Similarly, use a cover pump to remove most of the water before rolling back the cover. If the cover is inundated with leaves and/or water, use a leaf rake on the telescopic pole, scooping out as many leaves as possible before rolling the cover back. When you get to the last panel, pump off the water with a cover pump and scoop out the leaves with a leaf rake. Roll the cover up one panel at a time, cleaning in this manner. Standing at the reel end, use a blower or a garden hose and a pool brush on a telescopic pole to push debris towards the shallow end. We recommend cleaning an auto cover by panel segments. This is usually easier than cleaning the pool, however.īelow are some troubleshooting tips for automatic pool covers, from our help file. Auto covers have also been attributed to drowning prevention (although the solid cover must have rain water pumped off with an automatic cover pump to be considered safe).Īn auto cover will keep your pool free from leaves and wind-blown debris however, you'll have to clean off the cover before opening it. Even the Department of Energy has a home page devoted to the economic benefits of pool covers. For freeform pools, there is the option of going trackless, with the cover being locked down around the edge with tiny plastic anchors.Īutomatic cover manufacturers boast of water, chemical, electrical and heat savings. Less expensive models are manual and pull open by a hand crank, and close by pulling a rope. The slats can be custom cut to accommodate wall curves, overhanging rock waterfalls or spas, and can be designed with several covers of different sizes to accommodate nearly any pool shape. The large leading edge, a steel tube that runs across the pool is now available in a low profile design that hides easily.Ī newer style of automatic pool cover, dubbed by some to be a European Slat Design, uses vinyl or PVC air filled slats that float on the water and use no track. Tracks can be hidden by cantilevered deck sections. No longer do we have to run track down both sides of the pool. They can, however, be retrofitted to almost any shape pool. The roller can be housed in a box built at the deep end of the pool, level with the pool deck, or the roller can be housed in a box on top of the pool deck.Īutomatic covers look and perform somewhat better when installed on a rectangle pool at the time of construction. The motor that powers the reel to cover and uncover the pool is usually electric, however a hydraulic motor can be used (powered by an external electric motor), which has some advantage in terms of reliability, especially when the roller or reel is located in a deck box and is subject to moisture. One end of the roller is attached to an electric motor, which is wired to a two direction switch (open or closed). An aluminum roller on one end of the pool houses the cover and the tension rope when the cover is open. In the traditional automatic pool cover, a reinforced vinyl fabric runs between tracks on either side of the pool's length. Having an automatic pool cover is an additional layer of protection around a pool – like a horizontal fence! From hand crank models to fully electronic, key-operated systems, today's automatic covers are more reliable, durable, and safer than ever before. The automatic pool cover has come a long way in recent years.