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Polaris 280 Cleaner Using Variable Speed Pump


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Hello, we are taking the plunge (pun intentended) and building an inground pool. The specifics are: free-form concrete walls with vinyl liner, 23,000 gallon capacity, Jandy 1.5HP e-Pump, Jandy DEV48 DE filter, Jandy AE2500 heat pump, Jandy Aqualink Power Center with 14-blade cell kit and Jandy PDA-P8 wireless control system. I was going to install a Polaris Halycon booster pump for a Polaris 280 cleaner but was told by a tech support person from Zodiac Pool Products that I do not need a separate pump if I have a variable speed pump. The tech support person told me to install a 3-port valve with a Jandy valve actuator to divert water to the dedicated return line for the Polaris cleaner. He said that I could adjust the pump speed until the correct pressure and flow for the cleaner was obtained.

Now for my questions:

  1. Has anyone done this?
  2. How well does it work?
  3. Where would I tie in the 3-port valve for the dedicated return line?

Thanks in advance for your help.

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Hello, we are taking the plunge (pun intentended) and building an inground pool. The specifics are: free-form concrete walls with vinyl liner, 23,000 gallon capacity, Jandy 1.5HP e-Pump, Jandy DEV48 DE filter, Jandy AE2500 heat pump, Jandy Aqualink Power Center with 14-blade cell kit and Jandy PDA-P8 wireless control system. I was going to install a Polaris Halycon booster pump for a Polaris 280 cleaner but was told by a tech support person from Zodiac Pool Products that I do not need a separate pump if I have a variable speed pump. The tech support person told me to install a 3-port valve with a Jandy valve actuator to divert water to the dedicated return line for the Polaris cleaner. He said that I could adjust the pump speed until the correct pressure and flow for the cleaner was obtained.

Now for my questions:

  1. Has anyone done this?
  2. How well does it work?
  3. Where would I tie in the 3-port valve for the dedicated return line?

Thanks in advance for your help.

I have never seen it done

If you use a 3 port valve at the last in line at for the returns you regulate were the water goes. So more water to cleaner line to run the cleaner and less to the pool. You would have to keep moving the valve to keep proper pool circulation.

I think I would still go with a booster pump, you can try Zodiac's way and always add a booster pump later.

I do have to questions.

You are buying all this high end stuff way a 280? It is a great cleaner but the new 3900 is awesome.

Were you offered any other equipment? Jandy stuff is very exspensive to repair

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ps558,

I am trying not to add a dedicated booster pump for energy savings and added expense. I have read a lot of cleaner reviews and the 280 gets very high marks. The 3900 does look great but it is 1.5 times the cost of a 280 cleaner. I am in the process of comparing the Polaris 360 and the Poolvergnuegen pressure side cleaner which do not require a booster pump. Any comments or reviews on the above cleaners would be appreciated

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ps558,

I am trying not to add a dedicated booster pump for energy savings and added expense. I have read a lot of cleaner reviews and the 280 gets very high marks. The 3900 does look great but it is 1.5 times the cost of a 280 cleaner. I am in the process of comparing the Polaris 360 and the Poolvergnuegen pressure side cleaner which do not require a booster pump. Any comments or reviews on the above cleaners would be appreciated

The 360 is a good cleaner, it can be a little tricky to get working properly with just using a return jet and somtimes you need to restrict the water flow from the other returns.

I never heard of the other one

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I was going to install a Polaris Halycon booster pump for a Polaris 280 cleaner but was told by a tech support person from Zodiac Pool Products that I do not need a separate pump if I have a variable speed pump. The tech support person told me to install a 3-port valve with a Jandy valve actuator to divert water to the dedicated return line for the Polaris cleaner. He said that I could adjust the pump speed until the correct pressure and flow for the cleaner was obtained.

Now for my questions:

  1. Has anyone done this?

    Yes, we have done this.

  2. How well does it work?

    Works great because you can dial in the perfect pressure via your e-pump.

  3. Where would I tie in the 3-port valve for the dedicated return line?

    You tee off the output of the pump BEFORE the filter, install a jandy type energy sweep filter and then you tune or dial in the necessary pressure. By teeing in before the filter, you can set the flow rate of the pump, then not have to worry about bumping up the flow as the filter gets dirty. You only run the Polaris 2 to 3 hours, so you won't interfere with the filter operation which you will be running for 8 plus hours with your e-pump, (lower flow + longer hours = money saved).

Thanks in advance for your help.

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Pool Clown,

Thanks for the response. You suggested that I place the 3-way valve between the pump and the filter. With this setup, are you setting the valve in some middle position or diverting all of the flow to the cleaner?

I have had conflicting answers from the tech support people at Jandy. The first person that I spoke with came from the Polaris side of the company and was positive that I could run a 280 cleaner on the ePump without a Polaris booster pump. In fact, he suggested it after I mentioned that I was going to buy a booster pump. I have left several messages for this person but have not been called back. I then spoke to another tech support person who checked with his supervisor and said that I definately would need a booster pump for the 280 cleaner. They then suggested the 360 cleaner which operates on lower pressure but higher flow that the 280.

My pool builder installed the 3-way valve for the cleaner after the filter, heater and salt cell. I see your point about having to adjust flow to compensate for the filter getting dirty. I will give it a try this way and change the valve location at a later date if it causes a problem.

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Jandy allows for four valve actuators. Normally you use 2 for pool and spa suction and return. One perhaps for a solar valve to turn on and off. Then a fourth for a cleaner. You put a valve actuator on the three way valve after the pump, to divert water to the cleaner when you hit the cleaner button, or when the program says so. Then you set the pump to run at a speed that you set when the pump is running the cleaner. When the cleaner goes off, the valve rotates back to the filter, and the pump slows down to the filter speed you set.

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So is all of the flow passing through the cleaner or is it also going through the filter/heater/chlorine generator? With the valve actuator, I understand that you can set a stop so that the valve could be somewhere in the middle.

Also, going back to your earlier post, are you sure that the ePump can develop the pressure required for a Polaris 280 or similiar cleaner?

Is the energy sweep filter a must have?

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So is all of the flow passing through the cleaner or is it also going through the filter/heater/chlorine generator? With the valve actuator, I understand that you can set a stop so that the valve could be somewhere in the middle.

I suppose you could have it either way. Most energy efficient would be to have all flow going to cleaner when its on.

Also, going back to your earlier post, are you sure that the ePump can develop the pressure required for a Polaris 280 or similiar cleaner?

The polaris booster pump is a 3/4 hp. You can ramp up the e-pump to 1.5 hp.

Is the energy sweep filter a must have?

If you tee into the line before the filter, yes, If not, no.

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  • 7 years later...

Hey Pool Clown,

                     Do you have pics of your setup pls?

I am trying to do the same. 

Here is the setup I tried today with not too stellar results.

" Trying to bypass the booster pump and run the 280 directly off the Intellflo 2 VST Variable Speed pump (VSP).
Here is the experimental setup and results. Thoughts and guidance appreciated.

The return from the intelliflo to filter was disconnected. (have a union there, so just disconnected it)
Hard Plumbed ( w 3/4" Sch 40 piping + a 1.5" union+ 1.5"-3/4 reducer ) the return of the VST direct to the dedicate return line for the 280.

Observation: 
1- When trying to prime @ 2400 RPM: the pump does not fully prime. The pump strainer pot is only filled about 3" from the bottom. however, 
2- The Polaris 280 is crawling in the pool at the same at a very low speed.
3- Putting the return back to filter, pump primes normally.

Questions:
1- is the 3/4 plumbing directly after the Intelliflo, not allowing the air to escape out and causing priming issues?
2- Would using a 3 way valve from the return work? 1would go to the polaris 280, the other would go to the FNS60. I would prime with the output of 3 way diverted to FNS and after being primed, would direct the flow to the 280. 
3- Has any one been successfully able to run the 280 off the VSP?

LLAP

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1. Yes, You shouldn't be reducing the plumbing to 3/4" on a non booster pump type cleaner.  Should be 1 1/2 all the way to the wall fitting.  Did you change from a booster pump cleaner to a non booster pump in hopes that eliminating a pump would be a more energy efficient system?

2. Yes, the best way to plumb for a NBPC (non booster pump cleaner) is to use 3 way valve between the pump and the filter.  Plumbing this way will require some sort of in line screen or filter like the Jandy #2888 (energy filter strainer with gauge) on the line that goes to the cleaner.  Also, you should not have all the flow going to the cleaner. The valve shouldn't be diverting water only to the cleaner, and closed to the filter, this may be the reason that the pump wont completely fill. 

3.  Yes, it is just a matter of getting enough water to the unit (raise pump speed).

Note:  Just re-read your post.  If you are trying to use a 280 as a NBPC,  You may have sub par cleaning performance.  280's are designed for use with a dedicated booster pump.  If you do a little research, you will notice that the 360 (the would be correct unit for this application) has a larger diameter feed tube. this allows the unit make better use of lower pressure by more volume of water to run the unit.

I hope that makes sense. Bottom line is the 280 pretty much needs to have its own booster pump to run properly.

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Thanks PC. 

Sorry but I am confused. It seems in your July 8, 2009 post; you seem to mention your setup for a polaris 280. The reason I was using 3/4 plumbing is, that is what the dedicated return line for the 280 is plumbed out to be.

I would like to stick with existing setup if the Intelliflo VSt can support build up of pressure as required.

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You are correct, however, keep in mind that post is almost 8 years old.

 In theory, you can make it work.  But you would need to run the pump at a higher RPM to satisfy both the cleaner and the filters' needs if you do not have automation.  You may also find this task challenging if you have only 1 1/2" piping.  The statement where i said not to divert all water is just because you should have some water passing through the filter so it can do its job of keeping the water filtered.  

If you have automation (which that previous poster had), you could make this work by running the pump at a speed to operate the cleaner with all the water diverted to the cleaner for a period of time, say 2 hours, then have the valve rotate to divert all the water to the filter and then run the pump for a period of time needed to keep the pool water clean. 

Are you trying to do away with the pump that normally runs the 280? 

Again, You can "make" a 280 work without a booster pump by using just a variable speed pump, but it just isn't the cleaners (280) design to do so this way.  If you have the pump for this cleaner, and you don't have automation, you should continue to use it.  It would only need to run about 2 hours or less a day.

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I am planning on pool automation if this works. An easytouch with the SWG cell. 

I have been able to run the pump at upto 2700RPM without cavitation. It seems cavitation begins to occur at somwhere between 2850 and 3050 RPM.

Yes I would like to get rid of the booster that runs teh 280. A lot noisy compared to the intelliflo @ 2750 rpm.

 

So the question i have is: is my current setup not working because I am not able to sufficiently prime the pump?

I do not mind adding the Jandy enrgi and bypas, but I was hoping to do that, if I could prove that the current setup does indeed work.

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I have experienced the "not completely filling pot" on the pump with some installations.  Sometimes if the pump is allowed to run for a while, the air will work its way out.  I believe this is one reason that Pentair has engineered a "priming" feature on their VS pumps.  This feature allows the user to set a predetermined RPM for a predetermined time (typically a higher RPM for about 30 sec to 1 min) when ever the pump is started, so it can clear itself of any air.  Then after that set time, the pump will drop to its normal speed for the duration of its program.

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