Cheap cover on top of cover worked great!.

[avspin]

Just a quick background. Usually I close my cover, stick a pump on it for winter. when I open I have to slam, clean all the Crud that blew in under the cover, pressure wash the cover and clean out the cover box. This last winter I decided to buy a cheap $50 tarp and water bladders to go around it. Spent about $150. I just opened the pool and the cover itself was clean, there are no leaves in the cover box or the pool and the balance of the water is near perfect. Still had chlorine. I bought 10 gallons of chlorine to open and ended up using one until my SWG kicked in. Salt was down to 3200 since I replaced about 8" from closing.
Best $150 I ever spent. The tarp tore so I will buy a new ofor this coming winter.
Never have I had chlorine when opening. Is this from keeping it "air tight" since September?

 

[kimkats]

SWEET!! Do you have a pic of how you set it up? That would be very helpful for someone in the future I bet!

 

[avspin]

Didn't think to take photos but it was a black 20 x 44 tarp, in the photo to the right, with these overlapping around the edges.

 

[kimkats]

So you have an auto cover already BUT it allowed stuff to get in. You then put the black tarp over it with those water bags on top of it.

When you put the water bags on the tarp did you make sure the bags were sitting on the edge of the auto cover also or did the tarp to way past the auto cover?

I am picking your brain to help others down the road so they can open as wonderful as you did!

 

[avspin]

Since I have an odd shaped pool the auto cover runs on tracks on top of the concrete. (My biggest regret is not getting a rectangle to run the cover tracks under the coping, so far 4 covers replaced.) Anyway the leading edge bar, which you can see in the photo above has a gap that when the wind blows, even with the edge all the way down on the concrete, leaves and dust get in the pool. Also the cover box fills with debris.
With the tarp being big enough to cover the in ground box on one end and the leading edge of the cover on the other and the tracks on the side. I placed the water bags on the tarp that sat on the concrete, not on the cover. So up against the leading edge bar sealing it and over the cover box. I didn't expect the water bags to last but I still rolled them in the extra tarp on the edges to keep them out of the elements. The bags are fine and will be using them again.

 

[kimkats]

Well done!! Thanks for the write up and the reasoning for what you did. It sure worked!

Kim