Ask 'Dr. Spa' Q & A Message Board

The way it has worked for me with Rayner is that they offer special pricing to me while retaining a retail operation. They give enough trade discount that I can resell one of their covers and still make a decent profit, even though I sell the cover for less than someone can buy it retail out of Rayner. Overall, I have been impressed with the quality. I have had no issues as of yet with wet foam. Personally, I take their R value figures with a grain of salt. I tell my customers that a 4 inch thick, two pound density foam will provide the same insulation regardless of manufacturer. I have found their vinyl to be top notch, the stitching perfect and the reinforcing first class. Depending on which grade of cover selected, metal reinforcement may be aluminum or stainless steel. Frankly, as long as the vapor barrier is solid, either aluminum or stainless steel will do a great job as long as it is rigid enough. I can attest that the metal reinforcement C channel at the hinge is very solid.

I do not get much call for their more expensive Sunbrella fabric covers. I do get a lot of orders for their so-called Premium covers. The truck freight shipping is a tad expensive though. I was also impressed with the thickness of the PE vapor barrier.

John

: WOW, this is the first I've seen of Rayner (though my partner met them
: at the last show he was at). Looks like a very well made cover from
: their description. Almost as good as ours (possibly better in one
: area if one goes with the sunbrella).

: However, I have to question a few of their claims. Not that I don't
: necessarily believe them, but they're so unusual.

: First, the R value they claim. According to their specs, foam density
: and thickness, the R value to claim is not based on standard testing
: procedures.

: They claim their 4" to 2-1/2" tapered, 1 pound density cover
: is R-16 and their 2 pound R-21.

: JUST the foam has an R value of;
: 1 pound = R-12.5
: 2 pound = R-14.1

: This also brings up another question. A large, no, LARGE number of
: internet sellers are currently "fudging" in the claimed
: thickness area these days. The thickness and taper of the foam is
: suposed to be based on a 4' wide piece of foam (8' cover). The
: smaller the cover, the thicker the outer edge (since that's the part
: that gets cut of on smaler covers). Some are also adding in the added
: thickness of the vinyl to the stated thickness. A 4" overall
: thickness cover can be 10% less insulating that a cover with 4"
: foam.

: The polyethiline wrapping the foam has an R value of R-0.85

: Vinyl, does NOT make up the rest of that.

: They are using Energy Sheild (we offer it as an option), but this has no
: more R value that standard scrim material used by most manufacturers.
: It does, or at least is claimed to, reduce heat loss through
: radiation, but radiant heat loss in not a consideration of R value.

: Moving on........... 30 mil vinyl. Very unusual. I'm not aware of anyone
: that makes this thickness as standard. Though I do know, that if you
: buy in large enough quantities the vinyl manufacturers will do a
: custom thickness (we ourselves have a 32 oz that's custom made for
: us). Personally, I'd like to run some callipers over a sample to
: varify it.

: "16-gauge aluminum channel". This is spectacular! I've never
: seen anything this thick being used in spa covers. And aluminum to
: boot, that's expensive (hey, did you know that guage thickness with
: aluminum is different than compared to steel.......e.g. the same
: "number" gauge is a different actual thickness. My
: recollection is there's about a 15% to 20% differnce.) Also,
: aluminum, while lighter than steel, if the same thickness, isn't as
: strong as steel. Sorry I don't have the resources at hand to compare
: the strength of 16g aluminum with the various thicknesses of steel
: being used.

: I like the 6 mil. polyethylene vapor barrier. Besides us, they're the
: first I've seen to be using this.

: what's the "Stainless Channeling" they talk of on their
: ordering page?

: Pricing? OMG! Do their retail prices on their site include shipping? We
: make what I believe is a slightly better cover, delivered, for almost
: $100 less.

: Last thing............ they say they have a 5 year warranty.Any idea
: what the limitations are?