Solar Cover on a pool with pop up pool cleaner

[spyder850]

All,

I just put an 8-mil cover on my pool. Each time I come home, the cover is folded up upon itself. The only culprit I can think of is the in pool cleaner. When the cleaner runs, there is a fair amount of "bubbling" at the pool surface. Does this make any sense ?

Thanks!

 

[jblizzle]

Yup. Saw that at previous house. Although usually just some water on top not folding over. Making the cover smaller than pool where the water bubbled helped as I recall.

 

[spyder850]

Trim back from the edges ? Guess I can try that. I made it relatively tight thinking that the coping would help deflect any wind that might come up. Project for the weekend

Thanks!

 

[spyder850]

Well, that didn't really work or I didn't trim off enough. Seems like I may need to remove large sections where the jets are close to the surface. Finally watched the process "live" this weekend. What happens is the water from the in-pool system pushes the cover down and under. Eventually, the cover is folded on top of itself. I'm starting to wonder if it's even worth the effort. If I end up cutting 10-15% of the cover off just to keep it from folding up, I'm not sure it will make a difference when it comes to heat retention.

Any ideas ? Would a thicker (and therefor heavier) cover make more sense ?

Thanks for any insight!

 

[jblizzle]

I think the thick/heavier would be more likely to sink and get pushed under. This is one reason I gave up on a cover at the previous house ... there was always water that would get on top (not as bad as you seem to get) which would then evaporate and leave minerals and all the dirt on top which would all fall into the pool when I tried to remove the cover.

I still do not have a cover at current house just due to remembering the hassle.

Sorry it did not help.

 

[spyder850]

Thanks. I really want it just to extend the season of the pool. Kids don't seem to mind, but it's a little cold for my tastes I could heat it (I have a gas heater that should be added to my signature), but that gets expensive.

Not quite ready to give up yet. Worse thing that happens is that I end up scrapping the whole thing.

Cheers!

 

[ping]

I'm not sure how this idea will work, but it might be a LAST option choice for you if all else fails. Cut the cover into multiple sections so the water doesn't sink the cover. By having smaller sections the water might be able to drain off the top before it sinks it. Split the cover where the water tends to overflow on to the cover. If you have a reel for the cover then this might not work for you.

 

[spyder850]

Hi all,

I'm resurrecting this thread in hopes that some one has found a clever solution to my problem since my last post. I ended up just ditching the pool cover last year due to the hassle of unfolding the cover every morning and afternoon (I have my pop-ups set to run twice a day for an hour or two each time). However, with the well publicized CA water-rationing going into effect this year, I'd like to find a solution to minimize evaporation from the pool.

A couple of things I've noticed with a cover is the spillover water from the spa to the pool ends up on top of the cover and pushes the cover down, water gets on top and the cover sinks slightly and folds up. For the area of the cover near the pop-ups that are on the close to the surface (i.e. mounted in one of the two sets of stairs), there is enough ripple generated by the water itself to fold the cover over or under and if there is any wind at all the effect is exacerbated.

What I'm wondering is: if I put a grommet in the pool cover and used a bungee cord to hold the "corners" down near the pops if that would work. Not sure what I would attach the bungee cords to, but that is a different issue (lots of concrete around the pool). Alternatively could I mount a "float" to the pool cover so that it floated on top of the water in certain spots, near the spa spill over, pop up, etc.

Any ideas would be appreciated!

 

[ping]

I cut my cover so it had a good 6" of clearance where the spa water overflows so my cover doesn't get any water on top of it from the spa.

To test the bungee cord idea you could attach them to 5 gallon buckets of water as a test to see if that idea has a chance of working.

A 16 mil cover might be stiff enough to prevent the water from coming over and sinking the cover, but that is just a guess. I have had covers from 16 mil to 8 mil and the 16 mil was a lot "stiffer" than the 8 mil cover that I have now. If you still have the 8 mil cover I would try the bungee cords attached to buckets before buying a 16 mil cover.

 

[eaamon]

here in TN the issue is a lot of rain 2"+ some times twice a week now.
I had a spot that always sank from the rain. I finally put a small hole cut into the cover
and it drains in less than a day now. some times my SWG adds bubbles under mine too.
I wish when the made these covers they would put periodic holes into the covers to
allow air out and rain/tub spillage to drain back into the pool.
lived 30 years in SJ, see your drought might be to require you to lower your use of
water by 20+%. guess that means the/the water companies there will raise what they
charge you by that much. they did that to me with fines for using and still increased
my bill.
the cover will help greatly in less evaporation. I cut my cover into 4 sections for easier
handling, in and out by one person. I will cut my next one into 5 sections, smaller and lighter each.
just a note the last big water restriction I remember a guy in your neck of the woods was paying
$3200 a month just for water for his lush garden.....and fines on top of that. about 1980 time frame.
good luck