Ok, this isn’t exactly Visual Basic related, but sometimes, I like reading about other little bits and pieces of topics and maybe you do to.

I live in Texas. It’s hot and flat, and so, like a lot of other people around here, we have a pool in the backyard. (No that’s not my pool in the pic, though I certainly wouldn’t mind!).

Anyway, I’d been cleaning it with the tried and true vacuum head on the end of a pole for about 9 years now, and, well, that had started to get old.

I’d done some researching on pool cleaners about 2 years ago and had even sprung for one of those Dolphin robotic cleaners.

However, after discovering that the motor, control unit, pump and pretty much the whole thing is sealed up as one unit, and the maintenance essentially means buying an entire new unit if it breaks, I’d ended up returning it, and going back to my pole mounted vacuum.

Then, about six months ago, I came across a really good deal locally on a refurbed Polaris 360. I picked it up, but it sat for about 6 months while I figured out what to do about a booster pump to drive it.

That opportunity came about 2 months ago, and, using just a few PVC connectors, plus some fiberglass reinforced flexible hosing, I had it plumbed-in and running in a weekend.

Awesome!

These things work really well, are pretty cheap to rebuild and maintain (they do have parts that wear, but pretty much anything mechanical will), and aren’t terribly expensive to run.

But, one thing I ran into pretty quickly was tail spray. Polaris’s have a “sweep tail” that wags back and forth, stirring up dirt on the pool bottom and sides so it is drawn more quickly into the main pool filter.

The problem is that when the thing gets close to the surface, that tail will spray water everywhere, including onto your grill and hamburgers, in your face, all over your windows…. you get the point.

After some searching, I stumbled across an attachment specifically to deal with this, the Polaris Sweep Pro:

(It’s actually just that blue clip thing with the sponge on it at the end in the picture)

You can find then online for 19$, so they’re not cheap (even though it’s basically just foam and a piece of plastic).

But, surprisingly enough, it works great and completely prevents your backyard from becoming a big game of “dodge the squirt gun”.