PSA - Keep your spa cover alive for years longer...

[Chas]

Every so often a thread will pop up complaining about heavy covers. Some manufacturers offer better vapor barriers than others, some offer certain types of foam which tend to absorb less, they all have their special ways of dealing with this.

I have told my customers this for 25 years: buy a good cover to start with, and then take steps to keep it alive as long as you can. With care, you can get far more life out of any good cover. Rinse it often, handle it carefully - a lift is good, but not if it tears at the hinge - be aware of how the others in your family are handling the cover, where they set it down, etc.

But one simple step can make a huge difference in the life of any spa cover, from any company: leave the cover open for at least ten minutes after you add any type of sanitizer or shock. Let it gas off. This, of course, rules out the use of a floating feeder in most cases. I say 'most' because I have personally used "Brilliance" in a floating feeder and had none of the negative effects of bromine tabs or chlorine tabs. (Most tub makers will void your warranty if the damage can be traced to using "Trichlor" tablets in a floating feeder). When you use Brilliance, you add the shock by hand, and that allows you to, once again, leave the lid open for ten minutes after you do add it. The Brilliance people advertise it as "Chlorine Free," which sets it apart from most Bromine tablets.

HTH

[wmccall]

Rinse it often,..........

  What are you talking about here, the top for appearance?  ..........

     handle it carefully - a lift is good, but not if it tears at the hinge - be aware of how the others in your family are handling the cover, where they set it down, etc.

  I'm good here......   

But one simple step can make a huge difference in the life of any spa cover, from any company: leave the cover open for at least ten minutes after you add any type of sanitizer or shock. Let it gas off.

 Ok, here is the hard part and its you liberals out there on the nut coast telling us how to live our lives!  Us Midwesterners who use our tubs all winter (Wikipedia snow and cold) have a hard time hanging around the tub when its  below zero after getting out.  And once you go back inside, its hard to motivate to come out. When you get out of a 104 tub you have enough warmth to get the robe on and get inside.  Here is where I'm guilty of shortening my cover life.

[Bonibelle]

Chas thanks so much. I have a relatively new cover and my son (God bless him, he has good intentions) put the lifter back on the new cover. I see it stressing at the center because he probably bent the lifter and he has it through only one thickness of material. It has worried me since he did it. I'm calling today to get a new lifter because my dealer will install it and it will be right..AND while I may be the only one here who sees the real value in a spa blanket..I am ordering one from Doc. We don't get a lot of use of our tub because my husband travels extensively, but last weekend he came home and we relaxed in the tub and enjoyed watching the birds at my feeders. It reminded me how much I really love the tub and need to make more time to use it. So..thanks again Chas..going to get that new lifter and extend the life of my cover..

and Bill, I think you have to run into the house so fast because you are so skinny now..lol..and you probably use your tub more than anyone on here 

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

Boni, what lifter do you have? I'm concerned by your comment, "he has it through only one thickness of material". If this is a lifter that has the "fingers" that extend into the cover hinge, UNDER the cover, these MUST GO ALL THE WAY ON THE BOTTOM OF THEY COVER'S HINGE. They do NOT go into the hinge. Doing so will most likely mean they are only grabbing the top layer of vinyl, missing ALL of the re-enforcement. I've seen where people have done this, and had the top layer of vinyl on the hinge rip out in a week.

[Bonibelle]

You are right on target Doc.!! My son not only put the center hook thing into one thicknss of material, he also bent the whole arm so that it constantly puts stress on the vinyl  He tried, that's about all I can say, but I am going to have it taken care of. The lifter is a covermate 3, so it lifts the cover up and behind the tub. When I tried to tell him  (and my husband who assisted with the cover switch) that I knew something was wrong..they got mad at me..LOL..I am learning to just do things myself or get expert help and not ask my men folk for help..The new lifter has slightly different positioning so I will have my dealer install it. Chas' post reminded me that I needed to address this    Hopefully no permanent damage has been done  Thanks

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

Ya know, you can just replace the bent parts of the old lifter. The support arms (curved top piece, with the hook)are about $46 . The side pivot arms (straight pieces) are $35

[Bonibelle]

I guess I am being  proactive..in that the lifter is over 6 years old and I expect that the air shocks (or whatever they are called) are probably at their life limit too.  I imagine they are the most expensive parts on the lifter..

[Flyonthewall]

 Ok, here is the hard part and its you liberals out there on the nut coast telling us how to live our lives!  Us Midwesterners who use our tubs all winter (Wikipedia snow and cold) have a hard time hanging around the tub when its  below zero after getting out.  And once you go back inside, its hard to motivate to come out. When you get out of a 104 tub you have enough warmth to get the robe on and get inside.  Here is where I'm guilty of shortening my cover life.


[/quote]
why you got to get all politcal on us.  i'm on the west coast, and 10 minutes after i soak i'm showered and not going back outside.  we make tradeoffs in life, and i'll trade a percentage of cover life for not having to go back outside.  when i do my weekly chems i do keep it open though. 

[Chas]

FLY - fair enough. I had just had one of those days when several customers in a row had complained to me how heavy their covers had become in just two or three years - etc.

If you don't mind buying a replacement much sooner, then by all means dump the dichlor and dash to the door. (Isn't that a song title?).

Just don't be one of the folks who complains about it later