Waterway Plastics Offers Substitution For Polaris Booster Pump.
Our family has an in ground back yard pool with two pumps. One of for moving pool water through a filter so the water is made clean. The second motor moves pool water from the pool filter exhaust out to a pool sweep. This second pump is at a high enough force that it propels a pool sweep that picks up debris that might fall to the bottom of the pool. What this pool sweep picks up is deposited into a mesh bag that requires cleaning from time to time.
There are two different pumps and motor combinations that we have installed for the pool sweep. They are as follows:
- Polaris Halcyon Booster Pump (quiet version) Part #PB4-60Q
- Polaris Booster Pump (not quiet) Part # PB4-60
August 2017, the PB4-60Q began to make motor bearing noise and I had to replace that pump. It seemed that the PB4-60Q was not made any more and I could not find any in stock. I could find the PB4-60 but I really wanted a quiet unit. By chance, I found another booster pump made by another manufacturer. It is a Waterway Plastics 3810430-1PDA 38104301Pda 0.75 hp Universal Booster Pump. I purchased mine at Backyard Pool Superstore. The price was quite reasonable, $219.99. The Internet reviews were quite good.
I received it incredibly fast. It was packed perfectly. It came with all the hose accessories and teflon tape. I timed the process of removing the old pump and putting in this new one and roughly took one hour and a half. I must have spent at least 15 minutes of that time looking for my tools. I used a Sharkbite fitting for our cooper input line and I used our existing plastic hose for the output line with a union fitting which made the pump water line exchange go real fast. The motor comes wired for 220 Volts but we needed 120 Volts. Just a simple switch under the rear cover is all that is required to make this change. Wiring was way more easy than the A. O. Smith motors that come with the Polaris pumps. I think the noise from this motor may be slightly higher than the PB4=60Q. This motor was so cheap and new that I decided to add 3 years insurance.
You might get the impression that this motor is made in the USA because there is a sticker on the unit that makes this claim. It is designed and engineered in the USA. I called to confirm this and was told that actually it is manufactured in Mexico.
Caution: this motor runs really hot. I recommend you let it cool down before touching it.
As with any new product, time will tell if it lasts.