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.