Winter cover questions

[superdave5599]

When I finally get around to closing the pool for my first time, I have a heavy duty tarp style winter cover to put on it, along with the water tubes and ropes to help keep it from sinking.

To that point, I am curious about a couple thoughts on sink-prevention. I have a round tube that was from our boat tube that the cover tore-so basically a big, heavy-duty floatie. Any reason to or not to use that in the middle to help float the cover? Also thought about putting the solar cover down under the tarp to also help float it. Any reason to or not to do that?

If I don't keep the solar cover on the water, do any of you see any real reason I can't keep it stored on the reel, under a permeable cover? (I tacked some of that netting-style chain link fence privacy fabric to the pool's fence so I could stash the solar cover out of the sun when it was on the reel.)

 

[ajw22]

What material is your tarp style cover?

 

[Bill1974]

I used a trap type cover for a decade, this is my first year with a safety cover. I would pump the water off when it was convienient. I would try to not let enough water get on the cover that it would put tension in the cover or try to move the water bags. If there were a couple of inches on water on the cover I would pump it off. If it were going to really windy I would leave water on it. If a larger snow storm was expected and the water was not frozen, i would try to pump it off as well.

If I wanted to do it quickly I would use a dirty water sump pump, place in a 5 gallon bucket with lots of holes in it. Otherwise the cover could have got sucked into the pump. last few years I use a small pump that I leave on the cover and let it run for hours since it was slow and did not matter if it ran dry. Either way I like running them off a count down timer or wifi connected switched receptacle. With the later i can turn on and off remotely and also tell it shut off after a certain amount of time so i don't have to rememeber.

 

[superdave5599]

What material is your tarp style cover?

It is just like one of those heavy duty tarps, like the regular blue tarp you'd get anywhere, except heavy duty and made for a pool.

 

[Mdragger88]

It is just like one of those heavy duty tarps, like the regular blue tarp you'd get anywhere, except heavy duty and made for a pool.

You want the cover to be large enough rest on the water in the pool at its winterized level. Sinking/ ripping/ falling in occurs when the cover is heavy with precipitation & is not supported by the water below. The water bags & ropes are to keep it from being blown up/blown in by the wind & will not keep an unsupported full cover from sinking/ripping.
Neither will a tube or a solar cover.