help me repair / replace pool lights

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T

twd000

0
Feb 19, 2013
137
Tucson, AZ
When I filled up my pool the first time, the two lights (one in pool, one in spa) worked fine. As water infiltrated the enclosure, they tripped the breaker. I could see a couple inches of water sitting in the lens. I pulled the light out of the niche and onto the deck. Removed the screws and rubber gasket, and poured out the water. Found a halogen bulb - not sure how to tell if the bulb is damaged?

Here are the #'s I pulled off the hardware:

American Products series 7885xx, 500W, 120V, R40 bulb

So should I upgrade to more modern technology or just replace in-kind?

I see LED lights instead of halogen reflectors, and low-voltage instead of line voltage. Are the LED light really expensive or am I not shopping right? I would like to avoid changing the electrical system if possible.

I know I need new rubber gaskets - where to order them? And I guess I'll test the bulbs in another (dry) fixture before I replace them?
 
so I got the replacement gaskets from Leslies and installed them after work today

The pool light works fine. The spa light still strips the GFI breaker when I turn it on. I have deduced that the lights are in parallel off the GFI, with separate junction boxes, but if either one trips the GFI, the whole circuit gets killed

I don't see any water in the spa light housing. I know the bulb is good. What else can I test:?
 
I swapped in a known good GFI and still have the same problem

could having two lights on a single GFI circuit cause this problem?

I think it's wired like this:

Main 15 A breaker_____GFI________2 light switches = 2 junction boxes = 2 lights

as I said, the pool light works, but the spa light circuit trips the GFI, even with no load (wires disconnected at junction box)

if the GFI is comparing hot to neutral, how does it deal with the 2 parallel circuits?

the spa light trips the GFI whether the pool light is powered or off
 
Might be a bad switch, try swapping the switches and see what happens. If the spa light is disconnected at the junction box, then that eliminates the light, so you have the wiring from the junction box to the switch to the breaker. My guess it is the switch.
 
I'll try swapping the switches

could also be the wiring - it is ancient, and at least one of the conduits is corroded. I gooped it over with silicone but wouldn't be surprised if there is a nick in the insulation and the neutral is flowing back to ground
 
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