Intex28685E 47 Inch x 47 Inch Solar Pool Water Heater Mat for 8,000 Gallon Above Ground Swimming Pool with Hose Attachment and Adaptors, Black

I purchased a total of 12 of these for my 18ft round 52" deep, Bestway Pool. I installed them on top of my flat roofed garage. I arranged them in 3 parallel sets of 4 in series. I reversed the inlet/outlets of my pool first, because it seemed backwards. I now have one large intake to filter/pump and two 1.25" outlets back to pool. I routed one of the 1.25" outlets through my solar array. I also installed valves on both 1.25" outlet hoses and a tee to allow control of flow through the solar mats. I can force all supply water from pump, though solar mats and still get a 6* Fahrenheit temp rise on a 75* ambient day. I also purchased a solar blanket to retain that heat at night. I didn't have any problems with leaks due to factory connection, none of my seams leaked, and my water temp increased nicely. I try to read reviews of products through an idiot filter. Most problems with any product is a result from morons not following instructions, which seems to be a problem with these mats. I would, and probably will purchase more of these if they wear out in the future.TIPS:LEAKING CONNECTIONS - all the connections rely on an "O-ring" making a seal. Wet, and carefully rotate and slide hoses onto fillings. Most leaks are probably due to people cramming the hoses on.RIPPING/BURSTING SEAMS - I have the stock pump for my Bestway pool. I am not sure of the flow rate, however, there is NO way I would divert all the flow through a single line of mats. This is most likely why seams bust. Also multiple mats in a parallel configuration allows for some relief if the flow is restricted due to a kink, or someone standing on the mat, which is also a likely reason for seam bursting.SIZING - If you do not purchase enough mats for your pool size it will never warm the pool due to basic physics. Also, purchase a solar mat to retain the heat! I read that while it takes only one BTU of heat to raise the temperature of one pound of water, you can loose as much as 1100 BTUs per gallon of water through evaporation (or like 8 pounds of water).EXTRA PIPING - I purchased 25ft lengths of 1.25" sump pump hose for my extra required piping for about $7/25ft at my local hardware store. Use steel hose clamps one extra piping connections, and use a drill/impact gun to tighten those extra clamps.

Long review.Do the mats work? Yes and No!Do the mats leak? Yes and No!Do YOU own a pump large enough to consider?According to Intex whom I called myself. These mats are supposed to work with multiple pumps they sell. They did not lie when it came to the fact that it did move the water through the mats. However, when I questioned the minimum spec amount for the pump that would proficiently work for me. They would not give me a direct answer. What I have found is they will not do this for many of the products they sell. So what's left is a handful of poor reviews/videos to go along with many items they sell.I have watched several YouTube videos of people that have been able to get these mats to work but they are also running a second pump to these mats. So if you don't mind additional hoses with clutter and dead grass. ( Many may have parts/pumps laying around as some due from previous pool purchases ). Then by all means. However, if you intend to keep a neat, clean and orderly backyard this summer. One without all the clutter and additional electrical wires, pumps and hoses. Then this is not the route to go.So after I was able to play around with the piping to get it to stop leaking. ( A lot has to do with the black O-ring gaskets ). If you try to push the hose onto the mat pipe without first lubing the pipe. There is a good chance that you will push the O-ring gasket out of its Groove. ( Main cause of leaks I have found so far and reviewers ). So now the leaking has stopped. On to the next issue. NEEDING A BIGGER PUMP.The representative form intex suggested I run the pump for up to an hour just to make sure all the air was out of the mats system. When running it as it was suggested with just the B side ( heat side ) the pump lasted 20 or 30 minutes before it overheated and died. ( At this time I did not even have the pool skimmer connected to it just the two mats ). The mats have an A side and a B-side. A side is direct current from the intake to the pump. B-side is utilizing the mat itself and the heating channels. Running the B-side alone suffocated the pump causing it to overheat. Now running just the A side. ( Even with/out connecting the skimmer ). It still wasn't enough suction. ( Skimmer still wouldn't function correctly ). So I opened A&B at which point I finally received water moving through my system. ( However, with skimmer connected ). I still had no upper movement from the skimmer.My pool is one that has the dual intake. I even disconnected one intake. Plugging it and removing the additional hose lines as I was asked to do so by the representative. This didn't make much difference at all. However, the representative still swears up and down that it works. Again it works in regards as to it does move some water but nothing else will function properly. I opened it up to the B-side itself and moved the warm water. Within 20-30 minutes the pump overheated and died.The purpose of the mats obviously is to intake water. Heat the water up and then filter it back into the pool in a circulation. So of course you're going to want to run this for several minutes before entering. Not just two to five minutes. The mats obviously aren't large enough to hold a massive amount of water that two or three minutes is enough to knock the chill down. However, running only 20 to 30 minutes and having the mats overheat the pump and kill the pump. Is not proficient at all. Especially when Intex told me let it run for an hour.Now again I am only running a thousand gallon pump. A pump Intex themselves swears runs the system. ( It does move water from one end to other )As for running the system proficiently. This it does not. I also hooked a skimmer sold by Intex. An accessory they have told me will work with my layout. It does work. It pulls water in from the lower half but as for it skimming the surface there is just not enough pump suction. I also have tried closing one intake valve as it was suggested I do by the representative.Some reviews reading this will say that's too much to run accessory wise on such a small pump. ( This is how I feel as well ). However, it's a pump that Intex says should be running the system absolutely proficiently well. As for questioning customer service and asking them the required specs to run the system proficiently they would just tell me what I have is fine. My neighbors statue that urinates has more flow.I'm also running not one but two mats which also was recommend by Intex. I have placed an ordered for a larger sand filter pump. Upon arrival and testing. My rating and post may or may not change.Their customer service by far is the worst of all companies I've had to deal with. Buyer beware if you do not save your tracking email they will not honor any of the their warranties. And what I mean by tracking email is the actual tracking email not the order receipt email. So if you do buy an accessory from them or a pump that has a one or two year warranty. Remember at all cost to save the tracking email if ordering through Amazon. My understanding is if you do not order from them directly one will need a tracking receipt.On the bright side. With mats only being $13 dollars apiece through Amazon. I've seen them listed anywhere from $32 a mat to $60 dollars. It may be well worth buying one or two for parts. If anyone has priced out clamps for hoses especially the converter adapters to connect a larger pump to a smaller pool. They run high in price. Example, it's $25 and up just for a pair of adapters to go from a small pump to a large pump then to the pool. Included was one such adapter in the Box. So if you need two or more of these adapters. And you can catch the mats at 13 apiece or lower. It's almost like getting the mats for free along with additional clamps, hoses and accessories.So I'm still hoping for the mats to work for me with a larger filter and pump this summer. I will be bummed if they don't. However, getting additional parts that can always be used ( from what I'm learning from this company NEEDED ). I'm basically getting the mats and some parts for free. It's well worth the Gamble.So after getting larger filter I still had very little luck. I could only imagine six to eight of these hooked together. You kill you pump!

I can't comment on durability but it's a vinyl mat - if you step on it or use too large a pump, expect holes. I find AirStop works GREAT for repairing leaky vinyl!I'm using this in a DIY setup to heat a hot tub, and it seems to actually work pretty well without any modification. With midday sun in march, it's currently heating my 83F water at what I calculate loosely to be around 900W. Pretty great bang for the buck, and definitely better than putting out solar panels! If I had more space to play with, I'd probably get 3 or 5 more.I wouldn't think twice about getting these for a pool, although you'll need lots of them and a cover.Pro tip: it doesn't matter if the water is coming out of the mat no hotter than it went in. In fact, if it's coming out a lot hotter, it means your pump should be bigger/faster. Imagine you've got a bunch of these in a row with a 500gph pump, and the water coming out is 10 degrees warmer than it went in. If you switched to a 1000gph pump, it'd only be 5 degrees warmer coming out, but by moving twice as much water, you'd get the same heating into the pool/tub. And actually a little bit more, because the colder the water in the mat, the more heat it will pull from the environment.