Pool light niche found screw heads broken off after winter

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J

jjagg0125

Member
May 18, 2022
5
michigan
Hello,

My pool light niche (not the pool light itself) has 5 broken screws after this winter. wondering what my best form of attack would be. The pool is losing alot of water and I am currently letting it drain down till it stops so I can confirm where it is leaking. I am assuming the leak is from the wire entering the conduit but want to be sure its not leaking at the top of the niche face ring where the screws broke off. should I just fill the holes with epoxy or should I try and drill them out? They are recessed in so getting them out is going to be a pain. pictures attached showing what I am dealing with. The pool is gunite with a vinyl liner over top of the gunite.

light housing.jpg

pool light wire.jpg
 
well I have a update, I unhooked the light so there is no power to it. 100% of the bolts are broken off inside the niche. To make things worse they used brass bolts rather than SS so drilling them out is going to be near impossible I have a feeling. As soon as i touched the bolts that where exposed all but 3 just crumbled. other than trying to extract the 7 other bolts with a EZ out not sure what else to do to get by, really dont want to replace the liner as its still in good shape. pic attached. ideas?light housing 2.jpg
 
so thinking about it more. if i cant extract the bolts i think i am going to drill out the 1/4-20 bolt with a 17/64 bit and tap the hole with a 5/16-18 thread and put larger 5/16 bolts in... other than that i dont see any other options. open to other ideas though.
 
That ring seals the liner to the masonry pool behind it. It needs to be a good seal. I think an EZ out is your only answer.

Drain the water below the ring so you have room to work and tap the screws with a BATTERY operated drill. Don;t use 110v in the pool.
 
duraleigh said:
That ring seals the liner to the masonry pool behind it. It needs to be a good seal. I think an EZ out is your only answer.

Drain the water below the ring so you have room to work and tap the screws with a BATTERY operated drill. Don;t use 110v in the pool.
Click to expand...
do you recommend trying to put silicone behind the liner where it meets the gunite? I believe there is a gasket there so maybe it would do more harm than good. Battery operated is ok? I don't need to use pneumatic? I haven't drained the water that low yet because my water level is so low in the shallow end I cant help but be worried about the liner, probably just me being paranoid I suppose.
 
How secure is the niche to the gunite? If it's just the seal you could move liner and drill new holes and epoxy anchor thread tubes into the concrete. Then just screw into those. Will take lots of measuring and talent but it can be done
 
jimmythegreek said:
How secure is the niche to the gunite? If it's just the seal you could move liner and drill new holes and epoxy anchor thread tubes into the concrete. Then just screw into those. Will take lots of measuring and talent but it can be done
Click to expand...
i thought about doing that actually with some drop in anchors . looking at it more last night i think i am going to make a stainless plate to cover the hole with the bolts i can use then put a large oval patch over it. if i can make it 2-3 seasons before putting in a new liner i would be happy
 

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