
Suction-side pool cleaners are the inverse of pressure-side models. They attach to the suction-side of your pump, so they use the suction provided by that pump to pick up debris and move around your pool. The debris passes through the suction-side pool cleaner, to the hose that connects it to the suction port. The water is then passed through to the pump, where it’s caught in the filter basket. That means you should empty your pump’s filter basket after each cleaning cycle.
Like pressure-side models, suction-side models put more stress on your pump and cause it to use more electricity. That means their cost of operation can be very high.
However, these tend to be the lowest-priced models. If you need a high-quality cleaning device, but don’t want to break the bank, this is the category to examine first.
Depending on what kind of pool you have, setting up this model can potentially be tricky. Many pools have a dedicated suction cleaner line, which makes installation fast. Others don’t, so you may have to spend some time working with the pipes around your filter basket to get these cleaners to work.
However, suction-side models are less sensitive to water pressure and can run on lower pressures than pressure-side models, and they never require booster pumps.
Source from https://www.blackplanet.com/bestpoolcleaner/message/20849277