I put "trouble" in quotes because it was human generated.
My circa 1978 pool had a light at one time, that had been patched over and a new liner covering it. The conduit was still there so I decided, that since I was having an electrician come out to wire up a new heat pump and SWG, to have a pool light installed as well. I chose the ColorLogic since I just wanted ambient light, and I bought a new Hayward jiffy niche because I figured whatever was there (if it was still there) probaby would not be useable/compatible. I was right.
The electricians yanked out an old metal niche that would have been too shallow for the new PVC niche. They put in the new niche, wired up the light, and when I refilled the pool... glorious bright color. I was so happy!!!
For about 8 hours.
That's when the pump started making a god-awful noise because the water level had dropped to below skimmer level.
another day and it had dropped to about 3/4 down the light. Then it stopped. Obviously the light was the culprit, but how? I was thinking maybe it needed a cord plug and so I ordered some online and had my husband go in the water (which by this time was disgusting and gross because it's been sitting for nearly a week) and see what was going on.
Well!! Apparently the old conduit extended further into the niche cavity than the new jiffy niche could accomodate (the existing niche was shallower by about 2 inches) so... my genius electrician.. instead of using a pipe cutter to shorten the conduit, decided that knocking a giant hole in the niche was a better idea. You have to see it to believe it.
(pics below)
I can't afford the expense/time of finding someone else to re wire the light and put in a new niche, so I'm hoping just to repair what's there. I'm thinking putting a cord plug around the cord, then filling the space with epoxy putty, and possibly, before that, injecting some quickcrete behind the niche with a caulking gun, to give it a rigid surface to adhere to. I know this will make changing the light in the future difficult but in a year or two we are going to jackhammer up the existing concrete deck and replace it so we will pull the niche and conduit at that time and replace it as well.
Any ideas/suggestions are welcome!
My circa 1978 pool had a light at one time, that had been patched over and a new liner covering it. The conduit was still there so I decided, that since I was having an electrician come out to wire up a new heat pump and SWG, to have a pool light installed as well. I chose the ColorLogic since I just wanted ambient light, and I bought a new Hayward jiffy niche because I figured whatever was there (if it was still there) probaby would not be useable/compatible. I was right.
The electricians yanked out an old metal niche that would have been too shallow for the new PVC niche. They put in the new niche, wired up the light, and when I refilled the pool... glorious bright color. I was so happy!!!
For about 8 hours.
That's when the pump started making a god-awful noise because the water level had dropped to below skimmer level.
another day and it had dropped to about 3/4 down the light. Then it stopped. Obviously the light was the culprit, but how? I was thinking maybe it needed a cord plug and so I ordered some online and had my husband go in the water (which by this time was disgusting and gross because it's been sitting for nearly a week) and see what was going on.
Well!! Apparently the old conduit extended further into the niche cavity than the new jiffy niche could accomodate (the existing niche was shallower by about 2 inches) so... my genius electrician.. instead of using a pipe cutter to shorten the conduit, decided that knocking a giant hole in the niche was a better idea. You have to see it to believe it.
(pics below)
I can't afford the expense/time of finding someone else to re wire the light and put in a new niche, so I'm hoping just to repair what's there. I'm thinking putting a cord plug around the cord, then filling the space with epoxy putty, and possibly, before that, injecting some quickcrete behind the niche with a caulking gun, to give it a rigid surface to adhere to. I know this will make changing the light in the future difficult but in a year or two we are going to jackhammer up the existing concrete deck and replace it so we will pull the niche and conduit at that time and replace it as well.
Any ideas/suggestions are welcome!
