Jandy Watercolors LED lights

[jesses408]

My pool has 3 Jandy Watercolors LED lights - 2 in the pool and 1 in the spa. When I bought the house, one of the lights was already dead. The cost to replace it was around $700. At that time, the pool was around 1.5 years old. A few weeks ago, the light in the SPA stopped working. That light would be almost 2 years old.

Given how expensive these lights are, I'm surprised that they only seem to last less than 2 years. I'm not inclined to keep replacing them given their short life and high replacement cost. Does anyone else have this problem with the Jandy lights? Is there another type of color-changing light that will last longer?

 

[Patrick_B]

Being that the pool is this young, perhaps there is a warranty the builder could still honor. It seems to me that LEDs should be lasting longer than this, so perhaps there is some issue with the setup that needs to be located.

 

[gwegan]

I would call the builder and Jandy. If it's all Jandy equipment you should be in the bundle warranty period.

 

[jesses408]

Pool was built by a 1-star rated company that doesn't answer their phones or return calls.

Being that the pool is this young, perhaps there is a warranty the builder could still honor. It seems to me that LEDs should be lasting longer than this, so perhaps there is some issue with the setup that needs to be located.

- - - Updated - - -

Jandy said the lights are warrantied for 1 year and the warranty is non-transferable. Jandy would not tell me the life expectancy of their lights - either they don't know or they do know but refuse to tell me

I would call the builder and Jandy. If it's all Jandy equipment you should be in the bundle warranty period.

 

[gwegan]

I would suggest you test and see if its a bad light engine, but the light engine costs more than the light

 

[jesses408]

Light engine and new light are almost the same cost. My question is more along the lines of how long these lights SHOULD last. In my mind, an LED light should last 5-10 years. So I'm wondering if these lights were installed badly or some other problem caused them to fail. If these lights are just bad quality and prone to failure after 1 year then I'm not inclined to replace them with the same kind and would go for a different brand.

 

[gwegan]

When the LED lights first came out all the brands had problems. They have gotten much better over time. So I would say any brand's more recent product would be better than one from even just a few years ago.

This is the light in my pool and its been going three years with no problems.

I will tell you it hasn't been ten years since these came out so they only have design lives. The jury is still out in a sense on how long they will last.

Installation? Could be. But they have lasted two years. Have you had a knowledgeable electrician check the J box? Loose wires or connections that are not tight? Have you pulled the lights out and see if they leak or there are ather problems with installation?

 

[jesses408]

I have not had the pool panel checked by an electrician. I had a pool maintenance/service company come to look at the light and they just want to replace it. They did not take the light apart to see what's wrong with it. I haven't taken it apart myself since I don't think I'm qualified to work on pool lights. I plan to partially drain the spa so I can get a look at the non-submerged light and take some pictures of it

Installation? Could be. But they have lasted two years. Have you had a knowledgeable electrician check the J box? Loose wires or connections that are not tight? Have you pulled the lights out and see if they leak or there are ather problems with installation?

 

[gwegan]

The lights come out without draining. First turn off the power at the panel. There is a screw on the top or the light you take out. There is a tab at the bottom you release. Then just pull out the light and set it on the deck. You can inspect away. Wiring generally goes from the panel to your pool automationor to a switch. There should be a GFCI in there somewhere. Then to a junction box. Its a small electrical box sticking up a couple of feet near the pool or the pad. Anything downstream from the GFCI could trip the GFCI. Have you checked the GFCI? Is it tripped?

 

[jesses408]

What stops water from getting into the thing when you take it out?

 

[gwegan]

Nothing. Welcome to the weird counter-intuitive world of pool electrical.

The light fixture and cord come as one unit. The cord runs through the water filled conduit to the junction box which is about a foot above the water. That is where the conections are made.

Watch this video: How To: Replace a Pool Light Fixture - YouTube

 

[Sammy2]

Are you sure they are not the Quartz Halogen version of this light? These bulbs run mondo hot and burn out often. I replaced mine with these LED Bulbs but had to use a slightly longer 3mm screw to attach the dichroic lens to the bulb holder.

Pulling the light from the pool is a piece of cake, just make sure the power is off. Not that it needs to be off but it'll make you feel better. If there was an issue, someone would already be zapped in your pool by now.

Make sure you have the light gasket for after you take it apart because you should use a new one. They're on amazon for under $20 and if you have Prime, shipping is free.