Help with Pool Light Housing

Have see that twice, with no clear answer:

Same thing happened with one of our original PacFab Hatteras pool lights...the potting compound on the back of the light melted and ran into the fixture and against the lens.

The light still worked and did not leak, but the missing potting compound affected the heat transfer out of the fixture and caused bulbs to overheat and fail prematurely. They'd typically last 3-6 months of light use before blowing.

If you clean the fixture up it might still work, but you'll likely run into a similar issue. I replaced ours with a standard Pentair Amerlite, which fit perfectly.

Just some guesses ... Many potting compounds are poured hot in a molten state, as opposed to epoxy versions that set permanently when mixed. Just guessing your fixture got way hot - perhaps from being on while pool level was below fixture, or perhaps due to using a bulb of greater wattage than supported. By the way, I've seen two explanations for that "spring" coil. I think the reasonable explanation was that it's for heat transfer. But I also saw a manufacturer diagram indicating it's for static discharge. That idea seemed weird but whatever. Seems like you should replace the fixture, unless you're into DIY re-potting There are tons of threads on replacement lights - we were just discussing that over here in 12v AC Colorlogic pool light drop-in replacement resolution

Do not use the light.

Replace the light.

Yeah that looks like an experiment that didn't work. I would suspect the light was on when it was not under water and it caused the potting compound to expand and break through the what was sealing it in place. I kill shut off the breaker to my light when the pool is closed or when the like is not in the fixture.

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