I went away for a week and came home to find the quick change plastic lens cover sitting at the bottom of the pool. It was cracked down the middle (it was rather old and my guess is the pool cleaner had something to do with finishing it off).

Anyway, I went to turn on the underwater light and it was out. It looks like the fixture is about 1/4 filled with water. I've had the pool a little over a year and never had a problem with the light.

I want to change the bulb. Is there supposed to be water behind the glass lens? If not, and the water is what caused the bulb to blow out, what do you suppose caused water to leak in? As I said, it worked great since I've owned the pool. Will it work if I just set the fixture on the deck and let it dry out, or do I need a whole new unit?

If the fixture is not corroded, you may be able to get away with changing the bulb and the gasket. Something made it leak. And, no, there's not supposed to be water behind the lens.

When you have the fixture out of the pool, you can test it with a regular light bulb. If it works, you'll probably be OK. Do pay attention to the gasket.

Thanks! I'm going to try a regular light bulb today.

I do hope you realize that using the regular bulb is just to verify the fixture and wiring. You can't use a regular bulb with the fixture closed, it will almost immediately overheat. You have to use a bulb rated for this application!

Anytime you open a pool fixture you should replace the gasket with a new one. Never, never reuse a gasket, it's just asking for leaks.

I opened up the light fixture and it was definitely 1/4 of the way filled. Not a lot of water, but the socket was definitely wet. I'm thinking that I might have had a slow leak for awhile and was not able to notice it with the blue plastic cover. I don't swim a lot at night so it could have been sitting wet for several weeks. The gasket was all slimy and looked like it had some calcium deposits on it. Everything else looked fine, so my guess is that the leak started somewhere around the gasket.

Anyway, I cleaned out the socket and let it dry in the sun for a couple of hours. I tried a regular bulb and it lit right up. Went to the pool store and purchased a new bulb, gasket and plastic cover. Re-installed the light and everything appears to be working fine. No leaks and hopefully it will stay that way.

I never did this before, so thanks to everyone for your comments. It was a success!

First time for everything, ears still ring