Cover Valet

Cover Valet cover lifter parts and mounting hardware

Cover Valet is a name associated with hot tub and spa cover lifters — the hinged or pivoting arm systems that take the weight of a heavy insulated cover and park it behind or beside the shell. A lifter spends its life outdoors, is operated several times a week and carries an awkward load, so it is the mounting hardware and the moving joints that tend to need attention long before the arms themselves do. Here you will find replacement parts for that hardware, so an otherwise sound lifter can stay in service instead of being scrapped.

How a cover lifter is mounted

Most spa cover lifters attach in one of two ways. Some sit under the cabinet, held in place by the weight of the tub, which suits installations where nothing may be drilled into the shell surround. Others are fixed directly to the cabinet or shell lip with brackets on each side — a side mount arrangement. Side mounting keeps the pivot point close to the cover hinge, which is why it is often the tidier solution on tubs with limited clearance behind them, but it does mean the whole load passes through two small plates and their fixings.

Because those brackets are the interface between a moving arm and a fixed cabinet, they absorb every lift, every gust of wind on a raised cover and every slightly off-centre push. Over time that shows up as elongated bolt holes, a bracket that has worked loose in its fixings, corrosion around the hardware, or a plate that has been bent out of true. Replacing the brackets is usually far quicker and cheaper than replacing arms or a complete lifter.

Side mount brackets and what to check

Il Cover Valet side mount bracket pack of 2 (CV-AA) is supplied as a matched pair, because brackets are fitted left and right and should always be renewed together — a new plate on one side and a worn, slightly splayed plate on the other will put the arms out of parallel and make the cover bind as it swings. Points worth inspecting before ordering:

• Bolt holes — any hole that has gone oval, or shows bright metal where a bolt has been moving, means the bracket is no longer holding the arm square.
• Plate alignment — sight along both brackets. A bend or twist in one of them is the usual reason a cover starts to sit crooked when parked.
• Pivot wear — play at the point where the arm meets the bracket shows as a clunk at the start of each lift.
• Fixings and surrounds — check the cabinet material behind the bracket as well. Soft or split panelling needs backing before new hardware will hold.
• Cover condition — a waterlogged cover weighs far more than a dry one and will keep destroying hardware until it is replaced.

Individuare il ricambio giusto prima di effettuare l'ordine

Cover lifters from different makers look broadly alike but rarely share hardware, so identify the lifter before buying brackets. Look for a label or moulded marking on the arms or on the original fitting instructions, and compare the bracket you are replacing with the item shown: the overall shape of the plate, the number and pattern of holes, and the way the arm locates in it. Measuring the hole spacing on the old bracket and the width of the plate takes a minute and removes most of the guesswork.

It is also worth noting where the existing brackets sit relative to the cover hinge and the cabinet top edge, and photographing the installation before anything comes off. Refitting is much easier when the original positions are recorded, and the cover will return to its correct balance point first time. If a lifter has already been moved to a new tub at some stage, check the geometry again rather than assuming the old marks are still correct.

Keeping a lifter working for longer

A few habits make a noticeable difference. Tighten the bracket fixings at the start of each season, as repeated lifting works them loose gradually rather than suddenly. Keep the pivot points clean and free of grit, which grinds away at bushes and bolt shanks. Lift from the centre of the cover rather than one corner, so the load is shared between both sides. And rinse off salt, chlorine residue and splash water from around the hardware, since those are what start the corrosion that eventually seizes a joint or weakens a plate.

Cover Valet at PoolParthub.com

Here we list Cover Valet replacement hardware for spa and hot tub cover lifters, currently the CV-AA side mount bracket pack of 2. Parts like these are stocked because they are the components that actually fail on a lifter — a pair of brackets restores a system that is otherwise perfectly serviceable.

If the bracket you need is not shown, it helps to measure the old part and note the hole pattern and plate dimensions, so the closest match can be identified. The same information is useful when a lifter has been in place for years and the original paperwork is long gone.