help! snow damaged safty cover what to do now?

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J

jenck

Active member
May 28, 2021
29
Southwestern Ontario
Pool Size
20000
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
yesterday's snow storm piled lots snow on the pool and today when we tried to remove some snow , the safety cover was damaged and broken. not sure what to do now? new owner.
do l cover it with tarp or leave it as is or still need to remove the snow as many as possible?
thanks for any any help.

update: the water about 3 feet below the deck. Not sure how old is the cover, maybe more than 10 years? this is from the previous owner. The cover broken on the strip for now, other part is covered by snow so not sure about the damage. The strips broken while we tried to remove the snow on the desk first, seems made the wrong decision. but not sure how we can clean the middle one first before clean the snow at the side. I am able to upload the images, one for the damaged cover and the other was how it looks like this morning before we shovel the snow.
I understand the cover will need replaced but want to know what I need to do to protect the pool. The next weekend Dec 30/31 will be warm weather like 11-10 c high to 5c low, so I guess snow will melt and we plan to visit family for 2 week start from tomorrow. I want to know what need to do before leave the home. Thanks a lotsfaty cover broken 2022.jpgsnow covered pool 2022.jpg
 
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What is the extent of the cover damage?

Post pics showing us what your situation is.

Chances are what you do does not matter. The cover will need to be replaced.
 
ajw22 said:
What is the extent of the cover damage?

Post pics showing us what your situation is.

Chances are what you do does not matter. The cover will need to be replaced.
Click to expand...
thanks a lot, please see the update. I understand the cover need replaced but not sure if I need to anything for the pool, or just leave it as is?
 
l think l did the steps that needed. read the article before and asked questions. do the slam process first, blowed out the water from the pipes, added antifreeze into the slimmer to fill it and inserted a empty practice bottle too. blowed out water for the return pipes too and drained the water from the sand filter and the gas heater etc.
 
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jenck said:
l think l did the steps that needed. read the article before and asked questions. do the slam process first, blowed out the water from the pipes, added antifreeze into the slimmer to fill it and inserted a empty practice bottle too. blowed out water for the return pipes too and drained the water from the sand filter and the gas heater etc.
Click to expand...

Then you should be good. Ignore your pool until the Spring thaw.
 
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If you winterized the pool as per you say you did hopefully you did a fine job and it was necessary to drain down the water below the returns to achieve that. The winter safety covers are designed to span the empty pool due to their inherent design. You shouldn't be worried about the snow load as that's the purpose of the hardware connected to the straps and strength of materials used. Obviously your cover was already compromised by age and may have survived had the snow not been tampered with. For now it would be best to leave it alone and not mess with it any further due to the ice on the water surface which can cut your liner if human interaction causes it to bump around.
 
wireform said:
If you winterized the pool as per you say you did hopefully you did a fine job and it was necessary to drain down the water below the returns to achieve that. The winter safety covers are designed to span the empty pool due to their inherent design. You shouldn't be worried about the snow load as that's the purpose of the hardware connected to the straps and strength of materials used. Obviously your cover was already compromised by age and may have survived had the snow not been tampered with. For now it would be best to leave it alone and not mess with it any further due to the ice on the water surface which can cut your liner if human interaction causes it to bump around.
Click to expand...
My instructions specifically stated not to go more than 18" below the coping for best life.
 
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wireform said:
The winter safety covers are designed to span the empty pool due to their inherent design. You shouldn't be worried about the snow load as that's the purpose of the hardware connected to the straps and strength of materials used.
Click to expand...
Returns can be blown out without lowering the water below the returns.

If the water has to be lowered below the returns for winterizing, the returns should be plugged and the water brought back to the level as specified by the cover manufacturer.

As far as I know all safety cover and automatic cover manufacturers require that the water level be maintained to help support the weight of any snow or water.

Do you know of any manufacturers that says that it is OK to leave a safety cover unsupported?
1671986350739.png

 
Reduce the load – Meyco covers are very sturdy, however in cases of extreme snow load keeping the water level within 18” of the top of the pool is very important to reduce the stress on the cover and protect it from damage.

meycocovers.com

Winter Care & Storage

Proper pool cover maintenance and care help to ensure the best performance from your Meyco cover.
meycocovers.com meycocovers.com
Click to expand...

Water level must be within 12" of the cover during the snow season to help support the weight.

Failure to do so will void the warranty

Click to expand...

1671992215601.png
 
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l didn't drain the water below returns. l think the cover broken because we tried to remove the snow and started to remove snow at the edge first so all the weight go towards the middle of the cover and teared the stripe. it was not broken when we start that morning. if we leave it as is it might be survive or may not . we are new to this and this is the second winter so not sure normally how low the water goes. how do we check the water level when it is covered?
 
I missed to say regarding the winter covers: when the pool is winterized early enough like here in the northeast just below the returns there is still plenty of precip in the liquid form to bring the water level up to the covers specifications. I never meant to say the cover should support the snow mid air. There are years that we pull back a corner and remove some water if there's a winter thaw in the event of lots of precip so the water doesn't creap up to the liner bead.
 

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