Polaris Vac-Sweep 280 Pressure-Side In-ground Pool Cleaner

This Polaris 280 sweep is FANTASTIC! At least, so far. Moved into my home in 1978. It had an existing very large, approx. 20 X 40 modified kidney shaped plaster pool which was built in 1970. It has a very large shallow end which runs to an 8' depth near the diving board at the far end. We figure it holds somewhere between 34-36k gallons. At the time it had an old Arneson pool sweep which was totally useless, except for pushing around dirt and leaves along with very large pine needles from a neighbors 100' tall pine tree. In mid 80's I replaced all the pool equipment including the old sweep and got a Polaris, similar to this 280. At that time it seemed to work just O.K., with a constant need to re-adjust the rear thrust jet nozzle, wall water restrictor adjustment, sweep hose adjustment, etc. Also, trying to get the proper hose length was a big compromise between having not enough or too much because of the pool design. I was not impressed with this early Polaris model at all. Over time, parts replacement became quite costly...almost like replacing parts on my BMW. Then, in 2003 I replaced that unit with a JetVac which operated almost flawlessly up until about 2yrs ago and little by little parts needed replacing and the cost was outlandish because the product itself was no longer being produced and you became like a "captured prisoner" to the pool supply industry. I started doing some research with local pool supply stores, some pool maintenance people and with friends who had pools. And while everyone had different opinions, both pro and con about their pool sweep, they all agreed that replacing parts for these units was very costly. I finally looked at all the responses on Amazon and came to the conclusion that the 280 seemed like my best option. The unit arrived very promptly and in perfect condition by my trusty USPS delivery person and I was rather surprised to find that it was practically all put together in a nice neat package and there was little to do but slide it into the pool, make a check as to the appropriate speed of the tire rotation and off it went, climbing walls, steps...yes even up on my 2nd of 3 shallow end steps, with the sweep acting like some person was expertly controlling it. I just had to make one adjustment to the sweep hose, backing it off a bit so the tail would not shoot water out of the pool too much and everything else seems to be working wonderfully for the past month. All in all, I am extremely pleased with this unit to date and to have Amazon on my side with their ability to acquire both OME and "after market" parts at much more realistic prices than the local market is like having your "pool uncle" watching out for you. I can now readily see where a 4-wheel unit, like the Pentair model which I was also considering, would most likely not work as well in my pool. I do not believe that it would be nearly as agile in going up the steps like the Polaris. I am also glad that I decided not to get the 360 model which doesn't use a 3/4HP pressure side pump as it is only as good as your main filtration system. Even the local Leslie's store suggested my not opting for that unit, saying that most people find it does not have the abilities of the 280 with its own pump. One good thing with my old JetVac is that it had a "built-in" backup valve that worked flawlessly for the nearly 13 years I had it. Why Polaris doesn't design that part into their system is anyone's guess, but from what I've read about how many times people have had to replace it, I would think there are ulterior motives at play.

I've had this pressure-side pool cleaner since 2019, and I'm constantly impressed by how well it does. I was nervous to spend so much money for it 4 years ago, but it has proven itself to be worth every penny. The setup wasn't too difficult, although I remember having to monitor it a lot the first few days to make sure it was working appropriately. Nowadays, I leave it in the pool 99% of the time (I take it out when we have people over to swim), and I empty the bag once every 1-2 weeks in the summer (sometimes multiple times a day in the fall). I have needed to replace pieces from time to time, which hasn't been too bad (and most of the pieces can be found for cheap on Amazon). In the time I've owned it, I've had to replace the black mesh tail scrubber every few months (which is expected), the zipper bag once because it had a hole in it (I'm about due for another one probably by the end of this year), the backup valve on the line once, the connector assembly once (I pulled too hard on the line and it broke off from the wall), and the swing axle once when I noticed a piece had broken off inside the zipper bag. I don't blame the engineering or fabrication of this cleaner for needing to replace these pieces-- I feel like leaving a cleaner in chlorinated water for months at a time is bound to have some pieces stop functioning properly from time to time. With all that being said, my pool is always clean (no leaves or other muck on the bottom), and this cleaner has saved me many thousands of dollars that I would have otherwise spent on having a pool cleaning company clean the pool every 2 weeks.

I have owned a Polaris 380 for the last 7 years and have had to replace the guts of it once already. Since doing this again would have cost $288 plus another ~$100 to have it rebuilt by a pool service, I decided to purchase a new Polaris 280 for $375. I have had the 280 for a few weeks now. The Polaris 280 model provides as good or better cleaning as my previous 380 model when it was new. By the way, my pool is about 14' x 37' and contains about 14,000 gallons of water. I read a review of the 280 vs 380 model on another website by someone claiming they had owned both models for several years. In it, they stated that the 280 model's internals require less frequent repair than the 380, that it's suction (cleaning action) is just as good, and that the drive train was more effective. As stated above, I can confirm that the Polaris 280 cleans my pool of debris and dirt as good or better than my 380 model when it was new. This is despite having only 2 jets versus the 380's 3 jets. I believe this could be due to the larger diamter throat on the suction pipe into the debris bag. As well, I can confirm that there is an extra gear drive on one side of the 280 model and it seems to be much more effectvie crawling on the bottom, up the walls, and onto the steps of the pool than my previous 380 model. Only time will tell whether it also requires less maintenance. Update April 26, 2013 The cleaning performance is the same after a year in service. I have an update on the maintenance. At about the 1 year mark, the plastic tab that connects the right front wheel to the body of the Polaris 280 broke so the wheel fell off. That's a disappointment, but the part is inexpensive and easy to replace so doesn't change my overall review of this model vs the 380. Just wish Polaris would fix this design problem.

Great automatic pool vacuum. This is the second Polaris I have owned and it’s better in all ways except 1. The new Polaris fixed a major problem in getting stuck in the pool ladder by increasing the “resets” where it stops floats and changes direction. The problem it has now is in the construction of the wheels which are easily snapped off. I unpacked the new vac only to have it slip out of my hands and fall about 5” and snap off a wheel. FIVE inches! Very flimsy wheels. The vacuum cleans the pool perfectly and is easy to set up and use but be careful with the wheels!

Excellent pool cleaner. Owned Polaris 180 for over 30 years. Finally could not repair anymore. The Polaris 280 is well built and uses same pool mount hookup and pump. Only Buy Polaris!

I ordered this pool cleaner June 8, 2020. It arrived June 13. It went into operation on the 15th. On opening the box, the sidewall connector was cracked. No problem, I had an old one from my previous Polaris 280 that was still good. Big mistake. That was an omen. I should have returned the Polaris 280 pronto. But, I needed a pool cleaner. I had a connector. So I kept it. I noticed immediately that the new cleaner was not as robust or as efficient as my previous two. However, I figured I'd keep it and assumed that like so many things, the quality in recent years has diminished. But, as time passed, the pool cleaner got increasingly less effective. It got to the point that the cleaner would run 8 hours and NOT clean the pool. It would float above the bottom. It would float upside down. It would get stuck so bad that the wheels on the new Polaris are now scuffed up to the point that it look a year old. It would not go out of the deep end and when I pulled it to the shallow end myself, it would travel over leaves on the bottom of the pool and not suck them up and immediately travel back to the deep end. Finally, after I tried everything I knew to do, I called Amazon customer service on August 31. The rep was nice though not really helpful. Referred me to the seller - In The Swim Pool Supplies. The seller was not help helpful since the purchase was beyond the 30 day limit. The seller referred me to the manufacturer. I spoke with Jeremy at the Polaris customer service number [(800) 822-7933]. After a lengthy discussion, Jeremy said the Polaris pool cleaner needed to be repaired and that I would have to take it to an authorized service center. The closest place Jeremy found to my house was a one hour drive one way which mean that to drop it off and then pick it up, I'd have to drive 4 hours if traffic wasn't a problem. At one point, I think Jeremy was gonna replace the useless pool cleaner but his supervisor said no. I asked if they would pay postage to mail the non working device and he said no. So here I am, out $500-600 on a piece of crap and no one will help me. I asked for Polaris corporate number and no one will give it to me. I have had good service out of my first two Polaris 280 pool cleaners. Not this time. I have a booster pump and a liner pool. There was nothing in that pool that should have damaged the pool cleaner. Since it didn't work great right out of the box, I suspect what ever was wrong then only got worse. Buy at your own risk. If you don't return it before the 30 days after purchase is up, don't expect help from amazon, this seller or the manufacturer. I've wasted a lot of time trying to get help. Now I'm told I have to spend 4 more hours of my life on the road to go to an authorized repair center. In the mean time, I've been having to clean my pool manually despite spending a good bit of money on an automatic -pool cleaner. So disappointed with this purchase and even more disappointed with the pitiful customer service from amazon to seller to manufacturer. Update: Spoke with Mixer, customer service rep, at Fluidra yesterday. He listened patienty to my concerns and is sending a replacement pool cleaner. So thankful to find someone to help me with this. Mixer has renewed my trust in the company.

We’ve had our independence pool for about 2 1/2 years, and this pool cleaner was what came with the pool. We loved how easy it was to schedule cleaning and always thought it did a good job until recently. We repurchased the exact same item and our pool is beautifully clean again! This cleaner saves us the cost of hiring a pool cleaning service. It’s simple to use and does a great job. Even if we have to repurchase every 3 treats or so, we feel it is well worth the money.

As advertised. Easy to install and fast, thorough cleaning.

J’ai changé mon ancien robot vieux de 17 ans ( avec quelques pièces remplacées entre temps). Ce nouveau robot fonctionne mais j’ai eu un gros problème avec les « swivels » (ces joints tournants qui empêchent le tuyau de s’emmêler). Ceux livrés avec le robot se coinçaient sous pression. J’ai fait appel au SAV qui m’a envoyé de nouveaux swivels dans les 10 jours. Le tout fonctionne maintenant à la perfection. Pourvu que ça dure🤞

This was a replacement for our ancient Polaris 180 which had stopped working properly. It is so much better than the old machine and does a fantastic job of cleaning the pool and sucks up and catches leaves and other detritus as small as large grains of sand. I’ve only had it a week so I can’t comment on reliability it I would expect it to last years. Note: I bought this from a seller in France and had failed to consider (and was not warned) the import charges/VAT when it was delivered which added nearly £100 to the price. Be warned if buying from overseas.

First robot lasted 14 years . This one lasted only 4 years before the transmission let go.

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Llegó a tiempo y el producto excelente. Muy recomendable