My DIY solar reel sags!

[KimR]

I just made a reel with black pipe-2/10' pipe with 1 coupling. It has a slight sag to it which causes it to be difficult pulling it back onto my pool. Do you have any suggestions as to how to make the pipe more rigid, where the coupling connects the 2 pipes? It like rolling an egg!!! Thanks!

 

[BellaBuggy]

I've recently attempted (and failed ) to make one of these. Our pool is much larger, though, and I believe it requires one solid piece of pipe.

We were able to successfully couple two pieces of 2 inch EMT conduit, using a compression fitting. It sagged with fitting alone, so we took a 5 foot section of PVC and filled it with spray foam insulation (deck spindles work well too ) and placed that at the joint for stabilization on either end. It worked pretty well joining two pieces together - 4 notsomuch. Since you really only need 2+ a little, it would probably work ok for you too. It's that joint that needs the extra support.

 

[Mandolina]

Maybe black plastic is more likely to sag than a metal pole. If using aluminum with saltwater be sure to spray it with Crystal Clear to prevent corrosion.

 

[KimR]

I've recently attempted (and failed ) to make one of these. Our pool is much larger, though, and I believe it requires one solid piece of pipe.

We were able to successfully couple two pieces of 2 inch EMT conduit, using a compression fitting. It sagged with fitting alone, so we took a 5 foot section of PVC and filled it with spray foam insulation (deck spindles work well too ) and placed that at the joint for stabilization on either end. It worked pretty well joining two pieces together - 4 notsomuch. Since you really only need 2+ a little, it would probably work ok for you too. It's that joint that needs the extra support.

Do you mean that the PVC would go on the inside of the two pipes where the coupling joins them together? BTW...thanks for the advice!

 

[BellaBuggy]

Yes, inside. Wouldn't necessarily have to be PVC either, that's just what we had here that gave the tightest fit. Measure your interior opening of the pipe (it's black iron right? Not PVC?) and then get the largest pipe you can find that will fit inside, so it's as snug as possible.

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And you are very welcome - I just hope it helps!

 

[MirellaJoe]

my hubby is a plumber so he just used some old grey plastic pipe i think it's PVC and we roll it on and off with that with and then he put a ""C" clamp on the fence to hold on....i'm probably not explaining it properly but will take pics to show

 

[KimR]

Yes, inside. Wouldn't necessarily have to be PVC either, that's just what we had here that gave the tightest fit. Measure your interior opening of the pipe (it's black iron right? Not PVC?) and then get the largest pipe you can find that will fit inside, so it's as snug as possible.

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And you are very welcome - I just hope it helps!

It's 1.25 in. black iron, I believe that would be the inside diameter of the pipe. I have a piece of 1/2 in. rebar (10 ft long) inside of it right now just because we already had it, but it's obviously not helping at all. Probably need at least a 1 in. pipe of some sort. What would be some other types of cheap pipe that would help straighten it out? I thought of cutting a couple short pieces of PVC to put inside the drilled out posts that hold the pipe, thinking it would crank more smoothly than turning inside of bare wood.

 

[acamato]

To reduce sag, you need to use a larger diameter, thinner wall pipe or tube. Try going to a hardware store and put together two lengths of different size conduit or pipe to compare sag.

The rebar is making the sag worse. You are adding weight without adding stiffness.


Here's a deflection calculator ENGINEERING.com | Beam Deflection Calculators
Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk

 

[DarrelB]

Yes, the smaller the diameter, the worse the sag. There is just no volume to support itself. Mine is 4" diameter aluminum tube, works just fine. Bought it from craig lost for $40 for the entire reel assy,minus blanket.

 

[kennyholt]

I'll tell you what not to do. 26' of 2"pvc with rebar inside and filled with concrete. Ha I bet it sagged a foot or better. Now it sits in the back of the yard because it's so rigid I've got no way to disassemble it. I bought one on ebay for $100.

 

[Tere]

I'm very new here but what about a 12' and then another 12 ' section roller? I could never roll something heavy but splitting it up works. You have to cut the solar blanked in half. I ordered a mid weight solar cover for the reason they are heavy and hard to move.