Any inventive ideas for a pool light?

[BluePlastic]

Any creative ideas for a pool light without fixing the real one? I just spent quite a bit of money getting this pool running, repairing and replacing stuff and I REALLY do not think the pool light is worth the money it would cost to fix (the transformer is bad and then if they fix that, they don't even know if it would work. This pool has been sitting not being taken care of at all for the last two years so yeah).

Anyway, I was wondering if there was a more "ghetto" way to light your pool at night. We threw glow sticks in there last week but that didn't work quite as well as I had hoped, LOL. Needed more and brighter. Like is there like a portable light you can just throw into the pool and dive in and pull it out when your done or something? Or floats or something? Or a good waterproof flashlight that would work for this...

 

[zea3]

There are floating pool lights ranging from candles (not recommended) to battery operated lights with fountains. Look at the Nova floating Pool light near the bottom of this page.

 

[jasonknox]

If you are a diyer you can usually buy the transformers and fix it yourself alot cheaper. I replaced a burnt out capacitor in my fiberstars for $15 and the manufacture said they could not sell me the parts and I had to purchase a whole new unit. In my research to find the replacement capacitor I also found a place where I could have bought a transformer had I needed that as well.

 

[Nubo]

I use a small adjustable LED flashlight that runs off a single AA battery. These type of flashlight produce surprising amounts of light these days. Since I use the light for lots of different stuff (bicycle headlight for example), it's always at hand and I have a supply of rechargeable batteries always ready to go. I put the light inside a bicycle waterbottle with a good seal and plop it in the pool. The light runs quite a while and puts out more than enough light. In fact I usually turn it down a bit.

Of course, there are a bazillion battery-powered pool lights you can get, but this was a no-cost solution for me and there are a lot more uses for a small well-made AA flashlight than for a dedicated pool light (which tend to be cheaply made in my experience).

 

[DaneCE]

I use a small adjustable LED flashlight that runs off a single AA battery. These type of flashlight produce surprising amounts of light these days. Since I use the light for lots of different stuff (bicycle headlight for example), it's always at hand and I have a supply of rechargeable batteries always ready to go. I put the light inside a bicycle waterbottle with a good seal and plop it in the pool. The light runs quite a while and puts out more than enough light. In fact I usually turn it down a bit.

Of course, there are a bazillion battery-powered pool lights you can get, but this was a no-cost solution for me and there are a lot more uses for a small well-made AA flashlight than for a dedicated pool light (which tend to be cheaply made in my experience).

That's a great idea. Thanks.

[edit]- I was thinking(sometimes a bad thing )...it seems like all of the air in the bottle would make it float on its side?? -but I guess there's enough weight from the flashlight...

...off to find water bottle.

 

[LauleaHere&There]

Or you could fill the bottom with marbles or sand or...

 

[LauleaHere&There]

Did anyone actually try this? I did. Mason jam jar with a "rubberized" lid; some marbles and an LED flashlight. Meh. The light is uni-dimensional--only illuminates the bottom. And in general needs to be much much brighter. I had to play with the marbles a little. My first jar went straight to the bottom. Next one floated sideways. Third try floated with the lid slightly above the waterline. Not a bad experiment, but you can't win them all.

 

[PoolGuyNJ]

NEVER EVER USE THE MASON JAR OR ANY OTHER GLASS PRODUCTS IN A POOL EXCEPT A POOL LIGHT!.

While relatively strong, if it breaks, you have a serious safety problem.

Scott

 

[LauleaHere&There]

Yeah, thanks, Scott. Common sense and all that. The jar was bouyant enough that drifted to the bottom; it did not hit the floor (vinyl/comfy bottom) with any velocity. I'd still do the experiment, but you're right, prob'ly not such a good idea in general.

 

[Ohm_Boy]

Bump for no glass allowed around a pool. Ever. Broken glass is unbelievably hard to see in water, and really easy to step on.

 

[dmanb2b]

No glass near the pool

 

[LauleaHere&There]

Got it. No Glass.

 

[Nubo]

Did anyone actually try this? I did. Mason jam jar with a "rubberized" lid; some marbles and an LED flashlight. Meh. The light is uni-dimensional--only illuminates the bottom. And in general needs to be much much brighter. I had to play with the marbles a little. My first jar went straight to the bottom. Next one floated sideways. Third try floated with the lid slightly above the waterline. Not a bad experiment, but you can't win them all.

Couple of notes

1 - The light I use puts out a lot of light. About 120 lumens from its single LED, which is about double what you'd get out of a good standard "maglite". This is quite different than the multi-LED light in your picture which I'd guess is probably putting out less than 10 lumens. It still amazes me that I can get that much illumination from a AA battery. This is how far LED technology has come in just a few years.

2 - The way to avoid the spotlight effect is with a frosted enclosure. Just as with light bulbs, frosting spreads the light over a wide area -- the entire enclosure becomes the "bulb" and you get a floodlight rather than a spotlight.

 

[Ohm_Boy]

I have some cheapie LED flashlights which were giveaways from Harbor Freight, and use them a lot. They work underwater and seem to be sealed well. They have withstood dunking in some very unsanitary pipes, as well as subsequent submersion and washing in bleach/water solutions WAY higher than pool water. Numerous times. Here's a link to the actual units if anyone wants to experiment... http://www.harborfreight.com/general-me ... 97036.html