Looking for advice on a good pool vacumn. Currently running a Polaris, does an okay job, but gets stuck on the drains. Looking at the Dolphin Nautilus CC plus.

Polaris should never get stuck on the drain. He’s got an issue or his pump does.

My pool guy recommended a Dorado. I am still waiting on it though, so I cannot speak to how well it performs.

quote:

Originally posted by Prefontaine:
Polaris should never get stuck on the drain. He’s got an issue or his pump does.

This. Do you have the in-line back-up valve that periodically moves the unit so as to keep it from being stuck for long?

Yeah, it has the back up valve about 3' up the hose from the unit. It still seems to get high centered on the drain fairly often, and won't free itself. Its our first pool, still learning.

replace that back up valve first and place it farther away from the polaris say about 6-8 ft from it. That back up valve and the auxiliary polaris pump(you do have one of those don't you?) should have enough power to lift that polaris up off the drain and move it 20 ft away.

I ran Polaris for many years on multiple pools I have had and I finally got tired of fucking with it. Made the move to a Tiger Shark and like it much better. You have to clean the two filters in it, and it is a little heavy to lift out of the pool but it does a much better and faster job of cleaning.

It runs off electricity so no auxiliary pump is needed. This is the one I have:

https://www.wellbots.com/colle...robotic-pool-cleaner

Thanks Bigwhup. I'm pretty sure we are headed in that direction, electric vacuum. It does indeed have the secondary pump for the polaris.

quote:

Originally posted by MRBTX:
Yeah, it has the back up valve about 3' up the hose from the unit. It still seems to get high centered on the drain fairly often, and won't free itself. Its our first pool, still learning.

Easiest and cheapest thing to do before you go spend more money…

First turn off your timer for Polaris. Unhook the hose from the side of the pool and remove the entire thing. When removing, hold Polaris up over the water for a good minute and shake it. Lots of water in it. Then set it on the deck, hose and all. Get a trash bag and put Polaris and hose in it. Take it up the Leslies. They will hook it up, run water through it, and can address any issues. You may need a new valve. Hose length could be off. Wheels or a bearing may need replacement. Whatever is wrong, $100 or less usually.

Have you had your grids cleaned in the main filter? The filter needs to be taken apart twice a year, grids removed, and cleaned. Then new DE. If the pressure is not correct it will affect Polaris from doing his job properly.

Neighbor just got his pool finished. He got one of those 'pool roombas', I think it's a Polaris.
Quite large, but electric powered & has a rotating 'scrubber' at the front.

Not sure how much he's used it, but have seen them on display at Leslie's

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Neighbor just got his pool finished. He got one of those 'pool roombas', I think it's a Polaris.
Quite large, but electric powered & has a rotating 'scrubber' at the front.

Not sure how much he's used it, but have seen them on display at Leslie's

This sounds like what we have a Hayward ~Shark.

It roombas, the bottom and sides by sucking to the surface.

We run the Hayward Navigator series, Started with this model 20 years ago, then had the Barracuda, Zodiac MX8. Of all the Barracuda and Hayward were the better units, cleaned well, you have to keep up with the wear parts (feet replacement) so you don't get into replacing more expensive parts.

These all run off pool pump suction and do a good job for much less cost per unit, Pinch a Penny and others have sales, Hayward has sales on the Navigator right now it's $125 discount,

https://pinchapenny.com/offers/may-2022-c7

I run the Dolphin Sigma robot and had a Dolphin previously for 4 years. They get stuck on the main drains. Eventually they get off but a lot of the cleaning time is spent trying. I got these:

Polaris 5820 White Unibridge UniCover Main Drain Cover Inground Pool

I have to readjust them after each cleaning because the robot pushes them around. Even so, robot gets through the cleaning cycle without getting stuck.

My current pool has a Paramount system with pop-up jets in the pool floor.

Probably won't do that again on the next pool, as we've had 2 jets fail & had the control valve go out a couple years ago.

Probably go pool Roomba, or pump driven Polaris on the next one.

18+ year pool owner here.

Used Hayward Navigators for years, they worked well, but the Manager of Leslie's pool talked me into one of these when my Navigator died. He was right, I'm now on around 5 years with this one and it's outstanding. It gets the pool very clean and it doesn't need to be rebuilt annually like the Navigator did.

https://lesliespool.com/haywar...WEAQYASABEgLPiPD_BwE

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Flash-LB,

We bought the Dolphin premier and have used it twice. The pool and the polaris vac are new (3 mos old). The Dolphin and the Polaris are not in the same league IMHO. In one use it made the gunnite feel comfortable to your feet that the the polaris never did. This thing climbs the walls, scrubs the edges, etc. If you are building a pool, upgrading your vacuum, I highly recommend one of these.