Spa Light Niche

[RASelkirk]

Hi All,

I have an 18k gallon fiberglass pool that was installed in 1992, we had it re-gelcoated and painted in 2007. The outfit that did this was the outfit that supplied the pool shell. In my opinion, they did a cr@ppy job, as all my fixtures, including the lamp, were 'glassed over. However, this may be the de facto standard and I could have just had too high an expectation...

The problem is, because of the added thickess of gelcoat over the front ring, the bulb housing tang no longer fits into the niche. This caused too much pressure on the retainer screw which broke off the screw tang inside the niche. I can roll up the cord and stick the lamp in there, but my Barracuda cleaner always finds it, dislodges it, and gets tangled in the cord.

The easiest solution would be to grind off the extra 'glass over the niche's outer ring so the tang fits, then use this "light wedge" in lieu of the niche's broken screw tang. My question here is: how does this wedge affect the coils of cable? Mine's pretty tight now and I cannot see how/where this wedge will fit. Over the coils? In front of the coils?

Can the light niche be replaced from the front? I see from the diagram the niche goes in from the front, but not sure how the cabling bung can be reattached to the conduit. Not sure if the screws holding the front frame can even be removed without breaking them off, they've been in there 23 years. I will NOT be jackhammering my deck for this, would rather do without a lamp.

Pool is due for a repaint and I'd like to get this done at the same time.

Oh, and do the 12V LED replacement lamps have a smaller diameter cable? I know they don't require the current that a 500W 120V bulb does...

Thanks!

Russ

 

[RASelkirk]

Sorry, is there a special section for lights? I see lamp Q's don't get much action here...

Russ

 

[gwegan]

No we haven't forgotten you. There are just fewer fiberglass pool owners on here.

Can you post a picture?

So lets talk language. A light niche is a generally plastic that is fitted on the pool at installation. It looks like this:

Hayward DuraNiche Vinyl Fiberglass Pool Light Niche

A pool light fits inside of the light niche and generally consists of a shell or fixture awith a light bulb mounted inside. Something like this:

Jandy Incandescent White Light Parts - INYOPools.com


The above shows fixture and light.

You are having a problem mounting the fixture to the niche. Correct?

How much cable is there?

There only needs to be enough cable to easly set the light fixture on the deck to service it. If you have much more than that you could reduce it.

The cable is not attached in the light niche. It is attached in a junction box. A small electrical box sticking out of the ground near your pool or pad. If you have extra cable you can shorten it there.

I'm no expert on fiberglass pools but generally its difficult (impossible??) to replace installed light niches even if you drain the pool.

Does any of that help?

 

[RASelkirk]

Thanks. I'm thinking it will be a miracle if this niche can be replaced without tearing up the deck, checking in to see if anyone has attempted it before. All the stars would have to be in perfect alignment...

This pool was installed in '92, hence the Hayward (spa sized) niche is all metal. There is just enough cord to get the fixture on the deck. The tab inside the niche (that the fixture screws into) is broken, there is still some of it left, but "half a screw hole" ain't gonna get 'er done. The problem became noticeable when I had to change a bulb sometime after the pool was gel-coated. The crew doing the work 'glassed over the front face (the outer ring with the screws that hold the niche to the backing plate behind the fiberglass) instead of removing it first. This added thickness does not allow for the tab on the fixture to fit where it needs to fit inside the bottom of the niche. Now I have neither the tab nor the screw as a means to hold the fixture in place, the only thing holding it in is luck. And that only lasts until my Barracuda finds it. The light still works, so it's not the end of the world. Just aggravating to have to untangle my cleaner from the lamp cord every morning...

Russ

 

[gwegan]

My suspicion is that there is more room in there than you think and while it might be tight the wedge will probably fit. I've never looked at the relative thickness of the cords before -- you might make atrip to the pool store and ask to look at some.

 

[RASelkirk]

OK, thanks. It prolly won't matter until (or unless) I at least decide to grind off the fiberglass gel-coat from around the mounting plate so the bottom tab will fit right. Thinking again, even grinding off the excess 'glass will still not allow for the removal of the (6) screws as the cured resin will still be filling in the screw heads. If I get these guys to do my repaint, I'll look into my options then. Sadly, the people that did this are difficult to deal with, have a monopoly on FG pool service, and they know it...

Russ