Am I doing something wrong? I am in the north east where we get some periods of snow and freezing weather. I have always lowered the water level just below the skimmer and placed a rubber plug inside the return jet. As the cover get rain and snow on top it displaces the water in the pool out thru the skimmer which I leave open. By next season the pool level is about a foot lower than the bottom of the skimmer. Is this what everyone else is experiencing? I do leave the cover loose so it does not pull on the walls as it gets heavy. What about a skimmer block off? How does everyone here address this issue? I also have a valve out the bottom of the skimmer which is left open, have heard water in the skimmer will crack it as water freezes.
Covers where it freezes
- Thread starter Turbo1002
- Start date
- Jul 21, 2013
- 53,182
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
What type of pool do you have that we are discussing?
Please create your signature with details of your pool and equipment so we can better help you.
Please create your signature with details of your pool and equipment so we can better help you.
In general, you have to drain the cover whenever possible.
Have you been doing that?
Have you been doing that?
Plug the skimmer and have a smaller jug partially filled with pebbles in the skimmer, that will keep the skimmer from cracking and also not displace water when the cover get snow and rain. Keeping the cover lose somewhat will keep the pressure off the walls.
Cj it is hard to keep snow from pushing the cover down. Then it turns to ice. Keep the cover empty will turn in to a losing battle as the winter set in.
Wireform are you saying to plug the skimmer at the wall of the pool or the outlet of the skimmer?
Wireform are you saying to plug the skimmer at the wall of the pool or the outlet of the skimmer?
Plug the hole below the skimmer basket and leave the valve after it if there's one open. This way the water on the tarp will be supported by the pool water and it wouldn't get displaced by the tarp water if it has nowhere to go. Obviously if there's lots of precip early on you can pump some off leaving room for snow and what not.
Maybe start it off by adding water with a hose to keep it weighted down.
Im confused as to how "keep the cover as drained as possible" turned into intentionally add water to it.....
I siphon mine whenever I can and clear leaves off of it. I also have spent time removing snow from it when we had 28" in one storm.
I put just as much work into maintaining the pool during the winter as I do in the summer and every spring I pull the cover and don't even have to vacuum it and often don't even have to add chemicals for a week.
But how I do things may very well not work for others. I can only share what I do.
This was for the incase the cover needed some weight so not to turn it into a sail.....
I use the aquador. Great product.
I'm in the same general area as the OP
I put a plug in my return and a door on my skimmer. I leave my water level around 1/2 to 1/4 of the way up my skimmer.
I pull my filter and pump and leave my lines open to the atmosphere, therefore nothing is going to freeze because my skimmer basket drains. If you leave your skimmer line closed, you need to put some kind of freeze compensator in the skimmer basket. - A purpose made Gizmo, some old sections of pool noodle, a jug with some pebbles in it - anything that ice can crush instead of bursting your skimmer basket.
I fight the "keep the water, snow, and ice off the cover" battle every year. You just have to stay on top of it. Some years are better than others. Sometimes it snows, and then melts. Other times it snows, snows, snows, and then freezes solid. If it pushes my pool water up to the point where it flows over the top edge of my pool, so be it.
I do not have an issue with my cover not sitting on the water. I have a 27' pool, which is a bit of an oddball size. You can get liners in 27' (of course) but covers (winter and solar) usually not. They only come in even numbers, so I have to buy 28'. Therefor my winter cover has plenty of slack in it. I also never seem to have an issue with wind getting under it.
I put a plug in my return and a door on my skimmer. I leave my water level around 1/2 to 1/4 of the way up my skimmer.
I pull my filter and pump and leave my lines open to the atmosphere, therefore nothing is going to freeze because my skimmer basket drains. If you leave your skimmer line closed, you need to put some kind of freeze compensator in the skimmer basket. - A purpose made Gizmo, some old sections of pool noodle, a jug with some pebbles in it - anything that ice can crush instead of bursting your skimmer basket.
I fight the "keep the water, snow, and ice off the cover" battle every year. You just have to stay on top of it. Some years are better than others. Sometimes it snows, and then melts. Other times it snows, snows, snows, and then freezes solid. If it pushes my pool water up to the point where it flows over the top edge of my pool, so be it.
I do not have an issue with my cover not sitting on the water. I have a 27' pool, which is a bit of an oddball size. You can get liners in 27' (of course) but covers (winter and solar) usually not. They only come in even numbers, so I have to buy 28'. Therefor my winter cover has plenty of slack in it. I also never seem to have an issue with wind getting under it.
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