer valves that backs it up twice as often, which has helped some, but it also has increased the time it takes to clean because it is spending so much time backing up and away instead of cleaning.

It DOES eventually clean the pool. It does miss large areas on the incline between the deep and shallow ends. I use a brush and redistribute the dirt and keep it going. I DO use the sand/silt bag because it works better for me. I just can't imagine buying one of these knowing what I know over something like a Dolphin. But I guess I'm really in the minority. And it makes me wonder if my cleaner is a lemon.

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Don't know if this will help but I was talking to the regional Mgr. of the pool store that I work at part time. We sell Polaris and he told me the biggest problem with them not working properly is often caused by the hose being either a bit too long or a bit too short. He seems to know a lot about pool cleaners and has had training from Polaris and Barracuda on their lines. He also said that return jets hitting the hose can cause the cleaner to miss areas of the pool.

Don't know how true any of this is but I was told these things in case I had to try and diagnose a customer complaint and the store I work at is EXTREMELY customer service oriented. If the customer is not happy we do whatever we can to make them happy.

I really appreciate your comments, waterbear (is it al? Evan? something like that I think).

You are correct about the hose length. I went thru all those steps with a very helpful customer service team. I did shorten my hose a bit last season. It did help immensely. I added the shorter cylce valve. I tried new wheels (and switched back). The customer service was exceptional. I just still find myself spending untold hours fiddling with the damn thing. I don't think I'm being anal, but maybe I am. I just think a large swath of dirt on the incline looks bad. I even used to get INTO the pool and drive the stupid thing around myself! But it did get better with the new valve and the shorter hose. In addition, I bought a PoolBuster and now I just use that. It beats the heck out of hooking up my manual vacuum and hose. I guess in hindsight, I just really wish I knew about the Dolphin before I bought the Polaris. At least it wouldn't be so RANDOM.

I appreciate everyone's comments. I do really have to wonder if there is something else going on with mine...

If it makes you feel any better, I also have a 20x40 IG and am having trouble with mine too. It cleans the entire pool except for one corner. The weird thing is that the first two years I owned it, it worked perfectly, but now, I can't seem to get it adjusted just right. My pool guy told me to set the jet to the 2:00 position. An earlier post here said 11:00, so I am going to try that instead. I think it's just a matter of getting it adjusted correctly. I wish I would have noticed how it was set when it was working well. But that was back when I was a naive pool owner and didn't realize that there was even an adjustment.

While it is important to find the right adjustment(s) to make in order to get your Polaris operating well, I thought I'd mention something I've noticed about our Polaris 380. The method and efficiency of operation seem to be directly correlated to the water temperature. Simply put, ours roams entirely differently when the water temp is 55 degrees than it does when the water temp is 85 degrees. I have always assumed that it has something to do with a change in the density??? of the water at various temperatures. At lower temps, it runs in a more compact and straight line pattern and remains for the most part on the floor of the pool. With warmer temps, it is much more random, covers every square inch and readily climbs the sides of the pool. Just thought I would mention this. For some people it might not hurt to wait to adjust the Polaris until the water comes up to average summertime temps. In my experience, it's just not going to act in April or May like it does in July or August. I'll let the science pros on the board explain to us why.

I've noted the same difference in operation but think it is due to the hose being less flexible in cold water than in warm water.

Have you checked the RPM of the unit?? I have a 280 and the RPM must be between 28-32. If its to high the cleaner just flies all over the place. Read your manual..it tells you how to adjust it.

I have a 380 and don't like it either. It does not cover my whole pool. For me, my 380 is just a $900 squart gun and pool toy that the kids play with.

Also it seems counter productive to use the 380 for 5 hours to clean the pool when my 13 year old son can do it in less then 20 minutes with the manual vaccume.

I would not buy it again.

We HATE ours as well. We have a fiberglass pool with many articulations. First we had to get wheels that have suction cups on them to move around the pool. Then once we got it to move, it gets stuck on every curve so it just sits there. Anyone want one? We are looking at the Aquabot. That looks like it has treads (kind of like a tank) and not wheels. Does anyone have anything like that? Our thought is that it would not get stuck on the curves of our pool. Any suggestions?

I have a love-hate relationship with mine. I love how it is integrated with my Jandy controller so I can set it to run when I want and forget about it. But I hate that it is always getting wrapped up on itself and gets hung up. If I don't catch it, I am just wasting money running it. I too have spent countless hours trying to adjust the thing. I did the tail adjustment to keep it from squirting my windows, and that helped. Whe it dies, I will probably buy an Aquabot or something similar.

-Rick-

While I have always loved my 380 I am about to replace it. If anyone wants one let me know. The problem was not with the unit itself, it was that I developed a leak in the feed line somewhere between the pump and the outside wall of the pool. Since it is under a concrete deck my pool builder told me it would cost $500 to cut the concrete fix the leak (he assumes it is right at the wall) and then patch the concrete. If it turns out to be somewhere else well there will be more money spent. Since I have used it for 7 or 8 seasons I am not sure how much life the pump will have left nor the unit itself. Further, it is expensive to run as I have to run my main pool pump and the booster pump for it to work. So, rather than spend good money after bad I decided to spend $1,000 and buy a Dolphin Dynamic -- just ordered it today.

Learned a lot over 6 years. I just retired my "old" one (11 years) and got a rebate from the factory on a new one. That's not bad considering it lives in chlorine and I have no idea what the previous owner did with it.

1. Doesn't move: check the filter screen at the wall. For some reason this year it is clogging a lot with little fine junk (central NJ). Never happend it before. My pool guy says this is a problem in NJ recently.

2. Doesn't clean the pool properly: fiddle with the rear jet.

3. Ties in Knots: One ff three things. 1. Length and quality of the hose. 2. New floats in the recommended places work magic. they do lose their bouyancy along the way. DONT run it too long.. for me it's 3 hours.

4. My old pool service vendor took it apart every year and gave it a tune up. What a waste. The new place will tunie it up via mail for parts $ only.

5. I hate the reverser valve design because the little side jet drags along the concrete and wears out the bushing. However the new hose assembly and floats seem to be keeping it off of the pool walls.

6. Now i am working with the timing to allow it to park in the deep end so the kids don't have to move it :-)

Overall, I love it. It's a great device. I found the factory instructions online in PDF format at the polaris web site. Very helpful

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Originally Posted by CAPTCHEMCL

We HATE ours as well. We have a fiberglass pool with many articulations. First we had to get wheels that have suction cups on them to move around the pool. Then once we got it to move, it gets stuck on every curve so it just sits there. Anyone want one? We are looking at the Aquabot. That looks like it has treads (kind of like a tank) and not wheels. Does anyone have anything like that? Our thought is that it would not get stuck on the curves of our pool. Any suggestions?

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I have had my Aquabot for a year now and love it. I am amazed at how efficient it is.