Upgrade Classic Reel

Several years I purchased a pool cover roller that was made with many plastic parts. It was unstable, and impossible to to use without a helper. I threw it in the back yard, and finally trashed it. I was hesitant to buy another, but I’m glad that I did. This unit is solidly built, stays but when I reel the cover in and pull it out. It did well for the past season, and I’m looking forward to warm weather so I can use it again.

I am pleasantly surprised by this device — it’s sturdier than I expected, though an average-size 10yo could easily damage it. We have a 40x18 pool and the solar cover doesn’t sag at all in the middle. Hopefully it survives daily use, I’m a little worried my kids will bend the aluminum pipes. I’ve had it on the pool a few days now and it’s growing on me as I figure out it’s quirks. It’s not difficult to assemble, but as others have noted the directions aren’t the best. NOTE: This thing does NOT make taking the cover easier for us, it’s definitely a two-person job unless you have it anchored really well. Also the first day the wind blew it into the pool... needless to say you should anchor it! I’m pretty happy with it so far! My only regret is not making it wider before putting the screws in (see pictures, the cover is hard to get on perfectly and overlaps like 8 inches each side). At 18’ wide I’m worried going wider will reduce stability of the aluminum pipes, but the overlap is annoying.

I was skeptical due to reviews that said it was difficult to understand the instructions, but I found them clear and watched a YouTube video of someone installing this unit, which was helpful. I was able to adjust it to make it wider than my pool to ensure that is rolled up without snagging-just make sure to leave at least a few inches on with side so that it is wide enough. Drilling the holes in order to assemble using the included self tapping screws is easy provided you use a bit for metal and not wood, just capture the shavings for easy clean up. It does tend to want to fall over if you pull the entire cover at once, so I unwrap 1/2 and met it fall into a pile, then cover the pool, making sure I overlap the end of the cover so that pool water doesn’t run over the cover, then the rest comes unwrapped easily and the unit doesn’t fall over. I like the screw handle lock. For another pool I had another reel that was lower to the ground then this one and more stable, but prices for one of those was four times this one, so I took a chance and bought this model. I’m glad I did because it’s well made, all stainless steel and aluminum, with a plastic insert between the two to avoid galvanic corrosion. Good design, great price, easy to install, and looks good. Would definitely buy again.

The VINGLI 18 Feet Pool Cover Reel is fantastic! It was very easy to assemble, is incredibly sturdy, and works flawlessly—even for one-person operation. The only drawback I noticed was the plastic endcaps on one of the stands; they shatter easily and would be better if made of rubber. Thankfully, it’s an easy fix, as 1.5" rubber endcaps are widely available and work perfectly as replacements. Overall, this reel is a great buy and has made covering and uncovering my pool so much easier. Highly recommend!

Worked okay until the wheels broke off

I have had this reel for 2 years now. It is easy to use and makes maneuvering the cover away from the pool easy. There is a metal clip that holds the handle on. It ended up falling off in my yard and I lost it. I contacted their customer service through Amazon and they immediately sent me a replacement part. Not only one, but they sent me an a few of them for spares. This was also 2 years after buying the product. +The only flaw I would say is that the yellow color on the handle fades from the sun. Otherwise, this is a worthwhile purchase!

Updated 6/21/24: and now we have another 2 screw that have ended up in our pool. It is dangerous for the people swimming to have sharp screws and our pool liner bc it can get ripped. Design is VERY poor!! If I could give it 0 stars I would but I had to give it at least 1. Updated 5/30/2024: I normally don't update my reviews, but feel this is warranted. Since getting this pool reel, we have lost 4 screws out of the metal piece and one almost falling out. One came out within a week and luckily was on the cover. A few weeks later another fell into the pool. When we opened our pool this year we found a screw at the bottom of our deep end and there are 2 screws missing (so one is still MIA) and one that was about to fall out. Understand that this was cheap, but also not expensive. The design of the metal reel and the screws are VERY POOR quality. It's dangerous for the screws to fall out into the pool for both the people swimming, the liner, and the pool equipment! So my very handy husband (who built our in wall bookshelves) had a very difficult time putting this together. First the instructions are horrible, not proper English and not even visually easy to follow. The "self-tapping" screws didn't work so he still had to pre-drill the holes. Then the instructions stated "the buckle line had to be absolutely straight" which is not physically possible, so don't follow those instructions. We put it together and then took it apart and tried to make the buckle line "absolutely straight" as per the instructions, but it was physically impossible. It works, but we've only had it up for 2 days, so I cannot speak to durability. I do wish the clips were white instead of yellow.

Somewhat easy to assemble but very easy to use. Great quality You cant ask for better