Solar blanket -- to trim or not to trim?

[aloneinca]

Hi All --

I have a kidney pool ~22'x40' . I bought a Space Age 12mm blanket 24 x 44 and it seems to do its job fine. However I need to cut it and install it on a reel. Hope you can help me with these questions:

1. Some people say to cut the blanket, some say don't. It is compelling to cut, looks nicer and no need to put weights but my main concerns against are debris and wind. In all relevant YouTube videos they do cut it. They also advise to cut around the skimmer so you can hose off the debris right into the skimmer. The blanket manufacturer recommends cutting the blanket so it will stick on the water and won't be moved by the wind. I can hardly imagine why. Wondering if anybody can confirm this claim?
2. The reel manufacturer (Hydrotools) recommends for irregular shape pools to put the reel at the widest part of the pool, not at the end. Does anybody know why?

Thanks very much,
-- Alex

 

[Casey]

Re: Solar blanket -- to cut or not to cut?

Hey there aloneinca! Welcome to TFP!!!

I have an above ground pool with a solar blanket and I cut that bad boy up into 4 pieces because it is so big and the smaller pieces are more manageable for me to put on and off myself. I don't have a reel at the moment but want one. I can't answer all your questions but someone here can. Hope you enjoy the forum!

 

[pwrstrk]

Re: Solar blanket -- to cut or not to cut?

Welcome to TFP !
I cut my cover as well. It's more user friendly now ! ?

 

[JohnT]

Re: Solar blanket -- to cut or not to cut?

The cover will stay on the pool much better if it is 100% in contact with the surface of the water. Wind can't easily lift the cover.

Putting the roller at the widest part is required to get the whole cover to roll up properly. If you hook to a narrower section the wider part won't come onto the roller flat and you'll get a wad of cover instead of a roll.

 

[blbncsu]

Last year I trimmed my solar cover to fit the pool as one large piece. No issues but boy was that a hassle and tough to remove and store.
Now this year with adding a heat pump to the pool went ahead and cut into 3 more manageable sections I can now quickly just roll up, put a bungee cord around each section and store them neatly on the deck. Then at night in 10min just put them back into the pool.

So far no issues with it being cut up and its doing its job.

 

[wmorge]

HI!.. My question is not really related to cutting.. but how effective they are? I want to purchase one but do they really work? Thanks.

 

[pwrstrk]

HI!.. My question is not really related to cutting.. but how effective they are? I want to purchase one but do they really work? Thanks.

Yes they are effective. They are effective at retaining the heat you would lose over night due to evaporation. They won't really heat the water all that much, but without one you could lose all the heat you gained during the day at night.

 

[Casey]

I agree with pwrstrk. I had my pump off all day today to absorb the sun's rays and wanted to cover it but got home to late to mess with it. I'll cover it tomorrow evening.

 

[aloneinca]

In my case the 12mm "Space Age" blanket makes the water ~10 degrees F warmer than without one which makes it very useful here. I agree with @pwrstrk that this could be mainly due to better retaining the heat at night.

HI!.. My question is not really related to cutting.. but how effective they are? I want to purchase one but do they really work? Thanks.

 

[aloneinca]

Re: Solar blanket -- to cut or not to cut?

Thanks, @JohnT I will trim it then.

The cover will stay on the pool much better if it is 100% in contact with the surface of the water. Wind can't easily lift the cover.

Putting the roller at the widest part is required to get the whole cover to roll up properly. If you hook to a narrower section the wider part won't come onto the roller flat and you'll get a wad of cover instead of a roll.