I'm in kind of a pickle with this one. Probably the one regret I have with my above ground pool was having the pool company install a light in it when the pool was built. The pool is about 6 years old and so is the light.
The light is a Hayward SP056525A. My problem is the light is leaking pretty badly right now. Basically the light has two gaskets...one between the lens and the pool and then another between the pool liner and the pool wall and the lens housing slides through that. A locking ring on the outside of the pool then sucks them down on each other to seal out water. Two winters ago the the pool light cracked during the winter. I ordered a new lens at that time with a new gasket that goes between the lens and the liner. I used the original gasket that was between the pool liner and the pool wall when I replaced the broken lens.
When I opened this spring the pool level had dropped down to the bottom edge of the light but I saw no signs of a leak. I tightened the lock ring by hand a little bit and filled the pool above the light with no leaks. However now that we are actually using the pool there is a very steady leak coming down the outside pool wall from the light. If I wiggle the light around a little the rate of flow from the leak varies but I can never get it to stop. It's fast enough not to be a drip but rather a thin steady line of water following the pool wall down.
My problem is water supply more than anything. I have a well for water and it really can't support refilling the pool back up if I were to drain it down below the light to work on it and then need to refill. I would say the light is a good 12 inches below the surface. To use the well that much will make it run dry temporarily and I don't want to stress it that hard. I've had to use it quite a bit recently to top my pool off after vacuuming to waste and if I run it more than an hour or so it will stop. Water pressure usually returns in about 15 minutes after turning the hose off. I can't pay to have water brought in because that is about $300 minimum.
I wouldn't call the leak an emergency but I do worry about it damaging the pool - both around the light itself and the ground at the bottom where the leak runs. I think the pool is aluminum. It's not steel.
I'd really like to fix the leak though. So one challenge is how can I do this without draining the pool down? I was thinking maybe I can take like a plastic bin and cut one end off it. Put it up around the area of the light with access down through the piece I cut out of the bin. Someone in the pool could press it up against the pool wall and then we can either scoop or pump out the water around the light and work on it (would take 3 people).
The other issue is I don't know what exactly is causing the leak. The outside gasket between the lens and pool liner looks perfectly fine and snug. Could the light have a hairline crack in it? The inside of the lens is perfect dry. The leak comes out from under the locking nut on the outside. So the water appears to be riding the outside edge of the lens somehow.
The other thing I was wondering is if there is any way to remove the light all together and put some sort of filler item in it's place to block the hole without leaking until I eventually change the liner some day and get rid of it all together. The parts for this light are very expensive. Just the gaskets are about $40 for two and I don't even know if the gaskets are the problem.
Below is a picture of the light on the outside. It's actually under my deck. The light itself is not on it, just the lens and lock ring. The pictures does not show the leak for some reason.
The light is a Hayward SP056525A. My problem is the light is leaking pretty badly right now. Basically the light has two gaskets...one between the lens and the pool and then another between the pool liner and the pool wall and the lens housing slides through that. A locking ring on the outside of the pool then sucks them down on each other to seal out water. Two winters ago the the pool light cracked during the winter. I ordered a new lens at that time with a new gasket that goes between the lens and the liner. I used the original gasket that was between the pool liner and the pool wall when I replaced the broken lens.
When I opened this spring the pool level had dropped down to the bottom edge of the light but I saw no signs of a leak. I tightened the lock ring by hand a little bit and filled the pool above the light with no leaks. However now that we are actually using the pool there is a very steady leak coming down the outside pool wall from the light. If I wiggle the light around a little the rate of flow from the leak varies but I can never get it to stop. It's fast enough not to be a drip but rather a thin steady line of water following the pool wall down.
My problem is water supply more than anything. I have a well for water and it really can't support refilling the pool back up if I were to drain it down below the light to work on it and then need to refill. I would say the light is a good 12 inches below the surface. To use the well that much will make it run dry temporarily and I don't want to stress it that hard. I've had to use it quite a bit recently to top my pool off after vacuuming to waste and if I run it more than an hour or so it will stop. Water pressure usually returns in about 15 minutes after turning the hose off. I can't pay to have water brought in because that is about $300 minimum.
I wouldn't call the leak an emergency but I do worry about it damaging the pool - both around the light itself and the ground at the bottom where the leak runs. I think the pool is aluminum. It's not steel.
I'd really like to fix the leak though. So one challenge is how can I do this without draining the pool down? I was thinking maybe I can take like a plastic bin and cut one end off it. Put it up around the area of the light with access down through the piece I cut out of the bin. Someone in the pool could press it up against the pool wall and then we can either scoop or pump out the water around the light and work on it (would take 3 people).
The other issue is I don't know what exactly is causing the leak. The outside gasket between the lens and pool liner looks perfectly fine and snug. Could the light have a hairline crack in it? The inside of the lens is perfect dry. The leak comes out from under the locking nut on the outside. So the water appears to be riding the outside edge of the lens somehow.
The other thing I was wondering is if there is any way to remove the light all together and put some sort of filler item in it's place to block the hole without leaking until I eventually change the liner some day and get rid of it all together. The parts for this light are very expensive. Just the gaskets are about $40 for two and I don't even know if the gaskets are the problem.
Below is a picture of the light on the outside. It's actually under my deck. The light itself is not on it, just the lens and lock ring. The pictures does not show the leak for some reason.
