Help! Solar cover - doing something wrong

I just bought a CLEAR DIAMOND solar cover and Feherguard reel (the one that 1 person can operate) for my 20X40 rectangle inground pool. I must be doing something wrong. I roll up the solar cover onto the reel OK. But when I try to unroll the cover back onto the pool, the reel is very hard for one person to turn. When I got it going, the cover got looser around the reel but the end did not extend onto the pool. When I finally got the end to the water, I was not able to get the cover over the pool by pulling the end. It took me an hour of repeatedly moving along the reel, pulling the cover in sections over the reel and onto the pool, and running around the pool to pull the cover on. It looked nothing like the picture for solar covers: a smiling woman in a bikini effortlessly and evenly unrolling the cover onto the pool with one hand! It was not quick, effortless, or even...and I was not smiling. Any suggestions? Am I rolling it onto the reel incorrectly, so that unrolling is difficult?

Next question: When I leave the solar cover on 24X7 for a few days, leaves and dirt collect on top. When I roll the cover off the pool onto the reel, guess what - all the leaves and dirt roll into my clean pool! Any suggestions? Tried using a leaf blower before rolling cover to reel, but didn't work because there was water on the cover too.

Last question: After 2 weeks, my pool water has warmed up by only 1-2 degrees - so when should the CLEAR diamond solar cover be on the pool to get the most warming? all the time when pool not in use, daytime only, nighttime only, when? I have seen different answers on this forum.

i'll answer what i can. i would use the cover , given you have a clear cover, anytime you are not using the pool. a clear cover will absorb the solar energy by day and transfer into the pool at night..obviously, watch for algae bloom as if you have it on too long, it will have a greenhouse effect..i've only had my cover about a week (blue) and haven't left it on at this point more than a day.

in terms of the reel, what i did to allow me to evenly pull the cover off is attached 2 ez grabbits (about 5 inch long plastic bar grommets that don't damage the cover..then attached a rope to each. i put the ropes to the side of the pool before unrolling then go to the far end, grab them both and slowly pull the cover into the pool. it's working great! my pool is 18 x28 and so i can imagine with your 20 x 40..it's not as simply as gravity and a little bit of current going to pull that cover into the pool. if i don't use this system, the cover just sits by the reel until i help it along..if you search ez-grabbit online or check at like a home hardware/camping store, they should be easy to find..there is also a guy on ebay.com, mike from colorado..really nice guy who sells these for a good price in a 4 pack. matter of fact, cheaper than i was able to buy them at my local canadian tire store by a dollar or so.

in terms of leaves, etc on cover..the common tip is to use a hose to blow them into your skimmer if you have one on top while the pump is running..in my case, it's a 2 minute cleanup with the net to get them off so i just do it that way.

ps- with the cord system to pull the cover on, i don't even use the handles to unwind the cover expect to get a foot or 2 of cover going to water level..from there it's all rope pull and quite easy to manage.

I just roll mine up and let the stuff fall into the water - BUT- I quickly get my hand skimmer on a pole and then scoup the stuff out of the water before it saturates and falls to the bottom.

As for warming the pool, the solar cover is somewhat of a misnomer. The pool would gain more solar energy without the cover, but it would also loose heat due to evaporation and wind loss, thus the cover helps maintain the heat as opposed to really adding heat.

given she has a clear cover, rather than blue though..my understanding is it would allow transfer of solar heat.

You don't unroll the cover using the handles on the reel. You grab one edge of the cover and walk along the edge of the pool until you're at the other end. That's what I've always done anyway and as long as I've got a smooth roll onto the reel, the unroll is always a breeze. I do have to untuck the corner on the opposite side when I'm done unrolling, but otherwise the whole re-covering process takes about 2 minutes.

I've got a blue cover and my water temp has been staying in the mid 90s the past 2 months. We've been using our pool about 2-3 times a week. When I check chemicals in the mornings it's normally about 92 and in the afternoons if I leave the cover on the top layer of water is about 96-98. If we take the cover off and get the cooler water at the bottom all stired up it goes down to about 94. The pool is in direct sunlight from about 9:30 AM until sunset.

What kind of solar reel do you have?

I have this reel.
http://www.intheswim.com/Solar-Blank...olar-Reel-I-G/

Ok, to unroll, it's easier with two people - one on each corner of the blanket, pulling it off the roller as you walk to the oposing end of the pool - you can do it with one person, but may have to run from side to side a couple of times, when unrolling leave it on the roller and pull it off as you walk to the opposite end, it should go smoothly. The cover should stay on over night to keep the heat IN the pool.
The cover should stay on the pool if evaporation is a concern during the day.

Since you have a clar cover, I would leave it on the pool during the day.

In your case, take it off only when swimming.

You can go to
www.mountainhomemarketing.com
to get the ez grabbits,they will hold and not damage the solar cover.
Mike

that's where i was going to get mine...i ended up finding them at a hardware store in canada called canadian tire..not really cheaper, but they were there when i needed them. 4 came in a pack..i have yet to have one come off..my 13 son or 1 are basically the ones who put the cover on or off..he's just a little guy and he has no problem pulling the cover back onto an 18 x 30 pool and i left the ropes i attached long enough that they can easily come to the side or end of the pool (so we don't have to ever go swimming to get at them).it really honestly is a 2 or 3 minute job for one of us to put it back on or take off.