I have not had a winter cover last longer than a week. I had a cover that came with the pool made by Midwest canvas that lasted less than a day on the first cover and the second lasted 2 days and then the manf. just started ignoring our calls so I went with a next size larger arctic armor and it lasted a week. We have tried the cling wrap and the wind pulled it off in hours, we have 36 water bags and the cover parachuted so bad it threw them of and split down the seam about 5 feet so now the cover doesn't parachute anymore because air can escape. I have never had these kinds of problems with a cover and the winds are not that strong maybe 30 mph gusts. Would there be any issue with putting a leaf cover over the top and leave it there the instructions say it has to come off before the first snow? Can anybody recommend a good patch kit to patch this rip I have to get me through the winter this year and I will be better prepared next winter. I know the problem is the way the pool frame is designed so I can't get a good airtight seal to keep the wind out but I will also work on that for next year. Thanks

can you post a picture of your pool, maybe I can give you an idea to help the cover last longer

You could just not use a winter cover at all. If leaves are an issue, you could put a leaf cover on until the trees are pretty much empty, then take it off before it snows.

I have thought about that also what do I have to do differently to prevent algae growth if I dont have a cover installed? I have had such a problem with this Familypoolfun.com has been such a pain and no help. I have a leaf net coming and will install it asap.

How cold does the water get in the winter? If you were to cover it, how would you prepare the water for winter? In other words, what do you do now when you winterize?

I just use a winterize kit for 30000 gal the winters here see temps down to 10-20 below zero but not for extended periods mostly 10-40 deg. above zero. I am mostly worried about algae blooming in the spring.

With an AGP, the cover should be resting on the water's surface, not pulled tight like a safety cover over an in ground pool.

Scott

Here are a couple pics I don't know they will tell you what you want to know or not. Thanks for trying to help.

Your pool looks pretty normal, Did your cover have grommets on it? If so did you make sure it was laced the right way? I'm kinda surprised the cling wrap came off. If wind is the problem then you might need a mesh cover that can let the wind pass through it or maybe instead of cling wrap you can use shrink wrap material for an airtight seal.

Again is there any reason I can't leave the leaf net on there to hold the cover down instead of pulling it off before the first snow?

Nope, I have a customer with an in ground that always leaves it on. It usually ends up sagging over the winter and letting the leaves get soggy which negates the usefulness of the net. It's not going to do anything bad to the pool other than maybe make it a tad harder to get the net off in the spring.

Ok thanks I suspect there won't be many leaves on it as the trees are all on the south side of the pool and the wind now is primarily out of the north so all it will be doing is holding the cover down

Winterizing the water in my uncovered AGP:
* Adjust TA to 80 so I have a good buffer
* Adjust pH to 7.8 because it will drop over winter
* Adjust FC to 18

Once it's fully thawed in the spring and before it gets to 50 F I pour in a gallon of bleach and mix it up by brushing the bottom. That holds it, algae free, until we plug the pump back in and open the pool for the season.

I get some leaves and debris over winter but I've never had dirty water on opening the pool – except that one year when we did use a cover and filthy water drained into the pool in spring. Not doing that again.

Thanks I think we will probably go that route once we find out the leaf situation and the winter cover wears out.

Thanks for all the help I got the deck modified so I got the cover down on all sides the leaf net showed up and we got that on and all appears to be good. The distributor for the cover is sending us a new cover so all is good on that front. Later today the wind is supposed to gust to 30 so we will see how that goes. I think when the covers wear out I will go with just a leaf net and lots of bleach.

I'm thinking about installing a automatic pool cover for my ABG. This group has some that look like they would help with the whole winter pool cover stress. For the past 2 years we have had a nightmare of time with our winter covers. This automatic cover can actually be over the pool when not in use and then be retracted when the pool is in use. For winterizing the pool, drain all lines plug the return and should be good. www.powertrakcovers.com Great to work with and I hope you guys can add to my decision.

Thanks