Solar Cover - Foam board question

[tcat]

I ordered a "Magni-clear" solar cover to replace a 2 year old cover I have. Seems to get good reviews. It's heavier than most (14 gauge), and I know many here say buy cheap and light because none last... but my pool is mostly shaded and will be cutting into 3 smaller sections due to odd shape. Onto my question:

I was thinking of using a foam board, say 12" strips, on one edge of each of my sections. This would make it easy to "fold up" from one side of the pool. Thinking about THIS stuff. I'd bond the solar cover on top of the 12" strip. Will this hold up to 5% chlorine? (need chemical geek here). This also eliminates some corner radius issues, this can be cut-to-fit. Clear silicone to bond? I know there's also the pink foam board, maybe has better properties, but I don't want pink.

 

[tcat]

Interesting observation, just got my Magni-clear cover in. For some reason I was thinking "14 gauge" would be 14 mil thick... it's only 5 mil. So I went out and measured the 12 gauge I bought 2 years ago, it's only 3.5 mil. I guess actual 14 mil would be REALLY heavy. Probably going to wait until spring to put the new cover on, old one is in good enough condition for the winter. Have plentty to think about until the weather warms up. Just ordered a Stenner pump, and will be ordering a heat pump very soon. Waiting for the "best winter price".

 

[Melt In The Sun]

Let us know how the foam board works if you end up doing it! I kinda suspect it will crumble in the sun. And not much sticks to solar cover (polyethylene?). I tried a bunch of different things to attach two pieces together when I bought a too-short cover a few years back. Never tried silicone, but nothing else worked.

 

[mas985]

Are you sure you are measuring your cover correctly? When I measured my covers, they are/were always pretty close (+- 1 mil) to the advertised size.

 

[tcat]

I measured the space between the bubbles (the raw stock). I am assuming a "mil" is .001". Measured slightly more than a piece of paper I just measured. I'm getting almost .014" if I measure a popped bubble (2 layers).

Are you sure you are measuring your cover correctly? When I measured my covers, they are/were always pretty close (+- 1 mil) to the advertised size.

 

[mas985]

There should be two layers between the bubble too. I usually measure along the seemed edge which include the two layers.

 

[tcat]

I would have thought there would be 2 layers between bubbles, but maybe it gets compressed in the manufacturing process. A seam in theory would be 4 layers. So the 14 mill is really two 7 mill layers. In that case I think mine is OK (it does feel heavier).

 

[mas985]

A seam in theory would be 4 layers.

By seam, I meant the edge of the cover not the area where two sections overlap.