Question about switching from a pressure cleaner to a robotic one

[TrunkMonkey]

Hello,

I seem to have no luck when it comes to pressure cleaners. They seem to last me for a season on average. For example, a couple of those cleaners were Hayward Phantoms, which clean wonderfully, but seem to be made of Alka-Seltzer or the Wicked Witch of the West or something. They seem to melt in water for me.

Nothing seems to be wrong with my pool or equipment - except possibly my luck. So, this year I decided to switch to a robotic cleaner. Hopefully I'll have better luck. While I'm waiting for delivery, I have a question:

Do I need to cover the dedicated cleaner line with something? Do they make a plug or something for where the pressure cleaner hose went on the side of the pool? I can turn the booster pump off, but I still hear a whining noise of the water flowing in. Not sure what I am supposed to put there, if anything.

Thanks!
TM

p.s. - I'm replacing a Polaris cleaner and the wall fitting had a little hole in it that may be causing the noise. I'm sure I could remove it, but then I'd have a big hole in the wall.

[PoolDoc]

I haven't installed a Polaris in years, but in times past, there was usually a standard female pipe thread at the bottom of the Polaris connection in the pool. If there is, I'd put a threaded PVC plug in it. Also, it would be best to plug the connection to the booster pump as well. Stagnant pool lines can grow populations of pathogenic bacteria, that can be a hazard if they get into the pool.

The safest thing would be to cut the line to the booster, pour polyquat or copper algicide into the line (dilute 5:1) till you see it coming into the pool, cap the pool side opening, and then cap the pump side opening in the piping. The algicide will tend to prevent anything from ever growing in the line -- since you might want to reuse it in years to come, and it will mean that, should someone fiddle the plug out, what drools into the pool from the line won't be dangerous.

Ben / PoolDoc