DIY Solar Cover Roller

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I don't use my rollers any more. I just use the pipe/tubes now on windy days to keep the cover from blowing. My pipes have become a little bowed. So, I simply cut the cover in half (across the width) and roll up those pieces individually or with wife or one of my sons. Simple enough. I am been going through 8mil about every 2 years before they start disintegrating and winding up in skimmer (went three years once before replacement and the last season was a nightmare).

I get the 8 mil. Much easier to spin/roll and it will work to heat pool, heat retention, and reduce chlorine burn-off. The rollers are great idea though. When I was using them, they worked well.
 
Paul B. said:
Thanks for the help! As a newcomer I really appreciate the advice!
As DeanP66 points out the 20ft pole length in my original plan maybe too heavy, so I am trying to establish the best pole configuration based on the recommendation for a 3 section DIY solar cover. Since my pool is 20ft wide I don't see an option other than to have least one pole being 20ft long and 2 poles of 16 ft. each.
Please see attached pictures of my current thoughts.

I would be most thankful for any suggestions and comments.
Click to expand...
With your pool, I'd probably go with 3 pipes, all along the length of the pool. You could make them 13', 13', and 14'. It might be a good idea to make the 14' pole where you have the least pool cover surface area, just to keep it lighter once it's rolled up. Can't quite tell from the picture of your pool, but it looks like lengthwise is the way to go!
 
I've learned very quickly that I need to find a better way to manage my solar cover than just manually wrestling with it. Can you all give me a suggestion on the best way to cut this in 2 or more pieces so I can utilize this DIY cover roller idea?

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I would probably go with the rollers the length of the pool, but at 41' you probably will need to use 3 of them. Otherwise, they will be very heavy and hard to deal with. Maybe go with 15' on the 2 outside ones and 11' for the middle one. The middle one will be the hardest to remove and put back because it's in the middle of the pool. You'll have to grab it from the deck with something and turn it so you can reach the pole to start rolling it up. Making it quite a bit smaller than the other 2 will help you pivot it easier IMO. You could even go 14.5', 12', 14.5 if you want and that would reduce the weight of the two outside ones a little more. It's up to you.

When you put the roller back into the pool, you probably want to do the middle one first and get it into place before doing the two outside ones, and the opposite goes for removing the covers.
 
The poles need not be placed end to end. The ones on the left and right can be oriented in the long direction (left/right) but the middle one can be crosswise (up/down) centered on the upper curve. You could also place all three in the crosswise direction and I think it would still work ok.

In general, you want the poles in the longest section of the segment and more or less parallel/perpendicular to the edges of the seams if possible. Such that when rolling, the length of the roll does not grow too much.
 
Can't quite tell from the diagram what the width of the pool is because the measurement is cut off on the picture.

Mas985 has a great point, as long as the width isn't too long, you could put the middle pole across the pool and that would give you much easier access, but the weight can get a little dicey once you go much longer than about 16 feet, although with a shorter section to roll because of the layout, that might lighten it a bit.
 
Oops, didn't realize I cut off that number, it's a 23' dimension. Fixed in the initial post.

As to the orientation, are you all suggesting one of these two options? (Blue is the pole, red is a cut in the cover.) Any chance I could get by with only 2 sections rather than 3?

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Yeah, that middle blue pole will be way too long that way, so it looks like your only real option is all three poles the length of the pool. That should work just fine and all the poles will be much more manageable. By saving that one until last when removing, you'll be able to move it around very easy with a pool pole with a brush on it so you can grab the end of the pole to roll it up.
 
Why is the middle pole too long? If the suggestion is to have the middle section horizontal instead of vertical, it would still end up having the same square footage of cover rolled up and be the same weight, just a longer skinnier roll than a shorter fatter roll.
 
My two poles are 15' and 16' and I'm about 250 Lbs. I let the water drain for a good 30 seconds, otherwise they are very heavy. I can't even imagine if they were over 20' long. Maybe the smaller surface area will cut down on some of the weight, but if it were me, I'd feel better about controlling a 12 or 13' foot long roll than a 24' long one.

Also, a pole over 20' will have more stress on it and warp easier IMO. I did some experimenting. When I first built my poles originally, I used a 10' pole, a coupler, and then a 5 or 6' pole to get to the length I needed. I found that the ABS couplers are terrible for keeping the pipes glued together. They are so shallow that you don't get enough surface to get a strong glue joint. I switched to pvc couplers and got the right glue to join ABS and pvc and they are much better.

I also decided to make smaller sections and glue them together with pvc couplers. My sections are 3.5' to 4' max. It has seemed to work out better this way and kept the poles much truer than my original way.
 
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Add another grateful person to the list for this thread... I couldn't imagine having one of the roller mechanisms that swing to the side on my 24 foot AG pool. This idea is picture perfect simplicity and genius, was easy to build, inexpensive and works like a dream.

I echo what was said about the ABS couplings, I put the joint a couple feet in from the side, so it doesn't carry that much weight, and I can support the pole past the coupling when I lift it out of the pool. I will likely switch out the couplings with PVC when I need to replace the solar cover.

THANK YOU mas985 FOR SHARING THIS IDEA!!! (y)
 
DeanP66 said:
I would probably go with the rollers the length of the pool, but at 41' you probably will need to use 3 of them. Otherwise, they will be very heavy and hard to deal with. Maybe go with 15' on the 2 outside ones and 11' for the middle one. The middle one will be the hardest to remove and put back because it's in the middle of the pool. You'll have to grab it from the deck with something and turn it so you can reach the pole to start rolling it up. Making it quite a bit smaller than the other 2 will help you pivot it easier IMO. You could even go 14.5', 12', 14.5 if you want and that would reduce the weight of the two outside ones a little more. It's up to you.

When you put the roller back into the pool, you probably want to do the middle one first and get it into place before doing the two outside ones, and the opposite goes for removing the covers.
Click to expand...
Does anyone happen to have a video of them rolling up/removing, and unrolling/putting back the middle section where it is as suggested above? I'm concerned that it will be hard to get the middle one unrolled, and floated into place with that middle section still extended without getting into the pool.
 
I would say to put that middle section back on first and unroll it either by turning it 90 degrees on the deck in the middle, or unroll it from either end of the pool and slide it into place.

If you have to, you can use your pool pole with the brush attached to slide it into place once it's on the water. Then just brush out the wrinkles toward the edge of the pool and it should be fine.
 
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If you don't want to have to pivot the cover 90 degrees, there might be another option available. You could use 1 extra 10' pole with a coupler on the end of it and simply fit the coupler over the end of the pipe where the cover begins. Don't ram it in there super tight or else you'll have trouble removing it when you're done. Use it as an extension pole from the deck the long ways and just unwind it and once you have unrolled fully, you just wiggle the pole enough and the coupler will pull off of the pole connected to the cover. You could even build your own crank as well if you want. Something like this:

 
What if I did something like this? (Red are cuts in the cover, blue are the PVC poles.) This way for the middle one, to roll it up you can just grab the pole from the side. And to unroll, you can just unroll from the side slowly and have it push itself across the pool to the other side. Think that would work well?

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Hi All,
First a HUGE thank you to Dean, Mas and the others for all their great advice, patience and help with the DIY solar cover.

BLUEWRX, my pool is similar shaped to yours ( 20x40 free form) and I recently struggled with the best pole configuration. In the end I went with 4 poles as shown in black on the attached picture. In other words I cut the cover into quarters and attached them to the poles at one end. This makes removal and placement a little easier as each section is handled separately and therefore not as heavy. ( I know Mark suggests placing the poles in the middle of the cover, as I think there would be less "turning" motion for removal.....am I correct Mark? )
It takes me about 15 minutes to remove the cover and about 20 minutes to replace.

The only problem I find is that on a windy day some sections of the cover tend to get lifted. I place a heavy pool noodle along the edge of the cover with some success. Does any one have any other suggestions?

I bought some 14" L brackets at Lowes ($5) and attached them to an outside wall for storage of the rolled covers when not in use.
 

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