Pool Umbrella Insert

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Sherlock

Sherlock

Well-known member
Jun 14, 2023
68
Arizona
Since I moved in here ten years ago the pool umbrella has been a pain.

The main issue is the plastic insert embedded in the pool surface doesn't quite fit the poles on pool umbrellas, it's tight and can be hammered in with a rubber mallet and is secure but this has always puzzled the heck out of me. Furthermore the top part of the interior of the insert has a thread and I have no idea what that is for.

Here's a photo I just took of the insert:

1717434018853.png

You can barely see the thread but it is there. Below the thread the entrance narrows slightly (you can that shoulder part) and that's the part that the umbrella tube doesn't comfortably fit into, as I say it's tight as heck, one can push it in by hand up to a point but a few taps with a rubber mallet gets it in further and stable.

Of course its then extremely hard to remove and even when closed strong wind sometimes snaps that Dang thing and this is a yearly farce for me, sometimes if it snaps it's a huge effort with tools to get in the water and remove the broken remnant of aluminum tube.

The umbrella tubes are 1.5" outside diameter.

What am I doing wrong? is that hole even intended for an umbrella at all? why is it thread near the top?
 
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There's a very similar thread discussion here.

Umbrella on shelf...doesn’t fit...

Question about pool umbrellas. My pool builder left this hole on the tanning shelf. He said any standard umbrella would fit. I bought an umbrella and tried to place it in the hole, but it doesn’t fit (wow, that sounds bad when typed). Anyway, what can I do now to get the umbrella to fit?
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
sand the inside of the insert with emery paper and sand the outside of the umbrella pole. wont take long. i do that to my pool ladder.
 
Darin said:
sand the inside of the insert with emery paper and sand the outside of the umbrella pole. wont take long. i do that to my pool ladder.
Click to expand...
Its a lot of work, trial and error and sanding the inside of that plastic receptacle under water is insanely challenging. I would like to know WHY the receptacle is the diameter that it is, what exactly is it designed for.

I just tried screwing one of these into the threaded section, it fits a 1.5" pole.

1717440775927.png

But the thread isn't a match and I got a crossed thread and it won't unscrew, so now I need to get in there with a wrench to try and unscrew it, besides it only has a depth of like 2" and so hardly offers any support, it would be loose and wobbly when only inserted 2" this whole thing is pathetic, so much effort.
 
Now the mystery deepens, that shoulder - that 1.5" pole won't slide into - is just a shoulder, like 1/2" high, here's my attempt at showing the cross section based on what I can see:

1717441770075.png

The narrow neck is not very high, beneath it the interior expands so that it will clearly accept a 1.5" pole - this is very puzzling indeed.

Why the heck would it have that narrow section???
 

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Rancho Cost-a-Lotta said:
I wonder if somebody put a shim of some sort in there too fit a smaller diameter umbrella.
Click to expand...
That's crossed my mind too. Very hard to see what's going on and impossible to see if the shoulder is an integral part of the fitting or not. It would explain a great deal but how to tell? I could use a chisel to try and cut downwards into that neck, gradually getting to where it's outer surface would contact that outer sleeve, that would likely be enough to reveal if it was or was not a shim.

Its always retained its position though over the years when I hammer the pole down into the fitting, I'd expect a shim to have moved slightly over the years but if it has there's no visible indication of that.

Trying to gently cut into it is a major challenge though, hammering underwater is not fun!
 
Perhaps I should look at grinding that neck to a slightly larger size, not sure how I could do that though, Someone mentioned sanding but not sure how to do that. But since the neck is not tall, like 1/2" or 3/4" it would be a good idea, also by grinding that neck even slightly the pole would eventually fit and fit snugly.

I have these hole cutters but of course can't use a power tool (easily) in the water.


Just possible one of these is so sized that it would basically shave a tiny amount off so the pole can easily slide...

I also have a set of files...curved one too...
 
my thought is that it was designed that way so that the narrow holds the pole. by being wider below it allows pole to get past the narrow part so that the pole can be held up a couple of inches for better "hold"

get a piece of pipe attach emery paper on the end of it to sand the sides. It cant be that deep......
 
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Fixed. I used a rounded file (new, not yet christened so to speak) and filed the inside, rotating my body slowly around the hole as I worked, took about 30 mins to remove just enough so that the pole slides easily but snugly. The "neck" section was actually closer to 1" tall not 1/2" tall but it didn't take much effort, it was already a very close fit but far too tight.

I'll never know what this was all about but it's finally off my "to do" list and my wife is happy reading in the pool now without the scorching Arizona sun beating her down!

Thanks to everyone's input, particularly @Darin with his sanding suggestion!
 
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