One of my pool lights has a smile...

[caliking]

My pool lights are the 8" Pentair type. The bulbs (500W) had gone out in both, so I recently replaced the bulbs when I was draining the pool partially. When the bulbs had fused, they did not just go off immediately as I have seen other incandescent bulbs do... the brightness sort of faded over a few days and then the light would not come on. When I replaced the bulbs, I also replaced the white gasket that goes around the lens.

One of the lights has a little water smile in the bottom of it, which i can see from the pool side. i think I had seen this before, prior to replacing the bulb. I'm worried that this could cause a problem if the light is on for a while. Any suggestions as to how I can remedy this? Sounds like a leak, but I would like to not replace the entire light unit if possible.

Thanks!

 

[jblizzle]

Pull it back out and check the gasket again to see if it is leaking. Get it completely dry before putting it back together. Did you notice air bubbles when you put the fixture back in the water?

 

[caliking]

Initially, I replaced the bulb and gasket and put some silicone lube around it. Did not notice any air bubbles when I replaced the fixture. I left it on the deck to dry for a while before putting it back, but I can try again.

Is it possible to tighten the clamp around the lens too much that in some way it compromises the gasket?

 

[caliking]

Update: I read somewhere that the leak is often at the point where the wire enters the light fixture. I'll either try to fix it with a rubber leak plug if I can find one at the pool store or some epoxy putty from the hardware store.

 

[caliking]

Question about cord stoppers - I have found the 3/4" and 1" sizes, but they sound like they are for plugging the point where the conduit enters the niche. I thought there would be a plug to seal the entry of wire into the fixture. Should I just try the epoxy then?

 

[Melt In The Sun]

Once you get it dry, just toss the fixture in the water (not in the niche) and see where bubbles come out. That way you know whether you should be working on the front/back/both.

 

[caliking]

Update: Spent an intimate evening with and in the pool fixing the light in question. By now ( about 2 weeks since replacing the bulb) about a third of the light fixture had water in it - went from a smile to a big ****-eating grin! I took the light fixture out of the niche and turned it upside down. noted some water dribbling out, so i figured that the issue was with the gasket. Also noticed that the bolt holding the ring clamp tight was 1.5"+ inches aprt i.e. the ring clamp ends were that far apart. The installation instructions say that you should be able to tighten the nut onto the bolt until the ends of the ring clamo are a 1/4" apart only. took everything apart, cleaned off the silicone lube I had applied around the gasket (with Dawn and isopropyl alcohol pads) dried everything out for an hour or so. Also applied JB Weld water epoxy putty to the point where the wire enters the fixture in the rear.

When I was reassembling everything, i could not for the life of me get the nut onto the bolt to tighten the ring clamp. i looked at the gasket very carefully, and thoght i noticed a difference in the bead on the 2 sides of it. The installation instructions do not say anywhere that the gasket has to be put on a particular side facing up. I flipped the gasket and the ring clamp was a breeze to tighten after that. We'll see if this does the trick. Finally got done around midnight, so i really hope this works.

I had also drained about 60% or so of the water to get rid of cyanuric acid. Pool will fill overnight and tomorrow my saga of switching to BBB will start... but that will be another thread.