Pressure-side pool cleaners have come a long way from being stagnant pieces of junk to mobile masterpieces. For instance, take Polaris’ line of Vac-Sweep models; the 65 and 280 are just two of their most prized pool cleaners that are well-known for their astounding cleaning performance. In this review, we’ll put them in a head-to-head comparison to see which of the two you should take home with you.
Polaris Vac-Sweep 65
Floor and Surface Cleaning
At first glance, you can immediately tell that the Vac-Sweep 65 is a unique product. It doesn’t have wheels or tracks like other Polaris pressure-side cleaners but instead comes with two main components—a surface head and a sweep skimmer—that clean pools top to bottom in a single sweep.
The unit works by creating waves that bump against the pool’s walls in order to loosen dirt and debris. As the Vac-Sweep 65 moves, it drags the submerged skimmer bag that collects the debris, leaving you pools relatively spotless after a couple hours of work.
Above Pool Cleaner
Another thing that makes the Vac-Sweep 65 unique is that it’s made specifically for above-ground pools. It can travel a distance of 24 feet on the surface while its sweep skimmer cleans at a depth of 5 feet, even in uneven-bottomed pools.
That said, you could technically use this in inground pools based on customer reports, although Polaris doesn’t recommend it, the main reason being its slow movement speed. It’ll take more than half a day to clean a 40- to 50-foot pool thoroughly with this device.
Fairly Easy Installation
As you might expect from a pressure-side pool cleaner, setting the Vac-Sweep 65 up isn’t all that difficult. The kit comes with all of the required hardware to get it connected to the return line of your pool.
The only challenging part is manually measuring and cutting the surface head and sweep skimmer’s hoses to the correct length before adding the connectors to the end. The paperwork will describe somewhat clearly how to do this.
Large-Debris Collection Bag
The collection bag connected to the fully submerged sweep skimmer is both large and for large-sized debris. It can hold onto more than a day’s worth of suctioned debris before needing to be emptied, but finer debris like algae and sediment can easily pass through the mesh.
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Polaris Vac-Sweep 280
3-Wheel Machine
The biggest difference between these two Vac-Sweeps, other than the need for a booster pump to run the 280, is how they’re designed. The Vac-Sweep 280 gets around on a set of three wheels instead of floating around. The weight of the unit keeps it steadily planted on your pool’s floors for maximum contact and cleaning performance.
Despite the 3-wheel system, it doesn’t fare too well at scaling walls. It can climb vertically up to a foot or so but then sinks to the bottom. Needless to say, waterline cleaning is out of the question.
Dual-Venturi Jet Vacuums
That’s not to say it doesn’t do an excellent job at cleaning pools. It uses two venturi jet vacuums to loosen debris from the floor of pools before vacuuming up all floating particles. The Vac-Sweep 280 has a sizable inlet throat that allows nearly all pool contaminants to flow freely into the device before settling in the debris collection bag.
Large Debris Bag
While we’re on the subject of the debris bag, we might as well inform you that it’s a lot larger than what you’d get with the Vac-Sweep 65. A larger bag translates into less maintenance, giving it the freedom to vacuum more with fewer interruptions.
Furthermore, unlike the 65’s bag, this one uses finely woven fibers to trap both small and large debris without leakage.
Tail Sweep PRO
The shining feature of the Vac-Sweep 280 is the Tail Sweep PRO. Attached to the rear end of the pool cleaner is a tail-like apparatus that shoots pressurized into edges and corners to loosen debris where its suction inlet can’t directly reach.
The effectiveness of this device relies entirely on the flow of water gushing through the 280’s system since it moves in a random pattern. The higher the waterflow rate, the quick the cleaner moves and the more it cleans.
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65 vs. 280: Which Polaris Vac-Sweep Should I Get?
After seeing what each pressure-side pool cleaner has to offer, it’s pretty fair to say that neither trumps the other. This is because they’re designed specifically for different jobs—the 65 for above-ground pools, the 280 for inground pools.
The great news it that they are both entirely reliable in their respective settings.
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Last Update: 2024-04-19 | Affiliate links/Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
