I have the PAL 42-PCR-8A (non wi-fi version) hooked up to two LED lights in the pool. is there a way to hook a timer to this somehow to have the lights come on and off at predetermined times? i know i can add the WiFi module but not sure that really helps.
PAL Pool Light Commander Timer
- Thread starter p1zaul
- Start date
Welcome to the forum!
Sorry you haven't had an answer, but hopefully a bump to your post will get it visible to someone who can help. Good luck in your search.
Sorry you haven't had an answer, but hopefully a bump to your post will get it visible to someone who can help. Good luck in your search.
I went ahead and wired in a timer before the electrical connection to the PAL control box. If the light is set to on and then the electricity is cut, when electricity comes back on the light also comes back on. This essentially allows the entire system to be put on a basic timer. The only limitation is the light comes back on always on the “white” setting, which for me was perfectly fine.
Jeepnmon
Member
Just curious, how are your lights holding up? I've had the PAL 42-PCR-8A running 4 lights in our pool for the past 6 years and have had to change out the LED heads on all of them due to some colors not working any longer and the lights not syncing.
So I actually moved but know the owners of the previous house and both bulbs ended up failing, I don't think had anything to do with my timer or the pal controller, but water getting into the housing. Once water got in it caused a short which PAL explained causes gas and pressure which ends up cracking the housing. We tried replacing the bulb and sealing the crack but saw water within a week or two. It seems like we will need a new housing.
On my new build I did have the same PAL lights installed and this time wired the lights to a basic 120v to 12vac 25 watt converter which was $20 and then wired that too a caseta switch. This has been working fine for 2 years now no issues. If I turn the lights on and off quickly I can change colors, however if I installed again I would just get the white LED version as I only use the white and think this would be better than all the colors creating white.
On my new build I did have the same PAL lights installed and this time wired the lights to a basic 120v to 12vac 25 watt converter which was $20 and then wired that too a caseta switch. This has been working fine for 2 years now no issues. If I turn the lights on and off quickly I can change colors, however if I installed again I would just get the white LED version as I only use the white and think this would be better than all the colors creating white.
Jeepnmon
Member
Thank you for taking the time to reply to such an old post. I have two replacement LED's on the way and will look closely at my housings to see if there's water leakage. I replaced the first one at 2 years that went bad and stopped syncing with the other 3 and only emitted the red color. Didn't notice any cracks in the housing at the time and that new one is still working as it should. Towards the end of pool season last year 2 others started acting up in a similar way. I decided to hold off on replacing them and to do some research into replacement options in the off season. As a result, I decided to just replace them with an upgraded model of LED head (LAU/LAL) for about $200 all in. That, in contrast to spending over $1200 for a whole new lighting system.
I like your Caseta switch implementation. I want to do something similar so I can turn the lights on/off remotely. My PAL 42-PCR-8A is already wired to a manual switch coming from the breaker panel. I take it it is not just a matter of replacing the manual switch with a smart switch? Is the converter needed for the smart switch or the PAL 42-PCR-8A?
I like your Caseta switch implementation. I want to do something similar so I can turn the lights on/off remotely. My PAL 42-PCR-8A is already wired to a manual switch coming from the breaker panel. I take it it is not just a matter of replacing the manual switch with a smart switch? Is the converter needed for the smart switch or the PAL 42-PCR-8A?
it is as simple as that, the normal switch can be replaces with a caseta, any other wifi switch or a timer switch. again this just cut the power to the PAL commander and then when it comes back on it comes on white.