CoverStar tear after less than 3 months

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I would ask CoverStar why the holes are there. I don't see any reason to have them.

The pool water should be kept at normal level, not below the skimmer. See below from CoverStar manual.

I think that the back wall where the cover goes over is probably not smooth and is scratching the cover.

Feel along the wall at the front and back edges through the cover to see if you can feel anything sharp or pointy.


During the winter the proper water level must be maintained as the water supports the ice and snowmelt build-up. The best method is to blow out the lines and use filter plugs & cover plates so that the water level does not have to be lowered. (If the pool has tile, which might be damaged by freezing, lower the water level to 1 inch below the tile).

A cover should only be used as a winter cover if it has the proper slack. Proper slack is determined
by where the cover touches the water. When the water level is lowered, the cover should normally
touch the water no more that 12 inches from the edge of the pool. Actual slack requirements may
vary depending on local conditions.
Click to expand...
 
My husband said he asked the installer why the holes were there and he said they are there for ventilation.

The water leve is currently just above the middle of the skimmer. We didn’t lower the water level at all when the pool was winterized.

Are you saying we should feel for something pointy where the roller is?
 
There is a wall between the pool and the recess where the cover roller tube sits.

The cover drags over the top of the wall. I suspect that the top or edges of the wall have some sharp spots.

Feel along the top of the wall through the cover to see if you can feel anything.

The ventilation holes idea doesn't make sense.

I don't think that the cover came with holes and it's not supposed to have holes.

I would ask the manufacturer about it.
 
We called CoverStar and they were no help. They said we needed to work through the pool company that installed it and if we wanted them to come out, it would be $600 just for the service call.

We can’t do much investigation now because we just had 8 inches of snow dumped on us last night.

This just can not be a normal thing with a cover that’s 3 months old. It’s driving me batty that we can’t get anyone out here to look at this.
 
What did they say about the holes? My husband called and he forgot to ask what they were, he said he referred to them and he said they acted like they were supposed to be there.

Did you feel the top and edges of the back wall? We have not yet. We got dumped on with snow and it's still coming down. Hopefully the snow will melt in the next few days and we'll be able to get out there to feel around.
 
My theory is that a person/being stepped on the cover with their heel directly at the the hole and it ripped from there. Not likely the person will fess up as they were probably trespassing. Unless you have a motion detector based security camera to prove otherwise, that’s my story.
 
Our original Cover Star cover ripped at the seam by catching the top metal guide by the roller. Ours was about 10 years old when that happened and was due for replacement. I'm pretty sure that can be patched but is a bummer being new : (. We went with a Auto Pool Covers inc cover replacement which was about $1200 cheaper than the Cover Star replacement. So far so good after three years with it.
 

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Hi there,

Heard back from Coverstar about the small holes along each said and they said this is called “vented webbing” and it allows chlorine gas to evaporate above the cover so it doesn’t dry out the liner.

So the snow melted and we got the water pumped off and were able to take a closer look. We did not feel anything sharp. However, we did see this screw. There is not one like it on the opposite side that sticks out like this. I am wondering if it’s possible one of those holes got caught on the screw and started the year. However, it doesn’t appear when we rolled the cover up that the hole would have been close enough. But maybe one time it went on a little differently? I’m not sure if that’s possible or not?

I’ll share some pictures a little later when I can get to my computer. It’s not letting me do it from my phone.
 
The screw is pretty close to the cover. Maybe it snagged the cover if the cover didn't roll up tight.

It looks like there is a missing nut that should go on the screw.

I think that I would want the manufacturer to send a representative to evaluate the installation.
 
No, there hasn't been anything sharp on the brush or pump cover. We haven't used the brush on the cover other than just today to sweep some leaves off.

I'm beyond frustrated. Our pool builder came out today and he spent nearly an hour outside with my husband and they investigated all sorts of things and closed the cover and opened it numerous times. Looked for anything sharp it could snag on. Nothing.

He is coming again next week with someone from Coverstar, however we will be gone on vacation so won't be around to talk to them. Our builder doesn't think coverstar will cover this under warranty because he says there's nothing he can find that would have caused the problem.

My husband told him that he's really unhappy that a cover that's less than 3 months old would tear so easily. And the builder said, well that's the thing - these don't tear easily you can put all sorts of weight and abuse on them. He said, I've never seen anything like this happen with all of my installs over the years. He said he'd never had to patch a cover because they're so durable.

He told us we're looking at probably $3,000 to get the cover replaced. It just makes me sick.

We tried calling CoverStar directly last week, but they won't work directly with us since they didn't install it. They said if we wanted them to come out and look at it, it would cost us a $600 (or maybe it was $500) service call.

Looks like we'll likely be left holding the bill on this.
 
The problem is that if you don't know why it happened, you're at risk for it happening again.

What if you pay to replace it and it happens again in 3 months?

Something caused it. I would want the entire installation verified by a qualified person to make sure that it's exactly right.

Then, put a surveillance camera on the pool so you can figure it out if something happens.

Something sharp cut into the cover. One cut has wrinkles at the end that look like something pulled hard almost like a hook caught the cover.

I wouldn't replace the cover without knowing why it happened.

Let's see what the manufacturer's rep has to say when they come out.

Maybe you can just patch the cover for now to see if it happens again and you can figure it out before pay$3,000 for a new cover that's just going to rip again.
 
I 100% agree. My husband even brought that up to the pool guy, but the pool guy just said he didn't see anything wrong. It must have been something outside of the cover/install that ripped it.

I'm not sure what we can do since Coverstar won't work directly with us? I am hoping that the guy from CoverStar that comes next week sees the problem when he's out here. I can't imagine he'll be anxious to claim blame for it though.
 

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