Best way to route pool light conduit

[billycalexander]

I have an 18 X 47 lazy L vinyl liner pool being installed now. I plan to order 2 pentair 12v LED lights and am trying to decide how long to order my whips. One will be short but the other I can't decide on how best to run the wiring. I have two niches installed on opposite sides of the pool more or less diagnonally opposite of each other. My question is at this point my installer just has 3/4" pvc "stubbed up" at each niche he recommended a junction box at each site which will be flush in my pool surround/concrete. Would it be preferable to run 1" pvc on the "long run" for the light that is on the opposite side of where my control/switch will be and keep the bends as large a radius as possible to facilitate pulling the whip thru them when the need arises. Also can I "home run" both conduits to the control box which is about 25' from the pool and avoid the junction boxes being in my slab/concrete surround. If so is it a problem pulling the whip all the way around a pool thru 1" pvc? Does using silicon lubricant take care of friction/sticking issues?

Thanks for your help!

Billy Alexander

 

[ping]

My PB ran both of my lights all the way back to the pad as I did not have any good place to hide the junction boxes. I don't have any problems with running the cables to the pad and it is a nice clean look. My longest run is about 75'. I believe he used 1" pvc but it could be a tad larger. He applied heat on the pvc to make large bends everywhere. Using the lube is a good idea.

 

[Melt In The Sun]

I don't think those in-deck junction boxes are allowed anymore...hopefully someone can confirm/deny that.

 

[swimcmp]

Junction boxes are still allowed possibly somewhat dependant on your local codes if any. The best thing is to terminate conduit from the niche as quickly as possible. The conduit has water from the pool in it so if by chance it should begin to leak it is tough tracking it down.

 

[CraigMW]

The junction boxes make replacement much easier. The friction rapidly builds up over long runs and can make replacement very difficult. As for lube, I've used conduit "wax" from HD that seems to help. But on a long conduit run, it did not help. So, I'd suggest keeping the junction boxes and using a wider "home run" line. You can keep each fixture circuit separate if you want individual control over them. Or you can tie them in to a single home-run line that goes back to the transformer near your power/control panel. I used the latter because I don't really care for the "light swim" effect. I prefer all the fixtures to be synchronized.

 

[phipsi1237]

I would use separate runs all the way to the junction box at the pad. It'll be heck to replace a single light down the road pulling wire with wire already there. Lighting wire is pretty thick. Not sure you'll be able to pull 2 through a single 1" line.

My pool and spa lights are intellibrites and synchronize fine wired to separate relays inside the EasyTouch. (Installer said they wouldn't synchronize unless on the same relay, he was wrong)

 

[dtlight]

I don't think those in-deck junction boxes are allowed anymore...hopefully someone can confirm/deny that.

Specific listed pool junction boxes with cable clamps and ground screws are required in the national electric code, but not all jurisdictions have adopted it. I'm not sure what the IBC requires.