Solar cover on all night and most of the day - any issue with that?

[Ticojpunk]

My intention is to cover the pool every night with the solar blanket so keep heat in and then take it off in the morning. On the weekend, it's easy to get that cover off in the morning.

During the workweek though (I'm a teacher so in a few weeks it won't be an issue), it's a little too tough to get up, get ready for work, get the kids up, make them lunch, drive them to school and get to work, and ALSO get that pool cover off. It's a manual walk-in-there-and-roll-it-up kinda thing. So I've been leaving it covered until I get home from work, then I uncover it from about 4:30pm to 8:00pm when I cover it again for the night. Any harm in covering it so much, or should I not worry about it?

 

[SecoSteve]

Shouldn't be an issue, but make sure your Chlorine level is high enough. When I had a solar cover years ago, I left my cover on for too long(like maybe a week straight), and started to get some algae. I think the long time covered and water not really moving, along with low Chlorine level contributed to the algae. You may also want to brush when you have some time.

 

[Ticojpunk]

Shouldn't be an issue, but make sure your Chlorine level is high enough. When I had a solar cover years ago, I left my cover on for too long(like maybe a week straight), and started to get some algae. I think the long time covered and water not really moving, along with low Chlorine level contributed to the algae. You may also want to brush when you have some time.

I tend to brush the entire pool a couple times a week, sometimes a little more. I actually enjoy that part of things.
I'm keeping my FC in the suggested range relative to my CYA level so hopefully that's all I need to keep Algae from springing up.

 

[SJPoe]

I have a solar cover on pretty much anytime we're not actively using the pool.

I maintain my FC toward the top of the suggested range and I have yet to have any issues with algae or similar.

 

[Ticojpunk]

I have a solar cover on pretty much anytime we're not actively using the pool.

I maintain my FC toward the top of the suggested range and I have yet to have any issues with algae or similar.

Awesome. Thanks for sharing your experience. I won't worry too much about it then, and I'll just keep on keepin' on. (Keepin' the cover on that is).

 

[CeltiaK]

I leave my solar cover on continuously unless we're swimming. During pollen season, as part of my weekly maintenance, I do manually clean the cover as I take it off - maybe 2-3 times total in May/June, and maybe once more in July (swim season is essentially over for us by mid-August - no heater). I bring the hose sprayer over and blast off the pollen, clean under the edges, and wipe my hand over any spots that have slime or heavy buildup (the slime/buildup, is on the outer surface, NOT the side touching the water!). We fan-fold the cover so dirty side touches dirty side, clean touches clean - I would not use a winder system with our pollen-y mess of a solar cover!

If I take the cover off all day:
1. It better be a zero-breeze kind of day, because evaporative losses often drop my water temp more than solar energy can increase the temp. Our pool is primarily in shade.
2. I need to run 100% on my skimmer to collect all the dirt, pollen, bugs, and tree parts that continuously land on my pool. We're surrounded by farms and fields and our air is generally loaded with black farm dust and pollen from wildflowers (even after the spring pollen-dump is over). If the wind is going the wrong way, the skimmer doesn't function properly, and that's a no-go for unneccesarily removing the cover.

So, to keep the pool as clean as possible, I keep it covered and skim it as soon as we get in, vacuum once a week, and basically enjoy how awesome it is. I test every day or two at the beginning of the season, and that falls off as the season progresses. The water tends to be perfect, smells great, and doesn't seem to suffer from lack of "breathing" - CCs do not build (I usually have zero). We have left it for a week or more on vacation, and it's always fine when we get home... unless a thunderstorm knocked out the power and SWG stopped running.

My only regret is that I can't see my pretty, sparkly TFP water. And it is spectacular!

 

[Ticojpunk]

I leave my solar cover on continuously unless we're swimming. During pollen season, as part of my weekly maintenance, I do manually clean the cover as I take it off - maybe 2-3 times total in May/June, and maybe once more in July (swim season is essentially over for us by mid-August - no heater). I bring the hose sprayer over and blast off the pollen, clean under the edges, and wipe my hand over any spots that have slime or heavy buildup (the slime/buildup, is on the outer surface, NOT the side touching the water!). We fan-fold the cover so dirty side touches dirty side, clean touches clean - I would not use a winder system with our pollen-y mess of a solar cover!

If I take the cover off all day:
1. It better be a zero-breeze kind of day, because evaporative losses often drop my water temp more than solar energy can increase the temp. Our pool is primarily in shade.
2. I need to run 100% on my skimmer to collect all the dirt, pollen, bugs, and tree parts that continuously land on my pool. We're surrounded by farms and fields and our air is generally loaded with black farm dust and pollen from wildflowers (even after the spring pollen-dump is over). If the wind is going the wrong way, the skimmer doesn't function properly, and that's a no-go for unneccesarily removing the cover.

So, to keep the pool as clean as possible, I keep it covered and skim it as soon as we get in, vacuum once a week, and basically enjoy how awesome it is. I test every day or two at the beginning of the season, and that falls off as the season progresses. The water tends to be perfect, smells great, and doesn't seem to suffer from lack of "breathing" - CCs do not build (I usually have zero). We have left it for a week or more on vacation, and it's always fine when we get home... unless a thunderstorm knocked out the power and SWG stopped running.

My only regret is that I can't see my pretty, sparkly TFP water. And it is spectacular!

Thanks for that! I am primarily in the shade as well from 12-2 I get some direct sun. It shifts as the season progresses, but it's definitely limited. I run an electric heat pump, so for me, keeping the cover on is essential to keeping that heat in there that I'm paying for. lol.

I need to start coming up with an effective way to clean my cover too. I gotta remove it myself. Two young kids and my wife has injuries and cannot help. It's a 21' pool and cover, so manageable, but I definitely roll it up, roughly, because that's sort of my only option. I get some slimey junk on top too.