I had previously tried a suction-side cleaner that didn't work so well due to inadequate suction, so I thought I'd try a pressure-side cleaner. The Polaris 165 is fantastic. I have a 25,000 gallon pool that is L-shaped with a deep end and shallow end; the pool gets no shade and fills with leaves in the fall; and this cleaner keeps the leaves out and circulates the water so that the filter works more effectively. In short, it saves me a lot of time and effort and cleans the pool better than I could manually. I leave it in the pool unless there are a lot of swimmers, in which case I take it out for a while.
It took some trial and error to get the hoses set to the right length for my pool, but after about three tries I have it set properly, and it will clean the entire pool well. It does occasionally get stuck on one of the ladders and I will have to reach in to dislodge it. Also, once in a great while, the bottom unit will loop around and briefly spray water out of the pool. I suppose it might surprise you and get you wet if you're standing near the pool when that happens, but hey, don't you expect to possibly get wet when you're near the pool?
There is a little screen in the hose at the end that connects to the pool jet; I had trouble with that screen filling with small debris, so I removed it. As long as the debris is small enough to not block the jets within the Polaris itself, it will not cause a problem. If larger debris does get stuck, it can be taken apart to clean it. This thing has basically only one internal moving part and does not look like it should break down easily.
The thing is fun to watch, too. We named ours Harold. He's lower maintenance than our dogs.
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Get it as soon as Wednesday, May 8
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Customer Review: Overall a good machine
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This Item  Zodiac 6-120-00 Polaris Vac-Sweep 165 Pressure Side Pool Cleaner |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | $364.95 | $1,149.00 | $299.99 | $599.00 | $549.00 | $26.99 |
| Delivery | Get it as soon as Wednesday, May 8 | Get it as soon as Wednesday, May 8 | Get it as soon as Monday, May 13 | Get it as soon as Wednesday, May 8 | Get it as soon as Wednesday, May 8 | — |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Value for money | ||||||
| Suction power | ||||||
| Easy to install | ||||||
| Sold By | In The Swim Pool Supplies | In The Swim Pool Supplies | Amptyhub pool | In The Swim Pool Supplies | In The Swim Pool Supplies | In The Swim Pool Supplies |
| power source | Manual | ac | Hydraulic Powered | ac | — | Manual |
| style | In Ground | In Ground | — | In Ground | Cleaner | — |
| batteries required | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| weight | 16.9 pounds | 26 pounds | — | — | 6.2 pounds | — |
Reviews with images
Overall a good machine
The Polaris 165 is for inground vinyl or fiberglass pools 16 X 32 or 16 X 40. That is to say that the amount of hose in the box will work for those two sizes. After that, you have to do more cutting and adjusting. You might even have to buy extra hose, I don't know. The instructions that come with the box are so-so to use. The English has no spacing between words but generally you can figure out what it is saying. The Polaris website has the full manual but there isn't that much more information in it.I did download it though. Right now the Polaris is out there in my pool doing a good job. The Polaris 165 drags a bag alone the bottom of the pool that picks up debris. I have a lot of leaves. I also have a lot of silt. The bag along the bottom keeps the silt swirled up and the mail drain can get it out. Otherwise the day after my human cleaning technician vacuums the pool, the silt settles back on the bottom. The Polaris 165 does not clean the surface of the water. That is left to your skimmer or your own personal netting skills. The Polaris does a good job of keeping the main drain on the bottom of the pool clear of leaves. The Polaris requires a fair amount of adjusting. You have to cut the surface hose and the drag hose to the correct lengths for your pool. Scary for me. And there are devices called eyeballs to use in your water returns (the ones the Polaris is not attached to) to keep most of the water that is returning to your pool pushing through the Polaris. The Polaris body rides on top and goes forward a few seconds and then backwards a few seconds. In this way, over time the body drags the bag all around the bottom of the pool. There also is water jetting down the hose to the bag that pushes the debris into the bag. And then there are places within the body of the Polaris that you are instructed to open and clean periodically. I have not done that yet and hope the season will end before I have to. Opening machinery is not a good idea for me and I am not looking forward to that when the time comes. But if you are handy you will probably have no problem. I got the Polaris 165 to keep my main drain clear of leaves and it is doing that. So I am happy with it. It tangled up on itself a lot but once I got the hosing lengths and water pressure just right I see less of that. But it has tangled a bit even after these adjustments and I took my pool brush and used it to pull the Polaris surface tubing out straight. I had to turn the pump off once to do a good job of this untangling Once I got it straight it ran for days without needing my help again. For the money it was a good machine. But it is not an open the box put in water and go. You have to work with the thing awhile; like several days. Making adjustments and you have to know when to say good enough and let it be. Again, for the price, this is a good machine for getting up most of the debris on the bottom of your pool. I have attached a picture and a video. I hope the video came through.I am adding information. I had been running the Polaris 165 day and night for a week with no problems. But last night somehow the machine got completely flipped over! Don't ask me how?! Th hose was badly tangled and the machine itself was lying on top of the tangled hose, upside down! The machine's jets spewed water out of the pool until the water level was below the skimmer! I had to add probably an extra $100 worth of water and restart everything. And all still works fine. But moral of the story: Turn it off at night. I will only run it now when I am around to keep an eye on it. #learningthehardway
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Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2013
Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2014
Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2019
The Polaris 165 is for inground vinyl or fiberglass pools 16 X 32 or 16 X 40. That is to say that the amount of hose in the box will work for those two sizes. After that, you have to do more cutting and adjusting. You might even have to buy extra hose, I don't know. The instructions that come with the box are so-so to use. The English has no spacing between words but generally you can figure out what it is saying. The Polaris website has the full manual but there isn't that much more information in it.I did download it though. Right now the Polaris is out there in my pool doing a good job. The Polaris 165 drags a bag alone the bottom of the pool that picks up debris. I have a lot of leaves. I also have a lot of silt. The bag along the bottom keeps the silt swirled up and the mail drain can get it out. Otherwise the day after my human cleaning technician vacuums the pool, the silt settles back on the bottom. The Polaris 165 does not clean the surface of the water. That is left to your skimmer or your own personal netting skills. The Polaris does a good job of keeping the main drain on the bottom of the pool clear of leaves. The Polaris requires a fair amount of adjusting. You have to cut the surface hose and the drag hose to the correct lengths for your pool. Scary for me. And there are devices called eyeballs to use in your water returns (the ones the Polaris is not attached to) to keep most of the water that is returning to your pool pushing through the Polaris. The Polaris body rides on top and goes forward a few seconds and then backwards a few seconds. In this way, over time the body drags the bag all around the bottom of the pool. There also is water jetting down the hose to the bag that pushes the debris into the bag. And then there are places within the body of the Polaris that you are instructed to open and clean periodically. I have not done that yet and hope the season will end before I have to. Opening machinery is not a good idea for me and I am not looking forward to that when the time comes. But if you are handy you will probably have no problem. I got the Polaris 165 to keep my main drain clear of leaves and it is doing that. So I am happy with it. It tangled up on itself a lot but once I got the hosing lengths and water pressure just right I see less of that. But it has tangled a bit even after these adjustments and I took my pool brush and used it to pull the Polaris surface tubing out straight. I had to turn the pump off once to do a good job of this untangling Once I got it straight it ran for days without needing my help again. For the money it was a good machine. But it is not an open the box put in water and go. You have to work with the thing awhile; like several days. Making adjustments and you have to know when to say good enough and let it be. Again, for the price, this is a good machine for getting up most of the debris on the bottom of your pool. I have attached a picture and a video. I hope the video came through.
I am adding information. I had been running the Polaris 165 day and night for a week with no problems. But last night somehow the machine got completely flipped over! Don't ask me how?! Th hose was badly tangled and the machine itself was lying on top of the tangled hose, upside down! The machine's jets spewed water out of the pool until the water level was below the skimmer! I had to add probably an extra $100 worth of water and restart everything. And all still works fine. But moral of the story: Turn it off at night. I will only run it now when I am around to keep an eye on it. #learningthehardway
I am adding information. I had been running the Polaris 165 day and night for a week with no problems. But last night somehow the machine got completely flipped over! Don't ask me how?! Th hose was badly tangled and the machine itself was lying on top of the tangled hose, upside down! The machine's jets spewed water out of the pool until the water level was below the skimmer! I had to add probably an extra $100 worth of water and restart everything. And all still works fine. But moral of the story: Turn it off at night. I will only run it now when I am around to keep an eye on it. #learningthehardway
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