Why Your Pool Cover Won't Roll Up Smoothly — And How to Fix It

Crooked roll, mid-pool jamming, the cover sagging in the middle of the tube, the motor straining like it's lifting a car. Each problem has a different cause and a different fix. Almost all are free.

Published April 2026 · Lux Pool field notes

If you bought a pool reel and the cover is rolling unevenly, getting stuck, or making the motor whine, your first thought might be that something's broken. Usually it isn't. Six common issues account for nearly every "the reel doesn't work right" call we get, and four of the six are fixed without spending a dollar.

Here they are, in order of how common they are.

Problem 1: The cover rolls up crooked (one side longer than the other)

You roll the cover up and it ends up bunched on one side of the tube while the other side has a long flap hanging off. After a few cycles, the bunched side starts to deform.

Cause

The cover wasn't aligned to the tube when you first attached it. The strapping or attachment points are slightly off — maybe an inch or two — between the left and right ends. As the cover rolls, that small offset compounds with every rotation.

Fix (free, takes 5 minutes)

Unroll the cover all the way and let it float on the pool. Walk around to the side of the pool opposite the reel. Pull the cover edge straight, parallel to the pool wall. Mark the cover-to-tube attachment points on both sides with a piece of tape. They should be exactly equidistant from the cover's leading edge. If they're not, detach the cover from the tube, slide the cover so the alignment is true, and reattach.

If your cover attaches via straps with adjustable buckles, you can fix the alignment by tightening one strap or loosening the other. A 1-inch offset is enough to cause visible crookedness over a 32-foot pool.

Problem 2: The cover sags in the middle of the tube

Halfway through rolling, the middle of the cover dips down into the water while the ends are already wrapped. By the end of the roll, the middle has a wet, sagging belly while the ends look fine.

Cause

The reel tube is bowing under the weight. This is a structural problem, not a cover problem. It happens on long pools (over 28 feet) when the tube wall is too thin — usually 1.0 mm or 1.2 mm aluminum. The wet cover is heavy enough that gravity is winning over the tube's stiffness.

Fix

The full fix is a center support stand — a small post that goes under the middle of the tube to hold it up. Most reel manufacturers sell these for $80–150. Install one and the sag disappears immediately.

The cheap field fix: roll the cover slowly, in two stages. Roll halfway, walk to the middle, push the sag up, finish rolling. It's a workaround, not a solution, but it gets you through the season.

The long-term fix: when this reel reaches end of life, replace it with one that has a thicker tube wall (≥1.5 mm for 28-foot pools, ≥2.0 mm for longer).

Problem 3: The motor strains, sounds loud, or stops mid-roll

You hit the button and instead of the smooth hum it used to make, the motor groans, slows, or stops without finishing.

Cause #1: cover is heavier than usual

Pool covers absorb water gradually as they age. A new cover weighs 35 pounds wet for a 16x32 pool. A 4-year-old cover with delaminated bubbles can weigh 50 pounds wet. The motor was sized for the original weight.

Test: try rolling when the cover has been off the pool for two hours and is fully dry. If the motor runs normally then, the issue is cover saturation. The fix is replacing the cover.

Cause #2: cover is dragging on the pool deck

If the cover edge catches on a coping stone, deck umbrella stand, or pool toy as it rolls up, the motor has to fight against that drag. You'll usually hear it as a sudden change in pitch or a stutter at one specific spot in the roll.

Watch one full roll cycle and see where the cover catches. Move whatever's in the way. Done.

Cause #3: low battery

If your reel is solar-charged and you've had cloudy days, the battery may be running low. The motor controller will reduce power to protect the battery, and the motor will sound weak.

Most reels have a battery indicator. Check it. If low, give it a full sunny day to recharge before using.

Cause #4: motor wear (rare)

If none of the above explain it and the issue is gradual over years, the motor itself may be wearing. This is uncommon on brushless DC motors (they last 15+ years easily) but can happen on cheaper brushed-motor reels around year 5–7. At that point, contact the manufacturer about replacement.

Problem 4: The cover bunches at one end of the tube

Different from "rolls up crooked." Here, the cover starts rolling normally but as it goes, it migrates toward one end of the tube and ends up bunched there.

Cause

The reel stand is not level. Even a small slope (a half-inch difference between the two stand bases) creates a tilt in the tube, and gravity walks the cover toward the low end as it rolls.

Fix

Use a bubble level on the tube itself. If it's not level, shim under the lower stand base. Most pool deck surfaces are not perfectly flat — pavers, concrete with drainage slope, etc. — so this is worth checking even on a brand-new install.

Cheap shims: thin plastic deck shims from any hardware store, or even folded strips of pool-friendly EPDM rubber. Don't use cardboard or wood — they soak up pool splash and compress unevenly over time.

Problem 5: The cover doesn't fully cover the pool when unrolled

You unroll the cover and there's a strip of bare water at one end of the pool — usually 2–3 feet wide.

Cause

The cover was cut shorter than the pool length. Either it was always too short and you didn't notice when it was new, or the cover has shrunk slightly with age (this is real — solar covers shrink 1–2% over their lifespan due to UV-induced polymer changes).

Fix

If the gap is small (under a foot), it's not really a problem — heat loss is dominated by surface area, and a 1-foot gap on a 32-foot pool is 3% of the surface. The cover is still doing 97% of its job.

If the gap is larger and the cover is fairly new, contact the seller — covers should be cut to your pool's length plus 1–2 feet of overhang at each end. They may replace it.

If the cover is old, it's reached the end of useful life. Time for a new one.

Problem 6: The remote stopped working

Press the button, nothing happens.

Causes, in order of likelihood

1. Remote battery dead. Most reel remotes use a CR2032 coin cell or a CR2025. Pop it open, swap the battery. Done.
2. You're out of range. Most remotes have a 30-foot range. If you're across the pool from the motor housing, get closer.
3. Remote got wet. If you dropped it in the pool or it sat in the rain, the radio circuit may be damaged. Open it, dry thoroughly, replace battery, try again. If still dead, order a replacement.
4. Receiver in the motor housing damaged. Rare. If you tried a known-good remote and it doesn't work either, the motor housing needs service. Contact the manufacturer.

Always keep a spare CR2032 or CR2025 in the pool shed. Remote batteries die at the worst possible time — usually right when guests arrive and you want to roll the cover up quickly.

The two cases that genuinely need professional service: motor housing damage from a hard impact, and battery failure after seven-plus years. Both are rare, both are fixable, and both should be handled by the manufacturer rather than a generic pool service.