Home » Top 3 Things That Can Go Wrong with Solar Pool Covers

Top 3 Things That Can Go Wrong with Solar Pool Covers

If you’re considering buying a solar swimming pool cover, there are a few things you should know before you buy. Solar pool blankets, like any other pool blanket, have their share of things that can wrong.

We’ll show you how to avoid these things and reduce your chances of these things happening to your solar pool cover.

Things That Go Wrong with Solar Pool Covers

Before we start, let’s get one thing straight, this article talks about common problems with solar pool blankets. It doesn’t cover the other types of pool covers on the market.

Bubbles Disintegrate

Deteriorating-Pool-Cover

“I have all these tiny bits of plastic in my pool and filter”

This is quite a common complaint amongst some pool owners with solar covers.

We’ve all had items made from plastic that are left out in the sun for months at a time. After a while, the plastic gets brittle and breaks easily. Well, pool covers do the same thing.

Over time, the Sun’s UV rays, and also pool chemicals, break down the material pool covers are made from. It doesn’t matter how much you pay for your pool cover, this will happen eventually.

The better brands can last 4+ years. The cheaper brands can break down in as little as 8 months.

How to Extend Your Pool Cover’s Life

1) Circulate the pool water for at least 4 hours during the hottest part of the day. This will prevent concentrated pockets of chemicals at the surface of your pool – which quickly degrades a pool cover.

2) Buy a pool cover that has had UV stabilisers added to it. Without these chemicals, the cover won’t last.

3) Make sure your pool chlorine levels are 2 to 2.5 ppm. High levels of chlorine degrade pool covers faster.

Pool Cover Layers Come Apart

A pool cover is made up of two layers. The top layer and bottom “bubble” layer. When the cover is manufactured, if the machine fusing these layers together isn’t hot enough, they can come unstuck leaving you with two pieces of cover. This is called delamination.

The only thing you can do is to buy a quality pool cover and make sure your warranty will cover this.

Tearing and Ripping

Your pool cover will likely be taken on and off many times during its life.  After a while, the cover will almost always develop tears, rips and small holes in it. Don’t worry about the holes, they don’t look great but they won’t really affect the performance of the pool cover.

Prevent Tears with the Ideal Pool Cover Thickness

The thickness of your pool cover will greatly affect how easily the cover will tear. We always recommend a blanket that is 400 microns in thickness or more. Thinner blankets such as 200 and 300 microns tear much more easily.

Use a Pool Roller to Prevent Tears

Swimming Pool Cover Roller

One final tip to prevent tears is to make sure you use a pool cover roller. Taking a pool cover on and off without one will result in tears. A properly adjusted pool blanket roller will evenly distribute the stress when removing a cover. When you roll up your cover, make sure you help it onto the roller a little to prevent folds.

So there are 3 things that can go wrong with solar pool covers. Despite these potential problems, a good quality cover will not suffer these things for several years.

Solar pool covers are still excellent value and cost far less than some of the other options on the market.  And with some research, before you buy and a little care, you should be able to extend the life of your pool cover.

Questions? Comments? Don’t hesitate to leave your thoughts below!

Recommended Products

Swimming Pool Covers

Swimming Pool Cover Rollers

Swimming Pool Chlorine

Swimming Pool Water Test Strips or Liquid Test Kit

Related Reading:

Do pool covers really stop evaporation?

How much does a Pool Cover cost?

Do pool covers really heat the water?

How long will a solar pool cover last?

8 thoughts on “Top 3 Things That Can Go Wrong with Solar Pool Covers”

  1. Not sure whether you can answer this. I have a pool blanket which is starting to deteriorate. I am not bothered as it is a few years old. The little bubbles in the plastic are breaking and the “lids”, about the size of a small finger nail are floating in the pool. Do you know by chance whether these are lethal of young children swallow them? Can they choke? I don’t think so but thought I would check

    Reply
    • It doesn’t sound good. I would remove the cover and replace it.

      It sounds like the cover you currently have is a cheap one. This is common that the bubbles fall off of the cover. It’s degrading because of the Sun’s UV rays. This is called photodegradation. Cheap covers are made from cheaper plastic, which doesn’t withstand UV light for as long. A quality cover will last 5-8 years or longer without degrading.

      Reply
  2. How do I know when my pool cover has broken down? My cover looks OK, but when I put it on the pool it seems impossible to stop the pool from going green. It never used to do that. I keep the chlorinating process up just as always, but it goes green under the cover regardless. I pump continually but that still doesn’t seem to have effect.

    Reply
      • What can you do if your solar cover has disintegrated and now there are very small pieces which is making a cloudy pool?

        Reply
        • It depends, but you could try running the filter 24/7 for a few days and see if that clears the pool. Are you sure it’s the cover that is causing cloudiness?

          Reply
    • Shock it hard…. Add alternate.. .. clear it up…. make sure chlorine is up but not too high…. chlorine level is rage magic solution to keep your water clear once you get it there…. other levels are just minor adjustments

      Reply

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