Pool light safety

[lindz18]

Our pool has a light in the deep end. Around Easter I saw a story on the news where a man was electrocuted in his pool due to the light. So, this got me to worrying about mine. It does not work. I am not sure if the bulb is just shot or if it is for some other reason. The previous owner is not a help at all. The seal around the light is deterioted. So question #1 is can the deterioated seal pose an electrocution risk? Question #2 He told me the breaker he thought controlled the light but there is no way to be sure he's right since the light isn't working. How can I check to see if the line is hot to the light? I could care less about the light. I just want it un done for safety reasons.

 

[gwegan]

First I recommend you have an electrician or pool service professional come look at it. If you think you can do it yourself then:

Somewhere near the pool should be a small sealed electrical box sticking up out of the ground. Its either on the pad or near the pool. turn off all the power at your service entry breaker box. Every one. Your spouse will get over it. then disconnect all the wires in the sealed box ( it opens with a screwdriver). Put electrical tape over the exposed copper at the end of the wires. Reseal the box. Turn the power back on and your light is disconnected.

 

[lindz18]

Thanks! There is supposed to be that type of box there somewhere in my sod area, but it has grown over it sooooo bad. Guess it is time for a metal detector

 

[danpik]

Is there a light switch that controls this light? Any one competent with a Volt/Ohm meter should be able to trace the circuit out quickly with one. Also, depending on the age of the pool, there should be a GFCI device protecting the circuit. If it is a 12 volt light, there will be no GFCI protection on the load side of the transformer.

 

[dtlight]

If your light is installed correctly, you should be able to get the whole housing out of the water and up on to the pool deck. After the power is off, there should be a screw in the face of the light that holds it into the niche. The screw may be retained in some way to keep you from dropping it, but if you back it out until it feel free, and then using a wideish flat screwdriver pry the light fixture out from the pool wall at the top where the screw was. There should be several feed of cord wrapped around the back of the fixture in the light niche, so you can get the business part of it out of the water to work on. After it's out of the water, with the power still off, you should be able to open up the fixture and assess the condition of the internal parts of the fixture. If it's a corroded mess, you probably will need a new fixture. The fixture and cable are sold as a unit, and are not really repairable. In the best case scenario the previous owner opened the fixture up to replace the lamp and didn't replace the o-ring gasket and that is what is leaking. In any case a new gasket for the front is preferable to dealing with leaks later. There should be a GFCI involved in the electrical circuit as well. If the pool light switch is outdoors near the equipment pad there might be a GFCI receptacle nearby. If the light switch is inside, then there might be a GFCI breaker...