DIY Solar Cover Roller

[layla2052]

Yesterday, I made my rollers out of 1" PVC, couple of caps, couple of elbows and clear cable ties. Works perfectly. I am going to use large garage hooks attached to the backside of my deck fence for storage of the cover when on the rollers. They will also rest there thru the winter as I plan to cover them with plastic sheeting for weatherizing.

 

[bbrock]

Yo Mark, how's it going?

So I took off the solar covers today to store them for the winter. I sprayed them down while on the pool with a hose. At least that got the top side. Bought some 2 or 3 mil (can't remember) black tarp/sheeting from Home Depot to roll them in.

Questions: do you just roll yours up how you normally would when you're uncovering the pool and put them along your fence? Do you wrap them? Or do roll them up another way so that you can unroll them and spray off both sides? Don't they get mildewy come next spring/summer?

Overall they worked great this summer. Really helped to decrease the amount of times I needed to top off the pool. Held up well except just one end where it tore away from my clamp. Still can roll it though. Will put on another clamp if necessary/gets worse.

Still can roll it though. Thanks again for having shared this idea.

 

[mas985]

I just roll them up as normal and then cover with a tarp. I don't bother rinsing them off and no they don't get mildewed.

 

[bbrock]

Thank Mark!

I got an inexpensive 3 mil poly sheet from HD (about $9 or $10), rolled them both up in there, and then threw some bungee cords around it. Looks like I am storing some corpses on the side of my house

Let's see how it this black poly cover holds up over a couple of years, but should be good enough.

 

[changeyez]

mas985 - I plan to build this this week. Did you put caps on the end of the pipe to keep water out of it?

 

[mas985]

No because the cover connections penetrate the pipe which will allow water in and when you pull out the rolled up cover, you want that water to drain out so it is best to leave it open. The pipe is foam core so it floats anyway.

 

[bbrock]

2nd season using ur solar rollar idea, and so far so good. On one of my rollers, the cover is slightly torn I think just from age and the stress of rolling/unrolling, but overall holding up well.

Mark, how many seasons do u avg getting before having to replace the cover? Funny, I had used marine grade stainless steel screws, but it appears a little rust may be developing on a couple of them.

 

[ashmoussa]

Where are you guys getting the pipes with foam from (HD, Lowes, etc)?? What do I look for (specific name/type or brand)?
Thx ...

 

[mas985]

I get about 2 years of usage out of the cover no matter what the thickness.

The pipe is abs foam core pipe but it isn't filled with foam. The walls of the the pipe are foam core which is enough to get them to float.

And yes HD or lowes has it.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

DWV PVC ABS pipe, 10ft sections can be found locally at my Lowes for ~$9 per 10ft length. If you need a length longer than 10-ft, just buy some couplings and some PVC glue to make whatever length you need. Automotive press clips can be found at my local ACE Hardware. I'm about to deploy my solar cover and use this technique next week.

 

[mas985]

Dwv pvc doesn't float. You need abs foam core.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Dwv pvc doesn't float. You need abs foam core.

Edited. Sorry, I meant ABS, not PVC. The stuff at my local Lowes is ABS DWV pipe, it's black and it has a foam core, not solid.

 

[atttech-2]

I built one a couple months back only thing I did different was I used stainless steal screws like Bbrock, instead of the automotive clips. My local hardware store had the clips but they were a bit pricy for my liking. I figure I can just change the screws when the cover wears out.

 

[ashmoussa]

Is this the stuff???

 

[bbrock]

When I made my last year, neither Home Depot or Lowes had the foamcore. I was able to find it at my local Orchard supply hardware (OSH).

 

[atttech-2]

Is this the stuff???

Yup that's the stuff I used 1.5" was around $6 for each 10 ft section. looks like layla2052 used 1" with good results.

 

[bbrock]

HD and Lowes had that at the time I built last yr, but I returned it b/c I didn't think/know until now that the Charlotte was the same as foam core. The foam core I got at OSH was specifically imprinted "foam core" on its sidewall.

 

[mas985]

ABS comes in both types and foam core or cellular core should be printed on the pipe. But you can test it really easy by putting it in the pool before attaching the cover and seeing if it floats by itself.

HD lists it as foam core:

Charlotte Pipe 1-1/2 in. x 10 ft. DWV Sch. 40 Foam Core Pipe-ABS031120600HD - The Home Depot

 

[pabeader]

This item is not available in any stores within 100 miles of 30157.

 

[bbrock]

Yeah, that's what HD & Lowes had. I didn't look at the description online to see if it was foam core, I just went off the fact that it was not printed on the side. The brand that I had purchased at OSH did have it labeled foam core on the side.