LED Light Connundrum.

Melnox

Member
Aug 2, 2024
17
Toronto, Ontario
Pool Size
12500
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Jandy Aquapure 1400
One of my two LED lights failed. Are you surprised?

I keep my pool at 40°F in winter. When installing LED lights, specifically Pentair Microbrite, I used the dry conduit o-ring, silicone, and teflon tape.

1) Is this enough to prevent water from entering the conduit and causing freeze damage?

1a) Will the light overheat without water in the conduit?

2) Should I pour some sort of non toxic antifreeze into the conduit in case water seeps into the conduit?

2a) Will this create a heat sink thus extending the life of the light?

It's evident that LED pool lights from all brands tend to fail before their rated lifespan. This leads to expensive replacement over the life of the pool. I can only assume this is due to overheating and possible unstable supply voltage/spikes, and general wear on the circuitry. Would a fiber optic system using a single high power light source be cheaper in the long run? Keep in mind that even if it still uses LED, the light would be above ground, with ample cooling and probably a cheaper replacement than a pool light. And if it uses metal halide or halogen, electricity is cheaper at night, and use can be occasional, so savings far outweigh the cost and inconvenience of periodic LED replacement.

So, I guess I'm looking for advice to either inconveniently replace my broken expensive pool light, and continue replacing both lights periodically, or install fiber optic and just deal with a single light source.
 
UPDATE: So when I installed these lights, I used teflon tape and silicone around the o-ring. I drained the pool and took the lights out. Both conduits had water behind the lights.

I looked into a product called Megaloc by Hercules. There's also Rectorseal T plus 2. These are both used by plumbers and gas fitters etc... instead of teflon tape.

I'm going to give this a try, and then maybe I'll pour some non toxic antifreeze down the conduit to assist with heat transfer from the lights, and also as a safeguard against water leakage/freezing.
 
Has anyone used an aquarium air pump and line to force air down the LED conduit in order to cool the light in summer, and prevent freezing in case water leaks into the conduit during winter?
 
I doubt an aquarium pump has enough power to push the water column down.

Even a 2 HP spa blower overheats when pushing a poorly designed water column in a spa.
 
I think spa blowers are built using fans, while aquarium pumps use a piston or diaphragm so they are able to push air under higher psi water. A fan blows a larger volume of air but with less force. Maybe that's why spa blowers burn out? My light conduit are only about 12" under water, aquarium pumps are designed to push air much further.

I also see pond and hydroponic pumps that are very powerful for their wattage.

Anyhow, I hope there won't be any water down there at all and the air pump will just blow air against the light in order to cool it.

I can also use the same tube occasionally to pump out any water that leaks into the pipe, or just to see whether water has leaked or not. I think a peristaltic pump might be a good choice because it's self priming and the volume of water can't be that great.
 
Maybe I should run the lights at the 14v setting from my transformer, I think this might lower the current draw and reduce the heat generated by the circuitry. I see the electrolytic caps are rated for 35v so this is probably safe I think. My wire runs are 60 and 80 feet for the two lights.
 
My goal is to make the lights last a long time and so far it seems like water (freezing) and heat generated by the led itself have been causes for premature failure.

The megaloc should, I hope, eliminate water in the conduit

The air pump I hope will cool the led driver.

The 14v I hope will reduce internal heat.

I'm up for any advice you have that can help extend the life of these leds. I haven't turned the new ones on yet. I'm waiting until I have all safeguards in place.
 
These leds are so expensive. If I can do any simple task to protect them I will.

Today I added a surge suppressor to my panel to protect the leds (and the other electronic equipment). I hope this helps. I'm not sure if others do this as well?
 

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Hi, the pool lights are wired on the same breaker as a gfci outlet. The other equipment: pump, heater, swg, are far enough from the pool so they don't need gfci protection.

A concern I have is whether the position of the light switch located before the transformer (as per the owner's manual) can cause back emf.

I think Flyback emf and transient voltage spikes on the secondary winding can/will be induced and can severely damage the led circuitry. I thought of this during installation but have since taken it more seriously now that the leds actually failed.

I've seen conflicting info about leaving a transformer energized with no load. But I can simply add another switch between the transformer and led light units, and use the second switch to choose led colour and power them on/off before shutting off the transformer itself.

Any thoughts on this?