Pressure side cleaners are mainly found in inground pools. They are attached
to the pressure side (return) of the pool's circulation system. The water
being pushed or "pumped" back to the pool powers the system. They have their
own hydraulic power system. Utilizing the pressure system has its distinct
advantages. They move clean filtered water around the pool and incorporate
their own cleaning debris bag, which means they will not corrupt the pool's
filtering system. If the bag becomes full, the system will still operate. It
will not be able to suck up any more debris until the bag is emptied. These
cleaners are connected to one of the existing return ports and are powered by
the pool pump, or a dedicated cleaner line. Water flowing into the unit is
split into three directions, the sweeper tail, the thrust jet and the venturi.
The sweeper tail works to get fine debris off the walls and floor and into a
suspension mode where it can be moved in the direction of the filter. The
thrust jet is a group of gears and ports that move the unit around the pool
in no particular pattern. The venturi is the port where large objects, like
leaves, are sucked up into the bag as the unit comes in contact with debris.
An in-line back up valve can be used to reverse the flow every couple of
minutes to change the pattern and eliminate possible obstacles.
Several different pumps, notably the Polaris 180, 280 and 380 and the Letro
Legend use must a booster pump to power the unit. These cleaners will require
about 30psi to operate properly. Most filter systems don't run that high
pressure. The return pipe is then severed after the filter and feed water is
then diverted to the booster pump, which then pumps through a line down the
pool wall. Other options include running the line under the deck and through
the pool wall, or an even cheaper option is running the line over the deck.
Without using the booster pump, the system would barely pick up any debris.
The Polaris 360 model and the Legend II operate in a similar fashion to the
booster pump cleaners and can be used with one of the existing return ports.
A test should be conducted at that return port to make sure that the
circulation system can deliver the amount of pressure needed to operate the
unit. It should be noted that the 360 does not operate well with pools with
floor returns of crushed copper pipe or with pools with slow circulation
systems. Both of the models previously mentioned can be very effective in
cleaning the pool as booster pump driven models. The main reason for using
the booster pump is they can be fully automatic with the installation of a
timeclock.
