To protect your cover, do three things at least once per year, and some may need 2-3 times per year.Ĭlean out the Box. Prop open the cover lid with a long screwdriver or short pole, and have the cover rolled out, or closed, to open up more room in the box. When plugged into an extension cord, it turns itself on when an internal float senses a water levels, and automatically shuts off when the water level surrounding the pump subsides. Keep rain water pumped off. An automatic cover pump like the Rule 1800 or the Little Giant Water Wizard is (usually) kept on the pool cover at all times, with a discharge length of garden hose attached. Cleaning with a small amount of hand soap and water, or simply scrubbing with your pool brush and pumping off, will remove most stains, but not all. Sorry, I wish I had a magic solution, but unless your pool cover is indoors, leaves and rain water will add their own marks and colors to an automatic cover. Stains on automatic pool covers are inevitable. After removing all of the debris and 99% of the water, roll the cover up all the way. Then use a Leaf Rake to scoop out debris, while the cover pump removes the pool of collected water. Use your pool brush to push leaves and debris if needed, and then roll up the cover 8 ft, and clean the next section… continuing until you get to the last section of cover. When most of the water is removed*, start cleaning at the roller end of the cover, and using a garden hose with a nozzle, hose-off the first 8 ft section (seam to seam), spraying the debris toward the opposite end of the cover. Remember that water weighs nearly 8 lbs per gallon! Set your pool cover pump(s), and pump off all of the water, or close to it. If there are inches of water and lots of leaves, start a dredging operation with Leaf Rakes, with back and forth motions across the cover, to scoop up debris and also to loosen any dirt or algae on the cover. When the cover is wet, a leaf blower doesn’t work as well. You can also use a soft broom, or even the pool brush to clean along the edges, and a dust pan or a Leaf Rake to collect the leaves. Avoid blowing leaves into the cover box (the box where the reel is housed). In these cases, a leaf blower works best, blowing the leaves from side to side, or blowing them down to the leading edge end of the cover. As a trade off however, at least you do not have to worry about evaporation with an automatic cover! Also for this reason, holes in an automatic cover need to be quickly patched, so your cover pump won’t pump water out of the pool – through a hole in the cover!Ĭleaning an automatic pool cover is easiest when the cover is dry or almost dry. For this reason, leaks in a pool must be quickly fixed. And if it gets below the skimmer level, any added water weight on top of the cover adds exponentially more stress. Always leave the cover open for several hours after adding large volumes of pool chemicals, and after shocking the pool, keep the cover open until chlorine levels subside.īe sure that your water level is proper. If the water level goes below mid-skimmer, it places stress on the cover webbing, ropes and tracks. This protects the cover material from corrosive chloramines. Open the Cover fully once per week. On a weekly basis, automatic covers should be opened for several hours, to allow chlorine byproducts to dissipate by gassing-off at the pool surface.

Test salt levels regularly to be sure the pool is not over-salinated. If you do have a salt chlorinator and an auto pool cover, be sure to rinse the tracks, pulleys and reels monthly. Salt systems are not recommended with automatic covers, as it increases the possibility of corrosion to cover fabric and aluminum parts, from salty residues.

For this reason, we recommend Nature2 mineral sanitizers to auto cover owners, to help them reduce their chlorine demand. Keeping good water balance and low chlorine levels is the best thing you can do to protect an automatic pool cover. Monitor the water chemistry and chlorine levels on a near-daily basis. Pool water level may have to be maintained daily if the pool is leaking significantly. An automatic cover pump should be set-up and ready to go, if any rain should come through. On a daily basis, make sure that your cover is closed by glancing out the window.

Automatic pool cover while on vacation