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We just installed the covermate III. We love it. Similar to cover valet
The reviews on the Covermate III are terrible.http://www.amazon.com/CoverMate-III-Spa-Cover-Lift/product-reviews/B002WKM6WQ
Quote from: av8r on September 04, 2015, 09:58:55 pmThe reviews on the Covermate III are terrible.http://www.amazon.com/CoverMate-III-Spa-Cover-Lift/product-reviews/B002WKM6WQThat's not a true covermate III. Look at the pictures up close. It's like a bastardized version for amazon or something. The real covermate III is a good lifter.
The difference between the ECO and the standard is that the ECO does not have a bar that goes across the entire cover. This puts excessive pressure on the pivot arms, and as the cover ages and gains weight, they break. The Cover Valet also does not have a bar going across the entire cover, but is constructed much better and stronger eliminating this problem.
It depends..... covers tend to take on water and get heavier. But it's not so much the weight as the size. They are awkward for one person to handle if you're actually removing the cover. For me, most of the time, we just flip the cover half open and use the two nearest seats. With the old tub, it's only 30 inches high and there's a wall and fence right behind it that I just slide the cover back, left it up resting on the wall and bungy it to the fence. Works great... but the new tub is going to be 36 inches tall... so it will drop down a bit, then I'll have to lift it back up to get it back on. And sometimes that wall gets dirty and ends up in the spa....So, I just ordered a Covermate III