VINGLI Pool Cover Reel Set Pool Solar Cover Reel for Inground Swimming Pool, Aluminum Solar Swimming Inground Cover Blanket Reel (Upgrade) (14 Feet)

PROS: Easy to follow assembly instructions. Easy to assemble. Sturdy build. Lightweight, making it easy to move. Smooth operation when winding/unwinding the pool cover. The straps and clips to connect the reel to the pool cover are rugged. Bought mine last year. After a summer in the sun, and a winter out in the cold, this spring there's no signs of weathering.CONS: The handle of the tension bolt meant to "lock the tube" to keep the reel from "unwinding" was weaker than I would have liked. I ultimately 3D printed a more-robust replacement handle.CONCLUSION: This is a solid product. Highly recommend.

The media could not be loaded. OK, so this Reel is Fantastic! I received both boxes with all the correct pieces. People have gave this bad reviews because they did not receive both boxes. It's easy to contact the seller and they will fix that, giving it a bad review because that is a joke. Next, people have given this bad reviews because it's light weight, and falls in the pool while unrolling/ROLLING or blows in the pool on windy days. It is not heavy and made of aluminum and plastic What those people did not see is the seller recommends sand bags to act as an anchor, and I bought a four pack of these on Amazon: ABCCANOPY Sandbag Saddlebag Photography Weight Bags for Video Stand,4 Packs (Black) - and filled them with, two of these from a big box hardware store: 0.5-cu ft Brown Pea Pebbles Gravel for 3.98 a bag. This Reel went together in about 30 minutes or maybe less it was very easy to put together. Now I ordered the 18 foot reel but my Deck tops out at about 14 Feet and my pool measurements, i.e. water area is 35 long by 12 wide. I thought since it expanded up to 18 feet wide I could make it go smaller to 12 feet wide, but nope the smallest it will go is 14 feet wide. The wheels look OK and I could see them breaking over time if left out exposed to the sun and elements or being rough on them. I am going to have the lady of the house make some covers to put over the wheels because out here in Southern AZ the sun beats up everything exposed no matter how well it's made or not. Some of the plastic parts I am going to rate at 4 stars durability wise. It maneuvers OK it's not bad at all I will give it 4 stars maneuverability wise. I am using a heavy 16mil Midwest Canvas 36 x 18 cover on mine, that has been cut down to 35 x 12 and have NO SAG in the middle what so ever like some people have complained about. I think since my reel is only expanded to 14 feet the tubing I am not extending is acting as reinforcement which is great. So if your pool is say 18 feet wide, buy the 21 foot reel and the tubing not used for expansion will act as reinforcement. I am in a wheel chair so my whole goal buying a reel and cover was to make it easy for the lady of the house to take this off and on all by her self, and as you can see in the video she can reel it right up no problem. I have a second video of her unrolling it but Amazon only lets one video per review, and in that video she can unroll it no problem all on her own. I have moved my reel closer to the pool so the cover is not scraping the deck when rolling and unrolling. With the sand bags filled with pea pebbles anchoring the reel this works like a breeze, I honestly think people don't follow instructions building this, missed seeing sandbags to anchor it, or are just clueless. The attaching clips and straps that come with it work great as well. I thought it might come with junky clips to attach to the cover but the clips are really good. I highly recommend this reel it works great and when we showed our neighbor's wife video of how this works she was like, ''send me the link, my husband makes me take ours off a certain way, fold it a certain way, and then put it back on gently,'' and she goes ''I want that reel you have because it's a pain every time we want to swim to have to remove the cover with out a reel'' This reel is fantastic!-NOTE-1: My yard is under constriction we removed all the rock from both sides of our pool and are adding hardscape stone.-NOTE-2: I may edit this review if something breaks and adjust my rating but right now it's 5 STARS-NOTE-3: The Sandbags may fade over time, but who cares as long as it holds the reel or they can be replaced.

Update on review:Took a couple hours to get out of the heat and cool my head. I initially gave this cover reel a one star review because it comes with terrible instructions manual. I was finally able to put this together (took about two hours total not including the break I took in between). You see definitely need some tools on hand prior to setting this up: 1. Drill, 2. Twist drill bit of the proper size 3. Saw id you need the reel to be under 11 feet 4. Philips screw driver 5. Wrench of the proper size.All in all, product is OK (only had it for a day though) so time will tell if it holds up. But if you are not handy, you will be pretty frustrated while putting it together…Instructions are absolute garbage. Make sure you have a hammer/mallet, wrench set etc before even unboxing. I gave up after one hour of trying to decipher the utter garbage that was sent as “instructions manual.” I may try to set this trash up again later but for now, it’ll likely sit out in my patio or garage gathering dust. I have put together countless furniture and completed smaller diy projects and this is by far the most difficult one by far. I can put together an ikea king size bed solo in under 45 minutes but could not get past half the instructions on this after one hour.

I've replaced my 6 year old reel of an different manufacture. This seems to be well thought out design and construction. The assembly instruction where simple and easy to follow. and I like the bright yellow color also. And the easy slide straps system is really ingenious, no sticky back Velcro that pulls off or slides off in the heat.

This reel is a game changer for the solar cover for the pool. I didn't have any problems with the assembly instructions, although it did take about an hour, but I took my time. My pool is narrow, but long and this reel handles the cover no problem. I'm able to roll it and unroll it by myself. Seems to be a good product.

This reel, in combination with a bubble wrap cover, worked wonders for my 10,000 gallon in-ground pool last summer. I put the reel together myself without much trouble, although it did take about 90 minutes.My only question is whether it will be difficult to remove the plastic clips when it’s time to replace the bubble wrap. In any event it did raise the temperature in my pool about 6° all season and I appreciate that very much.

I am so glad I found these!! So much better than the velcro. These fit my roller perfectly!

Very good product in terms of construction and functionality.It always seems incredible to me that a company that can afford to design and manufacture a modern device like this is incapable of hiring an English speaking translator or providing easy to follow instructions. The current fad of showing pictures instead of including simple instructions is taken to an absurd level. You are basically on your own when it comes to crunch time, that is, sizing the roller to your blanket. If your blanket is less than 11' wide be prepared to cut sections of the roller off - but how is up to you. A hack saw? Reciprocating saw? Good luck making a clean straight cut. If you like jigsaw puzzles, solving this one will appeal to you. Pictures are labeled with x, y and z variables but they are not defined. Eventually, you'll figure it all out and have a decent product.