Anyone Have a Winter Pool Dome - Ameridome or Others?

[Swampwoman]

"Summer" in the dome today

- 92 degrees air temps at 10 am, 95 degree water...if this keeps up, I may try to schedule the removal shenanigans well before May 15 when thunder dome was originally slated to retire to her new home:



New Home:

 

[kimkats]

Have you sealed up every tiny little hole? I would think about caulking along every joint to help keep critters and insects out.

Kim

 

[pooldv]

Wow, look at that pic! Very nice dome! I might need to see if I can talk my wife into one of those for winter.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I say keep it up as long as you can stand it. Is your pool cold or warm in the summer?

You can turn your outdoor pool into an indoor pool and see how low you can drive the SWG and FC. Also, reduced evaporation should keep your water exchange low.


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[drway]

Hi there. Thanks @swampwoman for your detailed "Starlog" of your experience. We've had an Ameridome vinyl dome for a bit over two years now, and we just opened the pool last weekend, and today dragged the dome out of the storage box to set it up for the season and to fire up the heat pump.

These Ameridomes are good but heavy and incredibly unwieldy to put back into a box. I followed the seller's instructions to build a storage box but that's way too small. The problem is that it is incredibly hard to fold the dome back up the way it came.

There was an earlier post about storing the vinyl dome in a chlorinated bath of sorts -- if I had a container big enough to do this I'd think about it, since the outside of the dome and the part that touches the ground especially gets dirty (even after cleaning it off to put away for the winter).

I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has had success storing their dome more effectively.


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[Swampwoman]

Dryway, I'm not looking forward to the storage part at all but I can tell you I searched far and wide for a big enough container to store it wet...but I was feeling too price adverse and also a bit concerned that if I didn't store it to mfg spec I'd void the warranty.

There ARE some bear proof, high density plastic 2 yard trash dumpsters I think would work, but with shipping I'd be well over a grand. I'm not ruling it out for the future though. But I already knew I'd be paying help so I wanted to control the cost a bit this year.

So for this season I'm going dry and have 4 people lined up to help so I can get a good fold....one of them has worked with liners back n the day - the same team unfolded it in a jiff on installation though I'm sure it will be jenga magic to get it back to that condition . We're also going to experiment if the weather cooperates with soft washing done inside and out using the gentle setting on my power washer, letting exterior air dry, but also trapping over the pool water and seeing if on a warm day the blower will dry the inside out. eg today, there is NO moisture on the inside walls due to 95 degrees inside

Then we're going to deflate and try the accordion folding right in situ (with the tarp still achored tight across the pool) pop it onto the dolly, wrestle it into the bag, cart the bag to the shed and then (as Kim suggested) seal up the shed.

But I'm sure it won't go nearly as straightforward as it sounds Frankly, I'm dreading it, and have frends lobbying to just keep it up But I love the one air and yard in season and my big ancient azalea is already staring to bloom and I can't even watch it

 

[Swampwoman]

^^Dryway, I wrote the mfg re our question but so far just crickets

In other news, phase 1 of installing modified Rocky Solar reel is complete.

After 6 mos daily use, I not only tore much of my DIY roller connections from the force of rolling in the pool on a line, the constant pressure of my foot sliding on the slant caused a wrinkle to develop in my new liner ;( -- 95 temps and forceful sliding.... So I decided to bite the bullet and experiment with the super-strong Rocky's soar reel despite my irregular footprint in grecian pool.

With their help (awesome customer service) we devised a "swing arm" concept using a marine swivel plate and other mods they suggested.

Rollout will be perpendicular to the pool, storage mode parallel. We may also instead try fold n roll if the swinging causes future problems, but this way I can convert between seasons (in dome and out) swapping my existing cover and new cover.

Here are a few pics:

The swivel plate turns 360...protecting it with marine lube and rust inhibitor etc...we'll see how the bearings hold up.

The red pins are dropped into tubing to secure in roll mode when bar is perpendicular to pool.

Next weekend I intend to get cover attached, cap exposed bolts, etc.

I'll let y'all know if this proves sustainably viable

 

[n240sxguy]

^^Dryway, I wrote the mfg re our question but so far just crickets

In other news, phase 1 of installing modified Rocky Solar reel is complete.

After 6 mos daily use, I not only tore much of my DIY roller connections from the force of rolling in the pool on a line, the constant pressure of my foot sliding on the slant caused a wrinkle to develop in my new liner ;( -- 95 temps and forceful sliding.... So I decided to bite the bullet and experiment with the super-strong Rocky's soar reel despite my irregular footprint in grecian pool.

With their help (awesome customer service) we devised a "swing arm" concept using a marine swivel plate and other mods they suggested.

Rollout will be perpendicular to the pool, storage mode parallel. We may also instead try fold n roll if the swinging causes future problems, but this way I can convert between seasons (in dome and out) swapping my existing cover and new cover.

Here are a few pics:

The swivel plate turns 360...protecting it with marine lube and rust inhibitor etc...we'll see how the bearings hold up.

The red pins are dropped into tubing to secure in roll mode when bar is perpendicular to pool.

Next weekend I intend to get cover attached, cap exposed bolts, etc.

I'll let y'all know if this proves sustainably viable

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That's a pretty slick idea! If I have to use a solar cover once I get my solar panels installed I may borrow that idea. I never though of having a cover roller that could pivot. The big roller racks is half the reason I've always steered clear of a solar cover.

 

[Swampwoman]

^ @n240sxguy ...Hold that thought on the pivoting swing arm...dependent on your footprint.

I am about to abandon and reconfigure

Here's why: I'm afraid in a year I'll shear the main crank bold if I use it daily because its almost impossible to keep it level on swing. I've tried all kinds of things, but being a roller that, well, rolls, when I strap it and walk it I find it hard to control. So then I rigged up yoga blocks to ferry it. They capsize. So then I used an inflatable cooler to ferry it...weight still submerges it too much to keep level.

I could try something taller, but there's a second flaw in the "across irregular/grecian" pool plan that has me about to move on: the short end of the solar cover.

By attrition, it rolls bubble-to-bubble side and ergo, with catty cut corners, is darned near impossible to unroll/separate without getting into the water. I bought more plastic grommets and attached foam strips on the end but did not get reliably reproducable ease.

So for "open season" aka summer, I will instead reattach cover in side roll configuration, folding in the two irregular ends using rope on my end grommets and see if that's simpler. Awaiting a new strap kit now

For winter dome use, where its just me most of the time, I will use the cross-pool configuration because it unrolls beautifully IN WATER, and in winter, I will never leave it open and ergo can always close in pool.

So I'm still using that marine swivel and pin concept to re-orient the reel by season, but am pretty sure the daily stress on the swing arm makes the lateral position less than ideal.

With that said, I'm "designing" this to be a 1-person-with-arthritis operation and with max convenience and speed in mind. So ymmv. The Rocky real itself is awesome on ths front! So no regrets, but as usual, unintended consequences/considerations

 

[n240sxguy]

It wouldn't work with your dome, but it would be cool to have a reel that raised up like a railroad crossing guard.

 

[Swampwoman]

Starlog: Operation Dome Down Has Commenced

Yesterday, after it hit 101.8 degrees inside the dome, I realized if I miss this patch of sunny, warm, rain free days this week, I may have trouble getting "open" before guests arrive June 3rd.

So the madcap plan for operation dome-down has begun.

Mfg instructions say to use a 20% chlorine solution on exterior with garden hose and attachment - to get rid of oxidization and keep vinyl supple. We used soft car wash mitts on the sides instead, and used the gentle setting on powerwasher...whch at 11' in center, still required a ladder. Happily, I remembered not to let the hot exhaust of the PW get anywhere near the dome

On the terrace side, I got to do powerwashing tai chi balanced on the slipper retaining wall edge...

So we survived that...but our attempts to clean "under the skirt" blew ancient yucky leaves all over the clean pool cover inside. So then we cleaned up the interior. I'm now about to go in and use chlorine solution with mop on underside of apron that's against the ground.

We're then going to spread out a 50x30 waterproof tarp inside to cover pool cover, reel and diving board to help inside area dry real well on hot day...later, when we disconnect the tethers, we'll pull the excess footage of tarp out to have created a clean surface as the dome deflates. We don't have anywhere with enough concrete to lay it out to dry on the bottom, which is why we're trying the tarp-dry-in-place approach.

After work, staff is staying to help us attempt an accordion fold, using two long PVC poles across the pool. We also intend to use baking soda or talc to help prevent the vinyl from sticking to itself and dry out any minor moisture missed.

Wish me luck!

 

[kimkats]

MUCH luck and maybe some pics????????

 

[pabeader]

Always the Best of Luck!! Fingers and Eyes crossed!

 

[Swampwoman]

Okay, so cleaning the underside of the apron was delightful on a couple of fronts...te mop wouldn't get it so I had to hand scrub with the car wash mitt....and of course lifting the apron kept breaking the seal so the dome was sort of sinking throughout..,

But I did get it clean






I also unhooked the hoses to the air warmer and the quick disconnect broke off in my hand from corrosion...next year I'm skipping brass in favor of PVC only.

 

[Swampwoman]

Okay...operation dome-down complete...just in time for a slew of maple keys to inundate the open pool

First off, we did NOT accordion fold. There was just no way that was going to work given our other variances from mfg instruction, namely drying in place and placing a clean tarp beneath. Also, we realized there was no need: the point of accordion folding was to keep dry side to dry sdr, wet to wet, because the mfg assumes you're floating it to get it off the pool and lay elsewhere. Our underside was completely dry.

Here's what we did:

- Used leaf blower outside perimeter to dry under apron, then inside to dry apron flap
- Then placed a clean 50'x30' tarp over pool and cover inside dome, sliding edges out between the tethers to secure
- the inside and outside we're completely dry, so we deflated
- Then we "floured" it up like pie crust dough -- using baking soda as a desiccant and to prevent vinyl from sticking to itself. We used a duster and several boxes of baking soda
- Then we walked the first fold end-to-end and continued until we had the narrowest strip possible and rolled that sucker up, placed in bag. Not quite as easy as it sounds, as it is super heavy ... Kind of like drunk sump wrestling
- Strapped that puppy to an appliance dolly and hauled it off to the shed.
- Unscrewed the anchors (thank you lube for doing job!) and replaced with level plugs to preserve threaded recessed plug holes.

Of course, I quickly realized how spoiled I'd been with debris free water on this windy day and how much physio will suck on rainy days like today. But I'm glad we beat the rain and its nce to see the yard again, though it needs some attention this weekend!

How well our storage plan works won't really be determined until next fall when we see its condition, but the gang is optimistic we nailed it. The tarp was invaluable and really helped keep it clean and dry and avoid dragging damage/peril.

Here're some pics

 

[kimkats]

You did it! It really did fit back in the bag!!!!!!!!! WOW!

What did you use to seal up the storage container? Oh you know what????? Think about putting one or two of the humidity catcher bags in the storage container! Damp rid is the name of the ones I use here in FL. Just one more step but an easy one. I like the bags better than the open tubes as you do not have to worry about spilling it.

Kim

 

[Swampwoman]

Thanks for the tip...I won't be finished sealing up the shed until the weekend as I still need to detach and chlorine-treat the air tube from the blower/heater box. I didn't know you could get damp rid in a bag instead of the container...I'll go hunting

 

[Swampwoman]

Just an update on my energy costs to have run the dome now that I have a more complete picture - in essence, to keep at 94, it costs between $9 - $13.50 a day depending on month/temps etc. after I remove my baseline gas costs year over year.

In the screenshot, Oct. was open. It doesn't show last May, but my usage was 20 CCF a day.

The pool was opened mid-May, and the last bill covers pretty much a month open. You'll notice its about 30% less than I used last year That is in part due to the cover I hate, used at night until this week's hot spell, and in part that I don thermostat anymore, but operate scheduled runs and then leave the heater off since I want it warmest in the am (which is now more like 91.5 instead of 94.) What's impressive is that I'm running about 4 degrees warmer than last year for less money, and I'm still leaving the water uncovered all day (and now at night, though night cover use will start again Sunday.)

I'm sure the gas company wonders what the heck were up to over here

 

[Swampwoman]

Dome Season II Scheduled for Oct 8

Pre-install planning:

- Checked the condition of the 42, blank-filled anchor sockets. Exterior corrosion but blanks turning great; all survived season I
- Checked/rinsed air heater heat xchanger. No leaks, ready to go.
- Converted fittings to PVC - no more marine brass in saltwater this year
- Checked eyebolts...replacing some due to thread corrosion. Will be more generous with graphite lube this year.
- Stocked up on zip ties...they help secure guide wire to eye bolts
- Cleared deck, ready to prep on Sunday when I get back to town

 

[Kitana]

Thank you so much for your experience and very informative thread. We are expecting our dome to arrive this afternoon. This thread helped make our decision to buy one this year after thinking about it for the last 10 years..