Question on suction vs pressure pool cleaners

[waterbear]

The Polaris 165 runs off the return to your pool, not a separate booster pump. It's very good for larger debris but not the fine stuff.

The 360 and the Pentair Letro Legend II also do not need a booster pump, can climb walls, and can filter out finer stuff, especially if you get the optional fine silt bag. However they are quite a bit more money than the 165.

[BigRickysPool]

I have been running a Polaris 380 for years and the aux. pump improves the cleaning. No problem with fine sand and other debris as I have a fine silt bag attached. Climbs walls fine and even gets into my steps. Has an adjustable nipple at the rear of the unit that can be set to help with climbing. I have a 41" deep shallow area and an 8' deep end and it cleans both without problems. If it needs repair, I take it to the local pool stores and they just charge me for parts, but the repair is free. Also, Polaris will take an older unit in for trade on a newer unit. Had to buy a new aux. pump recently, but has been an essentially maintenance free unit.

[cleancloths]

I had a polaris 380 with booster pump for years, it worked ok. The problem I had was a line under the cement deck started leaking. It was going to cost me over $1,000 to have the deck cut, the line fixed, and the deck fixed. I scapped it at that point, and it was the best thing I ever did. To run it I had to have the regular pump and the booster pump running - what a waste of electricity.

I bought a Blue Pearl and it is simply amazing. Its filter bag polishes the water better than my DE filter. It climbs the walls and takes out all sorts of stuff. I love it.

[Phillbo]

I've always had a Hayward Navigator and have loved it . I just replaced a 15 yo unit with another one.

it's suction side. I add a leaf basket to the lines in the spring when I get the most leaves and never have a problem.

[mshumack]

I would like to add that I think the benefit to the suction side cleaner is - less parts to fail and less maintenace is needed on the cleaner. I have been running the Lil-Shark suction side cleaner for two years now. I never take it out of the pool. It runs a couple of hours everyday (I have an automatic controller that turns the pool/cleaner valve). The pool is always clean.

I like that there is no bag to clean out like on a pressure cleaner. The dirt goes straight to my (DE) pool filter. Some say this is the downside. I suppose it depends a lot on how big your filter is and how much stuff is on the bottom of your pool. I clean my filter around three times a year (and this is a pool without a screen enclosure). I never backflush either - I just clean (hose off) the grids and add new DE when need - 3x a year. Any big debris that gets sucked up, like pine needles, will get caught in the strainer/bucket at the pool pump, and that is very easy to clean out.

My pool is around 20k gallons and my filter is 60sq-ft (which is considered oversize). That's probably why it only needs a cleaning a couple of times a year.

I would not want a pressure side cleaner. I can't imagine it doing a better job than my suction model and I would hate to have to empty the bag every so often. I aslo thought about a robotic cleaner (mainly just because I like the idea of being able to control (by remote) where it goes) but again, you have to remove from the pool when its done - and it's expensive and it has a bag to empty.

Thats my two-cents worth on the subject.