Suction or Pressure Side Pool Cleaner?

June 22, 2015

3 Minute Read

To answer that question it would be best to give a brief explanation of the difference between a pressure side pool cleaner and a suction side cleaner. A pressure cleaner uses the return water from a separate dedicated booster pump to propel the cleaner around the pool. A pressure cleaner has a bag on top of the cleaner and the pool’s debris is collected in the bag. A suction cleaner uses your main filtration pump to suck up debris which is then returned to your pump basket. To determine which cleaner is best for your pool let’s dig a little deeper.

Pressure Side Cleaners

Though I believe pressure side cleaners are the better of the two options not all pool’s are equipped with a booster pump or have room to add one. Most pressure cleaners require a dedicated booster pump be installed, so if your system was built with the plumbing for a pressure side cleaner then a pressure cleaner would be right for you. If your pool was not plumbed for a pressure cleaner then there is a special cleaner called the Polaris 360 which works off of the return water of your main pool pump. Unlike the name implies a pressure cleaner does not power blast your pool surface, the cleaner actually uses your pools return water to create a suction vortex to pull debris from the pool into a bag attached on top of the cleaner. As mentioned before the pressure side cleaner requires a dedicated booster pump to push water through the cleaner to create this jet stream. The pressure side cleaner is ideal for heavy debris because of its wide throat design. The large throat design allows for large clump of leaves, large acorns and twigs to be caught into the cleaner bag without fear of clogging.

Popular Pressure Side Cleaners: Polaris, Letro, Poolvergnuegen

Suction Cleaners

A suction cleaner uses your main filtration pump to suck up debris which is then returned to your pump basket. Suction cleaners are susceptible to issues of low flow, so if your filter is ¾ horsepower or lower I would suggest contacting the manufacturer to determine that your system meets the required cleaner flow rate.

A suction side cleaner is essentially a vacuum cleaner that runs off the suction power of your main pool pump. The cleaner’s hose is connected to either a dedicated suction line or directly to your skimmer. Suction cleaners are powered by a turbine which is spun by the force of pump’s suction. Suction cleaners are ideal for screened in pools or ones which mainly face sand and dirt with light leaf traffic.

Popular Suction Side Cleaners: Poolvergnuegen, Hayward, Baracuda

Conclusion

Our recommendation would be to go with a Pressure Side Pool Cleaner if you already are plumbed for this type of cleaner, get large debris or get low flow from your main filter pump. We suggest a suction side pool cleaner if you are not plumbed for a pressure cleaner, have a main filter pump above ¾ HP or do not get very heavy debris. If you have any questions on which type of pool cleaner is right for you we would be happy to help, just leave a comment below.

Matthew Simmons Technical Writer & Pool Product Expert

Swimming pool expert at InyoPools and host of Poolside Chat, brings over a decade of experience in the pool industry.

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42 responses to “Suction or Pressure Side Pool Cleaner?”

jo

November 16, 2017

Remove pop up system. Add 2 return lines to pool. New cleaner . Dedicated suction line for cleaner
How do I know which would be best with what someone is saying he can do for our pool. Its in bad shape.
17 years old. Hate the pop ups. They only move dirt around. Going from plaster to pebble tec . Also have 2 suctions in bottom. Small one clogged up within the first year. Had cleaned a couple times.

Reply
1. Matthew Simmons
  
  November 28, 2017
  
  Are you asking which suction cleaner to buy?
  
  Reply
Steph B

August 2, 2017

I have an older pool that doesn’t have a dedicated pressure cleaning line. How hard is it to add?

Reply
1. Matthew Simmons
  
  August 3, 2017
  
  The difficulty of the installation is dependant on your plumbing and its accessibility. The below snippet from the PB460 Owner’s Manual shows two possible configurations on how to tap your plumbing.
  
  Reply
Lovie

April 25, 2017

Your website has to be the elrocetnic Swiss army knife for this topic.

Reply
Amr Eid

December 1, 2016

hello , iam working on a project for the college and i have a question, what is the flow rate of the suction side vacuum cleaner ?? on what it depends ?

Reply
1. Matthew Simmons
  
  December 5, 2016
  
  The suction for the suction side cleaner is produced by the main pool pump; so the flow rate is dependent on the pump ‘s HP and feet of head. if you want to figure out the feet of head of a pump system, read this guide: How Do I Calculate Feet of Head for My Pool?.
  
  After you figure out the feet of head of your plumbing, then you can find the make, model , and HP of your pump and use its pump flow curve to figure out the flowrate, e.g.
  
  Reply
Mel

March 30, 2016

We previously have used a Polaris with a booster pump but that booster has gone out and we need a new Polaris. Would the 360, which says it does not need a booster pump, work? Would I have to completely block my other four jet returns?

Reply
coco

November 21, 2015

How does a booster pump work?
Thank You.

Reply
1. Matthew Simmons
  
  November 23, 2015
  
  A booster pump pushes water the same way your standard pool pump does, but instead of water flowing to your filter the booster pump’s flow is routed back to your pressure side pool cleaner. The water from the booster pump is then jetted through your cleaner, creating a venturi effect to whip up and capture debris on the pool floor.
  
  Reply
Kayla Robey

October 3, 2015

Hi Simmons,

Thanks for sharing this nice post. My own point of view, “Poolcleaner’s 896584000020 for Concrete Pool cleaner” is best pool cleaner everr. This is the second one I owned. First one worked for many years flawlessly. This new unit is simple and easy to install and works far better than units twice its price. Thank you…

Regards,
Kayla Robey

Reply
1. Matthew Simmons
  
  October 8, 2015
  
  Thanks Kayla!
  
  Reply
Fred Summers

August 5, 2015

I didn’t know that not all pools are equipped for pressure side cleaners. I will have to check what my pool has been plumbed for. It’s good to know that there are alternatives if it doesn’t have it. Thanks for sharing.

Reply
Patrick H.

July 8, 2015

Matthew,

One thing you didn’t mention about a suction side cleaner (I’ve had both suction and pressure side cleaners over the years) is that depending how it connects, a suction side cleaner may interfere with the skimmer’s normal function of collecting floating debris from the surface of the pool. As I recall, the suction side cleaner system I owned had a special valve that toggled back and forth between cleaner and skimmer functions. But that was an optional extra that didn’t come included with the basic unit.

Reply
1. Matthew Simmons
  
  July 9, 2015
  
  Good point, Patrick. There is a special skimmer vac plate made by Hayward that toggles between the cleaner and skimmer functions. It is Hayward part number W491R Large Skimmer Vac Plate.
  
  These vacuum plates are great because they prevent the user from installing and uninstalling the cleaner line. The back and forth of installation can take a toll on the cleaner, skimmer, and the user.
  
  Reply
Dan G.

July 4, 2015

I’ve been using a Polaris 360 pressure side pool cleaner for years and it works great. After a few years I modified my plumbing configuration so I could direct water after filtration to the 360 so it would no longer clog the little mesh cup at the junction of the 360’s hose to the pool wall. I don’t know why the original plumbers bypassed the filter for the pool cleaner but it caused that little tiny mesh filter to frequently clog. Fixed now! I also installed a valve and pressure gauge to allow me to precisely adjust the water flowing to the 360 for optimal operation.

For the main pump I installed a very efficient Pentair Intelliflo, which saves me huge amounts of money over the original Jandy Stealth pump.

Given how well this configuration works, I don’t know why professionals install suction side cleaners or the pressure side cleaners that require a booster pump. I get plenty of pressure with a portion of my return flow directed to the 360, and avoid the added electricity waste or cost of running a pressure side booster pump.

Reply
1. Matthew Simmons
  
  July 8, 2015
  
  Dan, nice work on upping your pool cleaner game; that is real ingenuity. Installers and homeowners usually prefer the traditional tried and true method of installation rather than modifying plumbing systems.
  
  Reply
  1. Young K
    
    April 19, 2020
    
    Matthew, Referencing Dan G. comments (July. 2015), I have 13000 gal pool with four return jets with two skimmers, but no dedicated pool cleaner line (pressure side). I have a 3 hp variable filter pump. is it possible to convert one of four return jets as a pressure side cleaner line taking water from the outlet of filter as Dan G had done? if this is workable, i don’t need a booster pump, which is my primary objective. Plan to use Polaris 280 or 380 cleaners. thx
    
    Reply
    1. Matthew Simmons
      
      April 21, 2020
      
      If you plan to use a return jet in place of a dedicated booster pump system; the Polaris or 360 is the best option. They are specifically made to run on the return jet.
      
      Reply