Swimming Pool Cover Pump

[RalphVa]

Anyone else have troubles with the so-called automatic swimming pool cover pumps?

They only pump down to about the depth of the pump, leaving a puddle to later freeze and possibly damage the pump.

I Gooped the 2 floats in the one I got from Walmart in the "up" position and use it in manual mode. Pumps the puddle dry.

Have covered our safety cover with an impervious tarp in hopes of being able to open the pool up sooner next season. In NJ, we had an impervious cover with cover pump. Could pull the cover and have the pool ready to use in the same day. No gunk on the bottom, etc.

With this safety cover, the bottom is always covered with fine gunk that has to to be suctioned quickly out while pumping the water straight out (usually filled to the top with rain water). Then it takes nearly a week to clear the water while circulating through the filter.

 

[MossRoad]

Anyone else have troubles with the so-called automatic swimming pool cover pumps?

They only pump down to about the depth of the pump, leaving a puddle to later freeze and possibly damage the pump.

I Gooped the 2 floats in the one I got from Walmart in the "up" position and use it in manual mode. Pumps the puddle dry.

Have covered our safety cover with an impervious tarp in hopes of being able to open the pool up sooner next season. In NJ, we had an impervious cover with cover pump. Could pull the cover and have the pool ready to use in the same day. No gunk on the bottom, etc.

With this safety cover, the bottom is always covered with fine gunk that has to to be suctioned quickly out while pumping the water straight out (usually filled to the top with rain water). Then it takes nearly a week to clear the water while circulating through the filter.

We have an above ground pool and live in a freezing climate. We can't leave a pump in the cover, or it would freeze. So about once a week in fall until freeze, I just throw a small electric pump in the puddle if there is one, and pump it out. But it's kinda pointless after the snow flies. We get (or used to get) about 5' of snow every winter. Until it melts and the ice in the cover melts, nothing can be done about it. So spring rolls around and I'm back to the electric pump to get the puddle gone and any leaves out before the spring peepers mate and lay eggs in the puddle. But I've never had a problem with the pool water in spring. I just pump the puddle, remove the leaves, carefully pull the cover to one side, and flip any debris out with the cover. Then take the cover out to the driveway, power wash it and put it away for summer. Pool water is always crystal clear in spring.

 

[Big Barn]

I went through two of these pumps in 16 years

They are thermally activated and will automatically pump down to almost nothing.

This spring I switched over to one of these with a float switch. You need to bypass the float and plug the pump in directly when you want ALL the water removed.

This is what it would look like on a typical off season day.....

 

[MossRoad]

For that matter, most of the time I skip my pump and just lay an old garden hose in the cover puddle and siphon it out into the flower bed. But you'd have to have a place that's lower than the cover puddle to do that.

 

[kenmac]

I have used this type pump for years. It does freeze here from time to time , but I have never had an issue with the pump freezing and cracking the pump