Customer Reviews

Polaris ATV F7 Premium Suction Side Automatic Pool Cleaner

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I purchased this Pool Cleaner a few weeks ago and here is my result. It is very effective as far is cleaning ability goes, if it can get there, it can clean it. My pool was really dirty because the previous owner of this house didn't take care of the pool and the pool was green and brown. After the chemical cleaning, I needed the Polaris ATV to do it's job and it did it quite nicely. As I said, as long as it can get to it, it can clean it.

It is also very, very easy to install...Pretty much just plug everything together and drop it in your pool.

The Cons:

For my pool and my experience, The Polaris can not clean the side walls well or doesn't go to the side enough to clean it. My side walls are still dirty. It has a hard time climbing my stairs. Many times, it'll just get stuck there. The wheels aren't large enough and once it gets into a bad angle, it gets stuck because none of it's wheels are touching the ground.

I'm not sure if I can recommend this pool cleaner. At this time, I say it's average at best.

We love this product. It really cleans great. In eight hours it will clean a 16x32 inground pool.

Pros: cleans fast, cleans well, easy to hook up, cleans walls and steps
Cons: We have a separate suction port and the skimmer must be plugged up when using the atv for it to work well. We were hoping to leave the skimmer open and let the atv use the suction port.

I purchased this cleaner and I am very disappointed. The unit has gears and rubber belts that make it work, the thing is that these gears and belts are fully exposed to all the debris collected by the cleaner. So almost ever day you have to open the unit up with a philip screw driver and pull the debris out of the gears because it gets all clogged up and stops working.

I replaced a 10 year old Hayward auto-cleaner (the one with the rubber feet and plastic fins) with this one. This is a superior cleaner, and has performed very well over the last month I have had it. I have a rectangular pool with pebbletech sides. The cleaner is able to go vertical on the sides of the wall (just to clean the lower 8 inches or so)and seems to have better suction than the old Hayward...it has a bigger opening too. The cleaner moves fast as well. It is built with high quality, and the supplied pool hose is also high quality (better than the replacements I've seen) and is worth $40 itself. I'm very satisfied with this.

I bought this to replace a Hayward navigator. I really like the upgrade to wheels over those stupid Hayward Navigator wings. Wheels make a lot more sense! The product comes with a handy flow tester that allows you to tweak the suction in your pool cleaner port to match what the Polaris is expecting (for example turn up the cleaner and turn down the skimmers). Mostly I find that the ATV gets around my pool more thoroughly and effectively than the Navigator ever did. I have a deep end and the navigator spent most of it's time inching around the deep end. The ATV gets up to the shallow end and runs around the whole pool thoroughly. The hoses that it comes with are high quality too and worth a fair amount of the purchase price. It would be nice if they'd offer the product with or without the hoses to eliminate duplication. It also comes with attachment pieces to allow you to attach the cleaner to your skimmer if you don't have a dedicated cleaner port.

Recommended.

My pool is a custom-made obstacle course for a pool cleaner. Aside from right angles and steps, it has three square, built-in seats next to a poolside bar....which are perfect "traps" for your average pool cleaner. My most recent cleaner (prior to the Polaris ATV) was a Baracuda X7 which was a total dud. It would hang up a few dozen times a day...every day. I was hopeful that the reversing feature of the Polaris ATV would work to my advantage. I could not be more pleased with the results.

The ATV is head and shoulders above other pool cleaners that I have used and does an outstanding cleaning job. It extricates itself from tight places by reversing directions and cleans while in forward or reverse mode. I am pleased to recommend the ATV and give it
five stars. With a purchase price under $300 PLUS a Polaris $75 Visa Reward Card rebate it is an exceptional value.

I was tired of constantly having to repair my Hayward UltraVac so decided to try something with a smoother operation. The Hayward UltraVac has recipricating feet and this, I believe wears the parts down annually. My repair costs were probably averaging $50 ~ $75/year. I will say that when the UltraVac is in good working condition, it worked very well with the exception of hanging up on my main drain covers even after I replaced them with lower profile ones.
The Polaris seems like a good product so far but here are two main features I would point out to any new buyers:
1. It comes with a flow measurement tool. When you adjust the flow to the specified level, it doesn't do much to clean the pool. The cleaner sits a little off the ground and at the recommended flow rate, most debris is simply passed over. Also at this flow rate, it doesn't go up the walls at all but that wouldn't matter as it wouldn't pick up debris anyway.
TURN UP THE FLOW. It may ultimately cause my unit to wear quicker but it seems to do a decent job now.
2. It doesn't allow the larger debris to pass through the suction hole. It does pick up a reasonable amount of stuff though.

I'm in the Las Vegas area and like many people, I don't get out to clean up my pool each day nor do I plan to. That's why we get automatic cleaners. So far, I like this product and as long as I keep the larger items out of my pool (mostly the long strands that come off of palm tree leafs), I'm fine.

Pros: Smoother operation so I hope my time between repairs is less. Climbs stairs. Has a backup feature that kicks in every couple minutes so it gets out of trouble. I run it every day and the pool looks great and I do not have a pool service - just the Polaris.

Cons: Picks up leaves fine but takes a couple passes to get the fine silt/dirt. It will eventually get the pool looking great, though. It doesn't handle large amounts of debris all at once. It tends to get clogged it you have a large pile of leaves.

Other than that, I think I like and recommend it. The Hayward was just breaking down too often and I spent much more than the product originally cost.

We had two different barracuda cleaners over the last two years, both of which weren't worth the plastic they were made of. We heard good things about the Polaris name and thought that at half the price of the Barracuda, it was worth a try. I am SO pleased with this so far! It motors around the pool acting like my pool vacuum that I attach to the pole. It sucks up dust, dirt, soft leaves and just about anything else it runs over. It doesn't perfectly cover our pool (25,000 gallon kidney shape, 8ft deep-end, 3.5 ft shallow), but it does about 90%. I am very pleased and am hopeful I won't have to buy a new one for the next couple of years. This cleaner works whenever the pump is on, so about 7-12hrs a day and after almost 5 months of use it is showing no wear and tear. I hope I still like it this much in another year. We'll see....

For those who are wondering, according to Zodiac Pool Systems, owner of the Polaris brand, ATV 340, ATV F7, and ATV All Terrain represent the exact same cleaner. The three names describe a single product, without any differences in specifications, color, options, or abilities.

I bought the cleaner in September, when Zodiac was offering a $75 manufacturer's rebate. There was conflicting information from the manufacturer regarding the rebate eligibility of cleaners bought on Amazon, with two Zodiac reps providing different information regarding a requirement for the seller's "Dealer Club" membership ("P-number"). Other than that, the response from Zodiac was relatively quick. To avoid a potential issue, I bought the cleaner from an authorized Dealer Club dealer, at a price that was slightly lower than Amazon's. After rebate the cleaner cost $235 (update: rebate request was processed by Polaris in 30 days).

The cleaner looks aesthetically pleasing, and was easy to set up using the pool's dedicated suction line. It comes with a generous length of hose, which I estimate to be worth more than $100 at retail prices. My 35'-long pool's depth varies between 4' and 6'. With the suction adjusted according to instructions using the included flow meter, the cleaner rpm was nominal, and it moved and cleaned well, without hanging on any areas. It appears to have fewer moving parts than the cleaner I replaced (the pricey 4-wheel "Jacuzzi", now known as "The Cleaner"), and I very much hope that it will require less expensive maintenance.

The reason why I give the cleaner 4-stars instead of 5, is that my neighbor purchased the same cleaner based on my recommendation. Unfortunately, hers turned out to be defective, moving at 1/2 of the nominal rpm at identical, nominal suction (measured in the same pool, the same flow meter, the same suction line, and the same vacuum hose). It appears that wheel movement in the cleaner is generated by a little turbine, and in her case either the turbine or transmission were defective, or there was loss of water flow somewhere within the cleaner.
Beyond questions about quality control, I worry that similar symptoms or failures might be produced by normal wear and might be expensive to fix.

I have been very happy so far with the Plaris ATV F7. It was easy to setup with some slight adjustments on the pool pump. Overall - the pool has been very clean since I've installed the cleaner. I have an inground pool that is uniquely shaped, goes down to 9 feet due to the diving board, and the cleaner seems to go up and down the steep slopes and sides of the pool. You can't beat the product for the price.