Sun2Solar cover reel assembly questions

[tikoh]

Good morning and happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there.

After seeing quite a few recommendations for solarcovers.com pool cover reels I purchased the Sun2Solar Easy Gear Stainless Steel Cover Reel. It seems sturdy enough and even though the instructions were poor, assembly went well until the very end...
When assembling the actual body of the reel, there are 5 sections that slide together. The instructions show three screws holding each joint together. My reel only has one hole per joint. Even if there were three holes, do you drill into the inner tube for the screw to pass through? These aren’t self tapping screws. Photos attached.

thanks to anyone who has any insight into this!

 

[tikoh]

Just want to bump one more time before I drill into this thing...

 

[Newdude]

I can’t remember if I didn’t have the inside holes, or they didn’t line up right, but I one hundred percent had to drill the inside holes in my reel which was similar construction. The holes became long skinny ovals with use, making the whole thing sag and after 2 years I drilled new holes and upgraded to 1/2 bolts. They ripped the steel in the same fashion but it did get me 2 more years.

****edit. Mine were through bolts. Not like yours.

 

[blazer58]

I used self tappers on mine.
I also have a 20 foot wide cover, and the real is stretched to its max length.
It started sagging after the first year, so I ducked taped all the joints, and that helped alot with the sagging

 

[tikoh]

I can’t remember if I didn’t have the inside holes, or they didn’t line up right, but I one hundred percent had to drill the inside holes in my reel which was similar construction. The holes became long skinny ovals with use, making the whole thing sag and after 2 years I drilled new holes and upgraded to 1/2 bolts. They ripped the steel in the same fashion but it did get me 2 more years.

****edit. Mine were through bolts. Not like yours.

Thank you

 

[Newdude]

So how did it go ? Did the sleeve screw apply pressure to the inside pipe ?

 

[tikoh]

So how did it go ? Did the sleeve screw apply pressure to the inside pipe ?

Finally got around to it. I use self tapping sheet metal screws and so far so good! Thanks again for your help

 

[parsog]

A bit late here but I just assembled one for my pool cover. Mine came with three M6x1.0 stainless machine screws for each section joint. I just used a #6 drill bit and a M6x1.0 tap to make three holes through the two tubes at each joint and cut the threads for the provided screws. You could also use a 5 mm drill bit if you have that instead of numbered drill bits (which don’t seem to be very common outside the machining world). I saw a tap and drill bit packaged together at a big box hardware store as well. It’s best to have a tap handle but you can get away with a small adjustable wrench to turn the tap while cutting the threads.

In any case, the sections seem nicely connected now but I’m also going to wrap each of the joints with white exterior-rated white duct tape for additional sagging stability as I suspect the tapped holes will otherwise strip out over time since the aluminum tubes are fairly soft.

The instructions (and the seller’s description) should have been more clear on the method and effort required for assembly.