Best cover for keeping mom's pool closed long-term

[lbeachmike]

It averages 43 inches of annual rainfall by Moms so many small drains from the cover is probably preferable. You would need to drain under the cover a few times a year and it's sporadic. It might be twice in 3 months than not again for 5 months.

How often will you visit ? Once a month would be enough to keep an eye on it and drain when needed, if you wanted to go mesh or solid with a drain/mesh.

That will be too risky. I want the least burdensome solution. The one that will be closest to autopilot. When I visit, there are always other things for me to attend to, so I have to keep the pool needs to a minimum.

I was thinking to do the pump in conjunction with the cover with drain panels - though I guess the drains would probably drain the water before the pump gets to pump it, so that probably is not doable.

So the least maintenance solution is a solid cover with no drain panels + pump? Then the only routine task is cleaning debris from the cover?

 

[lbeachmike]

The cover dips in the middle and that is where you put the pump and where water will pool.

You can also see patches I have put on tears on the 20 year old Meyco cover.

The pump doesn't have a problem with the amount of leaves seen in your current photo?

Re: cover patches - ours is 25 years old, but after seeing yours I'm thinking that maybe patching could be an okay solution to get a few more miles.

 

[ajw22]

The pump doesn't have a problem with the amount of leaves seen in your current photo?

Nope, I will probably clean it off today but I can ignore it for a while more.

Re: cover patches - ours is 25 years old, but after seeing yours I'm thinking that maybe patching could be an okay solution to get a few more miles.

Understand, I never let any tears get very big. And then I patched a large area around the tear on both sides of the cover.

Do you have the tool to pull the springs over the anchors so you can remove the cover to repair it and reinstall it?

 

[lbeachmike]

Do you have the tool to pull the springs over the anchors so you can remove the cover to repair it and reinstall it?

Nope. Where do you get that from? How much $$$?

 

[ajw22]

Nope. Where do you get that from? How much $$$?

Search "pool cover anchor installation rod"

 

[Newdude]

So the least maintenance solution is a solid cover with no drain panels + pump?

Yeah.

Then the only routine task is cleaning debris from the cover?

Along with periodically checking the cover pump, which will only take a min when you're already there, unlike draining (with a mesh) where you'll be waiting and waiting to finish that chore.

 

[lbeachmike]

Thanks guys for all the much-appreciated help. I will probably order this thing on Monday + the pool cover cleanup ... so I may have some last minute questions over the weekend.

 

[Homebrewale]

The remaining water isn't distributed evenly across the cover. It gathers in a small area around the pump due to the weight/imprint of the pump on the cover, amounting to less than a half gallon or so.

On my pool, the amount left over was a lot more than half a gallon.

 

[lbeachmike]

Is the reason to use a solid cover without drain panels because the water that gets through the cover into the pool has no way to evaporate?

 

[ajw22]

A cover prevents evaporation.

 

[bradgray]

On my pool, the amount left over was a lot more than half a gallon.

Seems to depend on the style. I noticed Allen's certainly left more than a couple gallons.

Our area is exclusively autocovers. Heavy duty vinyl. Very little, if any, water is left if a pump is installed.

 

[lbeachmike]

Is anybody familiar with this from LoopLoc? It seems that if I get the solid cover, they force me to buy their pump for an extra 200 bucks (twice what it cost me for the LG pump.)

This is from my quote:

Cover without drainage panels blocks 100% of sunlight and is sold with an
automatic pump, which must be used at all times to meet ASTM
safety cover standards.

 

[Homebrewale]

Is the reason to use a solid cover without drain panels because the water that gets through the cover into the pool has no way to evaporate?

I had a solid cover without drain panels. The reason was my dogs very likely would have stood on the drain panel and played in the water that came up through it.