Seeking advice on solar cover for odd shaped pool

[Baltik]

So it appears that my pool was free formed and is both kidney shaped and has some curvature to it. We are by the ocean so temps drop into 50s at night making a solar cover of some sort somewhat necessary. Any ideas on how to best approach this?

It’s also important to be easily take the covers off and on as well as to store them (as you can see from my photos there isn’t a lot of space for storage)

I could do:
One huge cover cut to size

2 medium covers with some overlap in the misdle

2 circular covers for the ends and a small rectangle for middle.

what would be best approach in terms of storage/heat?

 

[kevinskii]

Can you fit a reel at one end, and would you be willing to have one? I’m personally willing to put up with the minor eyesore for the convenience and a warmer pool, but not everyone is.

if you do get a reel, the cover can be one piece. Otherwise you may need to cut it into 2-4 sections. My pool is about the same size as yours, and I think with anything less than 4 sections the pieces would be too difficult to manage, but you could start larger and always go smaller.

Cutting it shouldn’t be too hard. You can maybe just lay it on the pool and cut the excess with scissors. It really doesn’t have to be exact. A few inches either way won’t make much difference.

 

[Baltik]

Sadly we can’t do a permanent reel at the end. We could do something portable and carry it around the corner. we could also mount some large hooks and fit a rolled up cover/small reel that way

 

[kevinskii]

If you have a place on the side to keep an 18' long pool reel and you can also navigate it around the corner, that may be the way to go. Most reels have wheels on one end so they're very easy to move.

 

[Baltik]

Any other suggestions on cover sizing and reels?

 

[kevinskii]

I bought this reel on Amazon a couple of years ago. It is really sturdy, and I've been very happy with it:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CL2HN14/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

My first cover was a blue Sun2Solar 1600 series from Amazon, and it only lasted 1 season before it started to disintegrate and leave little bits of blue plastic all over the pool. Right now I have a Doheny's 2400 series cover, which is quite a bit flimsier than the last one. Just yesterday my friend in the Bay Area told me that the same cover only lasted him a season before doing the same thing.

From reading on here, it seems that pool covers rarely last more than 2 seasons and therefore it's better to just buy the cheapest one you can find. You probably don't need a thick cover either. My current and last one were 16 mil (that's mil spec, not "millimeters" like I first thought). My next cover will probably be a n 8 or 12 mil. It's main purpose is to prevent evaporative heat loss at night, and for that the extra thickness doesn't appear to offer much benefit.

 

[Homebrewale]

I get three to four years out of my covers. You can't leave them rolled up on the roller in the sun. Place a cover on it when not on the pool surface. If you are not going to use it for awhile, store in a shaded area. I don't use mine from about mid June to mid September. I store it under some trees along my fence on the back of my property.

 

[iadams]

I get three to four years out of my covers. You can't leave them rolled up on the roller in the sun. Place a cover on it when not on the pool surface. If you are not going to use it for awhile, store in a shaded area. I don't use mine from about mid June to mid September. I store it under some trees along my fence on the back of my property.

A lot of us use covers to 1. Save on chlorine and 2. because evaporative loss in summer months is difficult to keep up with. I'm on a well, so getting topped off means buying a load of water, which is $150 for the top-up. Even though covers are cheaper it would still be nice to be able to use it AND get 3-4 years out of it.

 

[Heavenlytunes]

Hi Baltik, any solution yet? I'm in the same dilemma as you with shape of the pool...
I watched a guy in YouTube that used this company.

Pool Solar Covers & Reels - Above Ground & Inground

We have a wide selection of solar covers and solar cover reels for your above ground or inground pool. Choose from leading brands like Club Pro, GLI and Rockys. Shop now.

www.pioneerfamilypools.ca

And I was thinking of doing the same and buying a rectangular cover and cutting the corners.
I have a above ground pool for 18 years and the cover did help with keeping the water warm at night. OUR MAIN PURPOSE is at night.

 

[gx22]

Solar Roller has a good method of cutting the solar cover and roll it up. The reel stays in the water when unrolled. After I roll it up, I leave it on the edge of the pool. I don't know of any other solution available for odd size pool.

However the reel is not very strong. It gets corroded and broke, plastic clips broke etc quality issues.

Solar Cover Reel, SOLAR ROLLER ® on Amazon - Rolls in 15 Seconds! +3600 SOLD - Extends Life of Pool Cover

Inventor David Hoff Takes the Hassle out of Rolling Solar Covers on Freeform Pools with Limited Deck Space. Nothing on your deck! Rolls pools in sections, like pieces of a puzzle, directly on the water, in just seconds! Patented Solar Roller ® Pool Cover Remover for freeform pools that can't use...

www.solarroller.com

Amazon.com : Solar Roller Cover Stick (+3900 Sold) - Rolls Free Form Pools in Sections, Like Pieces of a Puzzle : Patio, Lawn & Garden

Amazon.com : Solar Roller Cover Stick (+3900 Sold) - Rolls Free Form Pools in Sections, Like Pieces of a Puzzle : Patio, Lawn & Garden

www.amazon.com

 

[DeanP66]

You can build your own much cheaper out of ABS pipe. I've had one since 2018. My pool is about 16' x 37'. I put one 15' roller in the shallow end and one 16' roller in the deep end. I use 1.5" ABS pipe with PVC couplers. Do not use the ABS couplers. They are very shallow and will fall apart on you. The PVC ones work great. Just be sure to use the right glue that's made for ABS to PVC. Originally, I used 1 ten foot pole and 1 five (six) foot pole coupled together. I found that the pole really warped badly over time so last year I used 5 pvc couplers on each pole to make each piece shorter. They are 3.75' or 4' long. This worked out much better and the pole is still very true. I spread 3 of the couplers out in the middle and the last 2 I used near the very ends of each piece to give each side balance near the ends.

When attaching the poles to the cover, the pole goes underneath, then the cover on top, then a quarter piece of ABS pipe on top of the cover with a hole in the middle to put in your plastic screw.














To build both poles, I needed a total of:

(4) 10' 1.5" ABS pipes
(10) 1.5" PVC couplers
1 can Purple primer
1 can Oatey's ABS to PVC glue
25 plastic screw fasteners (found in automotive shops)

Less than $50 total

 

[gx22]

Yours is a good idea but I like to have a removable crank.

I have thought of using a long pool pole. Insert some floating stuff like backer rod inside to float it. Use some clips to attach the cover. Then make up a removable crank just like the solar roller. This is my brainstorm and don't know if it can last.

 

[AUSpool]

Geday Baltik,
I’ve been down the pack away solar blanket rabbit hole and it didn’t end well for me. My money would hav been better spent on a solar heating system from the start.

If your cant have a permanently mounted real then a blanket my not be for you. You will quickly loose interest in a pack away blanket and real. Think about putting the money into solar heating instead.

 

[Heavenlytunes]

Heating the pool during the is not a problem for me. Is the night time when you lose all the heat

 

[DeanP66]

Mine does have a crank, I just forgot to post it yesterday. Made it out of PVC as well. It just slides over the end of the pole and works great.



No need to worry about inserting anything because the ABS pipe floats. PVC does not though. A very simple solution.

However, I did end up using the clips that come with the Solar Roller. My last close up pic from above shows it. They fit perfectly (depth wise) and you just turn them 180 degrees to lock them in place. You can order them from the Solar Roller site for around $15.

As for storage, I just place them on hooks on my fence on the side yard and cover them with a tarp to protect them from the sunlight.

 

[Enumjon]

Baltik,

Like you we lose a ton of heat at night. Our loss is due to being at 7000 feet, rather than next to the cool Pacific. We may spend most summer days in the 90's, but still get down to 50 at night. My pool is about 15x35, also a free form kidney-ish shape. We have one large bubble pool cover over the entire pool, which was cut to size. If we do not leave it on at night in the summer the pool will drop about 7 degrees.

We have a safety fence around our inground pool, so there is not enough room for a cover reel. Right now we just pull it off and stick the cover on one end. With 2 people it only takes about 30 seconds to get it off, but it does take two people. However, it is not pretty sitting in the crumpled pile, and it takes up a bunch of space that way. This summer I plan on cutting the cover into 3 pieces, and then doing the DIY pool roller as explained above. My cover is dying and in it's last year, so I am going to give it a trial run on this old one to see if I like it.

But back to original question - you can do whatever you like. I know a number of people on the forum cut their pool cover into multiple pieces to make it easier to handle, without doing the DIY pool roller. A small gap or overlap in the cover does not make any difference in heat retention, nor does wind pick up the loose end and blow the cover away.

 

[DeanP66]

You don't want your cover in direct sunlight once it's taken off the pool. The sun's ultraviolet rays will destroy it in no time. I got 3 years out of my last cover (and maybe could have squeezed out another year as well) using the DIY roller and I'm sure the main reason is that I kept it out of the sun when not in use. The roller keeps it rolled up nice and smooth and saves you from it constantly being crumpled up. That's gotta save on the wear and tear for sure.

It also makes it more convenient cause it can be done by only one person. Just be sure to keep the lengths of the pipes under 16-17 feet or it can get heavy. Letting the water drain out when removing it is essential. Give it at least 30 seconds to drain.

 

[Enumjon]

Good point, I hadn't though that the cover would last longer rolled up, and thus out of the sun. This is my first pool, that came with the house almost 2 years ago. The pool cover is what came with the house, and it looked a year old already. However, our bubble cover is only on 4-5 months a year, that will allow it to last much longer than those in the real heat.

 

[Enumjon]

And allowing one person to take off the cover is another big reason to go to the solar roller method.

 

[poolnoobgrandma]

Baltik,

Like you we lose a ton of heat at night. Our loss is due to being at 7000 feet, rather than next to the cool Pacific. We may spend most summer days in the 90's, but still get down to 50 at night. My pool is about 15x35, also a free form kidney-ish shape. We have one large bubble pool cover over the entire pool, which was cut to size. If we do not leave it on at night in the summer the pool will drop about 7 degrees.

We have a safety fence around our inground pool, so there is not enough room for a cover reel. Right now we just pull it off and stick the cover on one end. With 2 people it only takes about 30 seconds to get it off, but it does take two people. However, it is not pretty sitting in the crumpled pile, and it takes up a bunch of space that way. This summer I plan on cutting the cover into 3 pieces, and then doing the DIY pool roller as explained above. My cover is dying and in it's last year, so I am going to give it a trial run on this old one to see if I like it.

But back to original question - you can do whatever you like. I know a number of people on the forum cut their pool cover into multiple pieces to make it easier to handle, without doing the DIY pool roller. A small gap or overlap in the cover does not make any difference in heat retention, nor does wind pick up the loose end and blow the cover away.

We just pull ours off. Not pretty, but we don't have room for a roller. Ours has started dropping the bubbles, so once it comes off for the summer it will go in the trash, and we'll get a new one for fall. It lasted 2 seasons.