Are RayMaxx solar covers really more durable?

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DeltaSmith

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Jul 16, 2017
11
Murrieta, CA
I just purchased my third solar cover. Here in Southern California, I use my solar cover year round, because even in the winter, it's helpful in reducing evaporation. (If I leave the cover off for a few days even in the winter, since I don't have an auto-fill valve, I can see the water level drop by a couple of inches, and then I have to run a garden hose at full for maybe 45 minutes to refill it).

The first two solar covers lasted about 1.5 years each. One was 12 mil, one was 8 mil (but I had learned how to take better care of that one, so maybe that's why it lasted as long as the 12-mil that I didn't take the best care of). The one I just purchased is 12 mil, according to the place where I purchased it, but it seems a lot lighter weight than my first 12 mil cover. I suspect that it will be dead 1.5 years from now.

The RayMaxx brand adds a metallic layer to their covers (kind of like space blanket material). I'm not keen on that aspect, because none of this gets recycled when the pool cover dies. But they also claim that their covers are unusual in that they are "extruded" and they claim that this makes them more durable. So I'm interested to hear if anyone has tried one of these covers and found them to be superior in terms of durability or not.
 
I gotta admit I've never heard of this RayMaxx cover before. We often tell folks to just buy the cheap ones as *none* of them seem to last more than a year or two.

Have you considered an autocover? Sure, mucho pricy..... but last much much longer.

Maddie :flower:
 
Thanks Maddie. An autocover isn't a feasible option for this pool: not only is it kidney shaped, but the deck on one side is two feet higher than the deck on the other side, so a cover that goes over the top won't work.

You are probably right. I suspect that all pool covers are made using extrusion techniques. There's an interesting video on how bubble wrap is made here
and it mentions that it uses an extruder. One aspect of this manufacturing process is that it stretches the plastic to form the bubbles, and that makes the plastic thinner where the bubbles are, so naturally they fail first. On the other hand, I recall that with my first two pool covers, it was only a couple of months after the bubbles began to fail when the top layer also started to fall apart.
 
DeltaSmith said:
But they also claim that their covers are unusual in that they are "extruded" and they claim that this makes them more durable.
Click to expand...
Sounds like mostly marketing hype.

Ask them for test data that proves their claim.

Ask them if the cover is more durable due to physical or chemical durability or both and ask them exactly how much more durable they claim their covers are.

Are they backing up their claims with better warranties?
 
I agree that it sounds like marketing hype. I have not been able to find contact info for the manufacturer, so I can't ask any of the questions that JamesW suggested. That's why I thought to post here and see if anyone has first-hand experience with this brand.

woodyp - I don't know about 15 degrees but I can tell you that my first (12-mil) cover did a much better job than my second (8-mil) cover. With the 12-mil, there were a few days in the middle of the summer when the pool was too warm and we had to leave the cover off to cool it down. Never had that problem with the 8-mil, but it also took longer in the spring for the pool to warm up with the 8-mil, so I've gone back to 12-mil. (Also, the 8-mil had a tendency to blow around in the wind).
 
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