:( Polaris pressure line leaking - now what?

[cleancloths]

I have a polaris 380 (with booster pump) and have determined the line is leaking somewhere between the pump outlet and the pool inlet. I was loosing as much as 1" of water in a 20x40 pool (about 500 gallons) in a day when the polaris was running most of the time. When the polaris is not running and the pool pump is on most of the time I was loosing about 1/2". I put a plug in the polaris line and turned the valve off from the booster pump discharge and have lost no water in two days.

So, how do you fix this. Do I have to cut into the concrete decking around the pool, or do I just dig a big hole five feet out (the concrete is 5' wide) and then dig under the concrete to start running a new line. Is there a better fix?

[bbb]

I have a polaris 380 (with booster pump) and have determined the line is leaking somewhere between the pump outlet and the pool inlet. I was loosing as much as 1" of water in a 20x40 pool (about 500 gallons) in a day when the polaris was running most of the time. When the polaris is not running and the pool pump is on most of the time I was loosing about 1/2". I put a plug in the polaris line and turned the valve off from the booster pump discharge and have lost no water in two days.

So, how do you fix this. Do I have to cut into the concrete decking around the pool, or do I just dig a big hole five feet out (the concrete is 5' wide) and then dig under the concrete to start running a new line. Is there a better fix?

I am a VERY satisfied owner of a Polaris 380. That having been said, you may consider keeping the line permanently plugged and buying a robotic - it may be cheaper in the long run! How would your pool circulation be if that line is kept plugged?

[larry2338]

Maybe I'm all wet here, but, it seems to me that if you were losing 500 gallons per day your yard would be a mud bog. The line to the Polaris is likely not more than 18" underground. I can't imagine that if it was leaking that much you wouldn't have a very apparent problem above ground and perhaps an idea where in the line the leak is.

[cleancloths]

I am a VERY satisfied owner of a Polaris 380. That having been said, you may consider keeping the line permanently plugged and buying a robotic - it may be cheaper in the long run! How would your pool circulation be if that line is kept plugged?

What is a "Robotic" how is it different, who makes it, what does it cost? Circulation would be no problem without this line as the opening to the pool is only about 3/8" and I have two other returns that are two inch pipes, although the opening into the pool is through the eyeballs so I guess they are only 1" each.

[cleancloths]

Maybe I'm all wet here, but, it seems to me that if you were losing 500 gallons per day your yard would be a mud bog. The line to the Polaris is likely not more than 18" underground. I can't imagine that if it was leaking that much you wouldn't have a very apparent problem above ground and perhaps an idea where in the line the leak is.

Your not all wet, just a little wet

We have a very high water table, and I have a drywell under the deep end of the pool. Further I have burried 6" perf pipe and lots of gravel only about 15' from the pool. Since the lines are most likely about 40" below the ground they all drain into either the water table or dry well. Remember that the Polaris line is about 1" in diameter and is fed from a high pressure booster pump. The actual opening from the orifice to the polaris is about 3/8", so there is a lot of pressure in the line when the pump is running, so if you have a 3/8" crack you would get as much water going into the ground as going into the Polaris.

[bbb]

Robotics cost $800+, but require no plumbing at all (in other words, no pressure lines and no booster pump) -- they are plugged into an outlet and are completely self-contained. They have microprocessor "robotic" logic to clean your entire pool, and have their own self-contained filter bag that is supposed to filter out very fine material. I don't own one so I can't vouch for one, though the people who own them on this board speak very highly for them. Dolphin and Aquabot are 2 of the more popular brands. Check out the Pool Cleaning section of this site for lots of posts and opinions about them.