I am in the process of building a new 50 foot lap pool. They just finished the gunite stage and waiting for it to cure. After I had a chance to walking in the shell and look around I noticed they placed the light right in the middle of the flip turn section on the wall. My kids and I will be kicking off of the light on every flip turn. My pool builder guarantees that the light is tough enough to take it. He says my only option is to remove the light or live with it. I am installing the pentair intellibrite 5G color changing LED. Do you think this can withstand the abuse?
Pool Light
- Thread starter Coachgiv
- Start date
I don't see any strength specs on the website, I would call Pentair and ask 800.831.7133. Most of the company's are very helpful to builders and end users alike my gut feeling is that it can handle it, the standards for electrical devices in water is very high.
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The light will only be held in with one screw and it might not stand up to the constant push from one side to the other. I have a feeling the light will come loose every now and then and will need to be tightened back up. The lens itself should not have any problem with the forces on it.
I'm not sure how much they would charge to move it, but anything can be done at this stage in the pool build. That was a major design flaw on their part if you ask me.
The light will only be held in with one screw and it might not stand up to the constant push from one side to the other. I have a feeling the light will come loose every now and then and will need to be tightened back up. The lens itself should not have any problem with the forces on it.
I'm not sure how much they would charge to move it, but anything can be done at this stage in the pool build. That was a major design flaw on their part if you ask me.
Lets be blunt, pool lights are not designed to have swimmers using them for kick turns. They are held in place by mechanical systems (a screw) that will under repeated manipulation loosen and fail.
You need to have a serious talk with your pool builder now. This is just poor design. Generally you want pool lights placed on the wall adjacent to the seating area and facing away from the seating area and in such a location that they do not shine directly into the eyes of swimmers doing laps.
I suggest you abandon the existing niche and have the PB drill in and install nicheless lights on the long side of the pool perpendicular to the swimming lane. Pentair and Jandy both make them.
You are probably going to need 4 to 5 LED lights to do that and produce "great" colors. Less lights less "pop".
You need to have a serious talk with your pool builder now. This is just poor design. Generally you want pool lights placed on the wall adjacent to the seating area and facing away from the seating area and in such a location that they do not shine directly into the eyes of swimmers doing laps.
I suggest you abandon the existing niche and have the PB drill in and install nicheless lights on the long side of the pool perpendicular to the swimming lane. Pentair and Jandy both make them.
You are probably going to need 4 to 5 LED lights to do that and produce "great" colors. Less lights less "pop".
These.
Talk with the builder now. Easier to do now than when the pool is full and the PB has been fully paid.
Jaimslaw
LifeTime Supporter
FYI: Have another thread running about my having to replace my pool light niche Pentair-Amerlite with a entire replacement of same (ie., the pool light assembly consisting of the housing, glass lens, gasket, circular face trim). This afforded me the opportunity to take the old light fully assembled and subject the lens to some "Kick Tests" , if you can call it that. Standing over the light assembly, I really gave the lens some hard kicks with tennis shoe on - and it didn't break or crack. I went to some pretty far extremses and was unable to break it.
The dome design of these lens and the composition and thickness of the glass lens combines to make them extermely durable IMO. My assumption is that the manufacturer anticipated that kids or adults could, in monkeying around or playing rough in the pool, subject the light to some pretty serious underwater abuse in the form of kicks, blows and other similar types of forceful contact with the lens.
I'm going back home later today and will try some other test - curiosity being an element of my nature. I am going to try to see if my blows can get it to crack or break. I'll post those results.
My preliminary opinion, however, is that these lens were designed to take some real abuse - i.e., that the manufacture's risk assumption analysis resulted in it exercising an over abundance of caution in designing these lens.
The dome design of these lens and the composition and thickness of the glass lens combines to make them extermely durable IMO. My assumption is that the manufacturer anticipated that kids or adults could, in monkeying around or playing rough in the pool, subject the light to some pretty serious underwater abuse in the form of kicks, blows and other similar types of forceful contact with the lens.
I'm going back home later today and will try some other test - curiosity being an element of my nature. I am going to try to see if my blows can get it to crack or break. I'll post those results.
My preliminary opinion, however, is that these lens were designed to take some real abuse - i.e., that the manufacture's risk assumption analysis resulted in it exercising an over abundance of caution in designing these lens.
My light has come loose before by just making big splashes in the water. Not sure how a light would hold up to repeated push offs on it. Like others have said this is a poor design on the builder.
I doubt the light will break, however I'd be willing to bet that the screw mount will strip out or crack.
You don't want it there anyway. Move it to the side.
You don't want it there anyway. Move it to the side.
- Jul 16, 2012
- 7,204
- Pool Size
- 27000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
As mentioned earlier, you can't move it per se. Because the new location doesn't have the gunite depth to accommodate a niche. However, you could do multiple nicheless LED's along one side, which I agree is a good solution. Since your primary use of the pool is for laps, you want to get a solution that is best suited for that. Pushing off on a pool light can't be fun or a good idea. And looking into during laps it certainly isn't.
Jaimslaw
LifeTime Supporter
With the plaster finish not yet having been applied, maybe you can clarify why the PBs "live with it or remove it" are the only options being offered. Is it a "your stuck with the current layout unless you pay big bucks to have me change the lighting configuration" contention by the PB? Or is there some structural related limitation precluding it being moved?
My my prior post about it withstanding the turnaround kick offs was by no means an expression that you should be happy with where it is currently located. I think it sucks actually, which is why I'm wondering if the PB is telling you that your stuck with what he installed.
If pressing for the PB to incur the cost of it being moved is going to mean coming to blows with your PB over this, maybe you could get him to lower the light below the level of your kick point, assuming this does not degrade the lighting effect.
It just seems that with the pool still being short of the final plaster finish stage, there should be more flexibility and a more positive customer service approach to this matter by your PB.
My my prior post about it withstanding the turnaround kick offs was by no means an expression that you should be happy with where it is currently located. I think it sucks actually, which is why I'm wondering if the PB is telling you that your stuck with what he installed.
If pressing for the PB to incur the cost of it being moved is going to mean coming to blows with your PB over this, maybe you could get him to lower the light below the level of your kick point, assuming this does not degrade the lighting effect.
It just seems that with the pool still being short of the final plaster finish stage, there should be more flexibility and a more positive customer service approach to this matter by your PB.
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