Polaris Cleaner Purchase

[sahertz]

Purchased a polaris 380 pool cleaner online. Wheel broke off after 2 years and when I opened it up I found it is filled with silicone all around base and appears turbine bearing burnt/rusted.

I believe they sold a refurbished unit as new - they refused to do anything about it and said to take it into store to attempt a warranty claim [which obviously was denied]. Store tried to say it is normal for new units to be filled with silicone and also for it to rust out in 2 years [not sure its rust, looks more burnt]. Must be really poor quality manufacturing if it is.

Anyone else seen a new unit filled with silicone like this?

My previous cleaner lasted 7+ years. Is 2 years reasonable for it to look like this ?

 

[ajw22]

Welcome to TFP.

I have been using Polaris 380s for over 20 years and have never seen that. The last one I bought was a few years ago and still running fine. I have rebuilt them and never found silicone like your picture shows.

The “burnt” area could never come from heat. The Polaris does not have enough power to create that amount of friction. And the water would cool it.

I don’t know what happened to yours but we have seen a lot of weird equipment problems during the Covid low quality era. And buying stuff from unknown sellers online is always a risk. Once in a while you may get scammed for the savings. You need to decide if long-term you end up ahead.

If you buy another one, open it up when you get it and checkout its condition when new.

 

[sahertz]

Thanks ajw22 for your reply and confirming my suspicions ... would have thought Leslies Online purchase would be safe but apparently this is not the case.
And they refused to do anything about it - their pathetic excuse was shipped directly from supplier and its been 2 years ... pretty sure most people buying something "new" would not open and inspect the internals which is I guess what they rely upon. Will definitely do that next time - and definitely will NEVER be buying anything from Leslies again !

 

[Newdude]

E-commerce has blurred the supply lines. During the shortages when I couldn't find a SWG power supply, Wal-Mart of all places had it. 3rd party shipping from intheswim. That Leslie's owns.

 

[TinFoilHat]

That is a typical Leslies response, even up to the corporate level.

 

[MSchutzer]

The silicon sealant down in the bottom section where the hoses run is normal, my 360 has the same sealant in the bottom section.

The burnt area is not burnt, but rust from low quality stainless snap rings that hold the wheels, bearings, and shafts in the correct position. I've had that happen on mine on a couple of the shafts and I replaced all the snap rings and it's been fine since. At some point they must have bought the snap rings from a supplier who made them from a cheap grade of stainless as they definitely rust, and for some reason the rust pattern spreads all over anything close to the snap rings, including depositing on all the plastic parts, wheels and such. I don't know the reason why that rust film ends up everywhere other than the part that is actually rusting, but that is what you are seeing.