Winterizing lights

[CandyCrusher]

Hi

I have a pool with 2 lights in them. Would you lower the pool below the lights?

Do you take them out and hang down in the pool?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[chem geek]

As noted in the Pool School article Closing an In-Ground Pool, you "Pump the water down till it is about four inches below the bottom of the returns." If your pool light is not very low in the pool, then you can remove the light from its niche and have it lowered in the pool. Technically, some people just lower the water level to below the skimmer and plug the returns while being blown out, but if one does that then the seal must be tight so that water does not re-enter the lines. See this post (and this post that explains how lights are usually OK if significantly below the water line, but of course that depends on how much of your pool water freezes. In Ottawa, I would think you should be more conservative and remove the lights from their niche and move them to the bottom of the pool.

 

[CandyCrusher]

I ended up disconecting the lights and putting the cord in the niche along with putting in foam rope in the niche.

 

[bdex]

Disconnect and tie to a mushroom weight that drops it to bottom of pool. I do not have a deep end and have enough cord. And with my auto cover am not supposed the let float.


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[three4rd]

I can't understand why you would want to lower the water level that far as suggested in the article (below the return lines). That is aLOT of water. If you blow out the lines and plug them properly there is certainly no need to drain below the return lines. That water level will come up anyway during the off-season, and so you'll still need the lines plugged or really run the risk of having them fill up and freeze. I always heard about a few inches below the skimmer is fine. I think the more important thing is to regulate the water level after the pool is closed. I have a small pump that I put through the skimmer to re-lower the water level once it comes back up from rain and winter storms, etc. Of course, at some point everything freezes up to the extent where it is simply a matter of waiting till warmer weather. As far as the pool light goes, unless you are indeed lowering the water to a level below the lines, why would you want to take out the light? If the water would ever freeze to the depth of the light (assuming the initial closing level is only a few inches below the skimmer), that would be one heck of a winter and we'd probably all have alot more problems to be concerned with than what is going on in the pool!