Solar cover left uncovered some?

[Clayswen]

I have a solar cover 8 mil light blue that is cut to my freeform pool, and I have been leaving it covered most of the week because we aren't swimming that much. The water has been getting about 90 degrees and I have my pump running all the time with the stenner keeping the FC levels perfect. I don't want to worry about the CC level getting high with it being covered all the time. Would it be better to leave a corner(like 10%) uncovered all the time to help with outgassing and let it breathe, or just take it off completely every 3 days or so? Water is perfect and don't want to mess it up.

 

[gtemkin]

I have a complete coverage cover and found that as long as I maintain my FC properly I see no CC rise from keeping the cover on all the time. I'm guessing if you're chorine level doesn't allow algae to gain a foothold and there's a minimal bather load, there's really very limited CC generation and therefore no need to be concerned with venting any decomposition. Others might know if that's a correct description.

 

[Clayswen]

I have a complete coverage cover and found that as long as I maintain my FC properly I see no CC rise from keeping the cover on all the time. I'm guessing if you're chorine level doesn't allow algae to gain a foothold and there's a minimal bather load, there's really very limited CC generation and therefore no need to be concerned with venting any decomposition. Others might know if that's a correct description.

I haven't had any trouble, but i got to reading some posts from the last few years that talked about raised CC levels and having to uncover to lower the level. Just curious if it can be avoided all together by leaving it partly uncovered with the water circulating.

 

[Crackerjack4u]

Hello it is my understanding that with any of the covers it is recommended that you do uncover it often to allow the pool to breath.

Here is really good link that has some good recommendations in it regarding the use of covers for long period of time, including raising your FC levels 1-2ppm above target to ensure algae doesn't grow, as the extend use of a cover can provide an excellent atmosphere for algae growth. http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/26012-So-a-pool-cover-does-cause-algae-after-all

I hope this helps. Have a nice night.

 

[gtemkin]

I guess the answer is, yes, if you're worried about CC elimination, it would be better to expose some portion of your pool rather than having it covered all the time, however I would check if that's really necessary for your pool. All pools are different and if you have minimal CC generation, you would be loosing heat without any benefit.

I don't know if the 0.5 ppm level, that is often stated as the maximum acceptable level for CCs, has any significant effect on the life of a cover. I suspect not, but that would be another possible reason to want to enhance CC elimination. I'm thinking that the 0.5 level was set, more as an early warning sign for algae growth, than having anything to do with harmful effects to equipment.

 

[Clayswen]

I put the cover on Sunday afternoon and left it on until last night. The water is staying about 85 at night and rising to about 91 during the daytime. I tested CC this morning and it isn't rising, but the CC talk with covers on all the time worried me. I left the sundeck uncovered today to see the difference in FC usage and temp.