Swimming pool light - electricians?

Bob Vila would love this group, post #109,303
Author:
Date:
Subject:
 MiamiCuse
 2008-07-20 22:25:01
 Swimming pool light - electricians?
I have two lights about 3 feet below the water surface. One of them turn on
and one of them went off recently.

I had the electrician who was working on my remodeling take a look, and he
opened a junction box near the pool, and there is power at the junction box,
so it is either the bulb or the light fixture is bad.

He told me normally swimming pool lights are low voltage, but in my case,
the wire going to the light is not low voltage but 110v. He said either the
light fixture has a built in low-voltage transformer, or when they put the
light fixture in back in the 70s, they used a 110v light fixture, and I need
a specialist that deals with pool lights to examine it.

Do I need to hire an electrician that is specialized in pool light fixtures?
or do I need to drain the pool down below the fixture level to take a look
myself?

My water table is very high being in Miami, I was told I cannot drain it or
it will crack, what if I drain my pool to half full (25000 gallon pool) it
will not crack right?

Thanks,

MC
Author:
Date:
Subject:
 metspitzer
 2008-07-20 21:36:44
 Re: Swimming pool light - electricians?
On Sun, 20 Jul 2008 22:25:01 -0400, "MiamiCuse"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>I have two lights about 3 feet below the water surface. One of them turn on
>and one of them went off recently.
>
>I had the electrician who was working on my remodeling take a look, and he
>opened a junction box near the pool, and there is power at the junction box,
>so it is either the bulb or the light fixture is bad.
>
>He told me normally swimming pool lights are low voltage, but in my case,
>the wire going to the light is not low voltage but 110v. He said either the
>light fixture has a built in low-voltage transformer, or when they put the
>light fixture in back in the 70s, they used a 110v light fixture, and I need
>a specialist that deals with pool lights to examine it.
>
>Do I need to hire an electrician that is specialized in pool light fixtures?
>or do I need to drain the pool down below the fixture level to take a look
>myself?
>
>My water table is very high being in Miami, I was told I cannot drain it or
>it will crack, what if I drain my pool to half full (25000 gallon pool) it
>will not crack right?
>
>Thanks,
>
>MC
>
Why not just buy a lamp and try it?

An electrician should have been able to tell you if the lamp was good.
It is a simple test with an ohm meter.
Author:
Date:
Subject:
 Pete C.
 2008-07-20 21:40:17
 Re: Swimming pool light - electricians?
MiamiCuse wrote:
>
> I have two lights about 3 feet below the water surface. One of them turn on
> and one of them went off recently.
>
> I had the electrician who was working on my remodeling take a look, and he
> opened a junction box near the pool, and there is power at the junction box,
> so it is either the bulb or the light fixture is bad.
>
> He told me normally swimming pool lights are low voltage, but in my case,
> the wire going to the light is not low voltage but 110v. He said either the
> light fixture has a built in low-voltage transformer, or when they put the
> light fixture in back in the 70s, they used a 110v light fixture, and I need
> a specialist that deals with pool lights to examine it.
>
> Do I need to hire an electrician that is specialized in pool light fixtures?
> or do I need to drain the pool down below the fixture level to take a look
> myself?
>
> My water table is very high being in Miami, I was told I cannot drain it or
> it will crack, what if I drain my pool to half full (25000 gallon pool) it
> will not crack right?
>
> Thanks,
>
> MC

As far as I know, those lights are sealed units that install in a recess
in the pool and have a flexible cord connection long enough to allow the
fixture to be removed and placed up on the pool deck for service.
Basically you just hop in the pool with a screwdriver, unscrew the three
or four screws that hold the fixture in the recess and pull the fixture
out and rest it on the deck. You then can work on it on the deck to open
it, replace the lamp and reseal the unit (might need some RTV gasket
maker). To reinstall you just coil the wire back into the recess behind
the fixture and screw it back in place.
Author:
Date:
Subject:
 RBM
 2008-07-20 22:51:54
 Re: Swimming pool light - electricians?
"MiamiCuse" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:fYednThqa9fjbh7VnZ2dnUVZ_jadnZ2d@dsli.com...
>I have two lights about 3 feet below the water surface. One of them turn
>on and one of them went off recently.
>
> I had the electrician who was working on my remodeling take a look, and he
> opened a junction box near the pool, and there is power at the junction
> box, so it is either the bulb or the light fixture is bad.
>
> He told me normally swimming pool lights are low voltage, but in my case,
> the wire going to the light is not low voltage but 110v. He said either
> the light fixture has a built in low-voltage transformer, or when they put
> the light fixture in back in the 70s, they used a 110v light fixture, and
> I need a specialist that deals with pool lights to examine it.
>
> Do I need to hire an electrician that is specialized in pool light
> fixtures? or do I need to drain the pool down below the fixture level to
> take a look myself?
>
> My water table is very high being in Miami, I was told I cannot drain it
> or it will crack, what if I drain my pool to half full (25000 gallon pool)
> it will not crack right?
>
> Thanks,
>
> MC

Line voltage pool light fixtures are very standard. Typically, one screw
holds the totally enclosed fixture into a niche in the wall of the pool. If
you remove the screw, there should be enough cord inside the niche, for the
fixture to be lifted out and placed on the pool deck for repair. If the
fixture is in good shape you may be able to replace the lamp and reseal the
fixture without water getting in, but if not , just replace the entire
fixture. These things come with cords attached, which you can buy at
whatever length you need to reach the deck box.
>
>
Author:
Date:
Subject:
 mm
 2008-07-21 00:32:02
 Re: Swimming pool light - electricians?
On Sun, 20 Jul 2008 22:51:54 -0400, "RBM" <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>Line voltage pool light fixtures are very standard. Typically, one screw
>holds the totally enclosed fixture into a niche in the wall of the pool. If
>you remove the screw, there should be enough cord inside the niche, for the
>fixture to be lifted out and placed on the pool deck for repair. If the

You can tell that some people are a lot smarter than I am. I would
have just used regular fixtures and expected the repairmen to use
scuba equipment.

>fixture is in good shape you may be able to replace the lamp and reseal the
>fixture without water getting in, but if not , just replace the entire
>fixture. These things come with cords attached, which you can buy at
>whatever length you need to reach the deck box.
Author:
Date:
Subject:
 MiamiCuse
 2008-07-21 01:32:08
 Re: Swimming pool light - electricians?
"RBM" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:4883f9ad$0$4998$607ed4bc@cv.net...
>
> "MiamiCuse" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:fYednThqa9fjbh7VnZ2dnUVZ_jadnZ2d@dsli.com...
>>I have two lights about 3 feet below the water surface. One of them turn
>>on and one of them went off recently.
>>
>> I had the electrician who was working on my remodeling take a look, and
>> he opened a junction box near the pool, and there is power at the
>> junction box, so it is either the bulb or the light fixture is bad.
>>
>> He told me normally swimming pool lights are low voltage, but in my case,
>> the wire going to the light is not low voltage but 110v. He said either
>> the light fixture has a built in low-voltage transformer, or when they
>> put the light fixture in back in the 70s, they used a 110v light fixture,
>> and I need a specialist that deals with pool lights to examine it.
>>
>> Do I need to hire an electrician that is specialized in pool light
>> fixtures? or do I need to drain the pool down below the fixture level to
>> take a look myself?
>>
>> My water table is very high being in Miami, I was told I cannot drain it
>> or it will crack, what if I drain my pool to half full (25000 gallon
>> pool) it will not crack right?
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> MC
>
> Line voltage pool light fixtures are very standard. Typically, one screw
> holds the totally enclosed fixture into a niche in the wall of the pool.
> If you remove the screw, there should be enough cord inside the niche, for
> the fixture to be lifted out and placed on the pool deck for repair. If
> the fixture is in good shape you may be able to replace the lamp and
> reseal the fixture without water getting in, but if not , just replace the
> entire fixture. These things come with cords attached, which you can buy
> at whatever length you need to reach the deck box.
>>
>>
>
>From the box to the pool light I would estimate about twenty feet...I think
this is pretty far I don't know why they located it so far away. In any
case the box is about 12" above the deck, a 1" PVC conduit attached to it's
base and the PVC conduit disappeared into the deck and eventually to the
pool light.

When the electrician was looking at the box, we took apart the plastic box
cover, and the 90 degree PVC elbow below it was loose, I tried to tighten it
but instead loosened it, and this is really strange, water seeped out of it.
I managed to tighten it back up, but the PVC conduit 18' away was partly
filled with water. I think the water level is the same as the pool surface.
I think this is not normal right? I would assume if this is line voltage
and the conduit is filled with water, then it's wet from there all the way
to the fixture? Something about this makes me real nervous...