uhh oh... not good... spa light cable stuck.. and broken

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C

citadel

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Mar 26, 2011
11
ok.... my pool is probably 15 years old in the house we bought. I tried to remove the spa light assembly to replace the bulb but the idiots didnt leave enough chord... The spa light is probably 15 years old too.
So I drain the spa and pull the light assembly out and lay it in the spa bottom. I decide to go buy a new assembly cause this one looks shot... $280...
Now I disconnect the spa light electricals from the junction box. Then I go to pull the assembly and chord out of the pool...
Some smart guy has packed the conduit that the cable comes through in the back of the light niche with silicone. I cant get the cable to budge. I pull and pull and then I try to cut some of the silicone away... I pull and pull and... the cable breaks in half! I am left with the old light unit with no cable coming out of it...
Ok... I still try and try to pull on the cable and it is sealed tight. So now I go to the junction box and I try and pull the cable back out that way... no luck. I get out a pulley and try... the thing wont budge. I pull and pull with the pulley and... the cable breaks again.
So now I am left with no way to get a new spa light installed in my inground pool. Looks like I may have to just put the old broken light back in and forget having a spa light..

Stuck with a broken spa light cable in pvc which is packed with silicone...

Any suggestions?
 
does that mean I need to dig up and replace the conduit? Is it fairly easy to replace? I am guessing I will need to cut through my concrete pool deck as the spa is about 5 ft from the end of the deck. Would there be any other options? Thanks for your help on this! How unusual is this?
 
You don't have to do anything unless you want the light to work again :)

It is possible to fix the light, but it is going to be a large project that includes either taking out a section of deck or tunneling underneath it. That is so much work/expense that most people give up at this point and live without the light. That is why the back of the niche has silicone in it in the first place, better an imperfect temporary fix than spending the money to really fix it.
 
thanks Lion. That is what I will do. I have re- siliconed the conduit in the nuche and have simply reinserted/ installed the old light unit. I guess when we redo the concrete deck one day we can address the spa light. Thanks much for the advice. This forum is very valuable for us newbies.
 
Wrap some duct tape around one end of a hacksaw blade and work it into and through the silicone then cut completely around the wire until it can be pulled out. If you have a hard time getting the fish tape through, coat it with Ivory dish soap to lubricate it as you push it in.
 
Lershac said:
Goodness I would think you could dig out the silicon thats there, run a new cable with a fish tape, then re-silicone up the light fixture. Does the packed in old sealer go around a bend or something?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately Jason is probably correct :cry:

The conduit snapped and is pinching the cord, the silicon was to stop the leak and there is no practical way to replace the light without re-running the conduit :evil:
 
Yeah, I think there is at least a full tube of silicone in there. I tried with a long flathead, a long thin saw, needle nose pliers, etc.... I could not reach the end of the silicone. I was in there very very deep. I triend to pull the cable out the all manner of leverage tool and there was no way it was coming out. The spa light has never worked since we bought the place and I guess the conduit was leaking so someone sealed it up permanently...
 

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