Can someone recommend a plain spa light?

[generessler]

Late edit: See my last item for what I did and a mini review on the J&J light.

I am looking to replace a simple white 6" spa light, 120V, min 30' cord. Standard Pentair niche.

I have read the Wiki page. THANKS for that. Current top of the list is this J&J light for ~$550. Can anyone comment on J&J? Anyone have a better idea? Really appreciate all pointers...

This community is the greatest.

Background in case helpful:

Hi. The current 6" Pentair AquaLite, 120 volt halogen is bad. Used only a couple times a month at most, t blew a year after we moved in. Replaced with new. That lasted ~4 years. Bulb blew three times. Folks here taught me to measure resistance to detect current leaks. It flunked. Probably water leaking at the cord seal. Pentair starts at $730 with multi-color LEDs. Pooltone has what I want for $350, but gets very bad reviews. There is this on Amazon, but it seems way too good to be true.

 

[wireform]

Of the 18 reviews there it doesn't sound bad at all.

 

[Mikes61]

When my old pool light leaked I pulled in a new Amerilite housing and cord, then removed the new bulb and replaced it with a LED bulb from Inyo Pools. It changes color when you switch it on and off quickly. I’m really happy with it.

The LED bulb was $40ish and the new housing was $250ish on EBay. The housing will be good for another 20 years.

 

[Mikes61]

I am looking to replace a simple white 6" spa light, 120V, min 30' cord. Standard Pentair niche.

I have read the Wiki page. THANKS for that. Current top of the list is this J&J light for ~$550. Can anyone comment on J&J? Anyone have a better idea? Really appreciate all pointers...

This community is the greatest.

Background in case helpful:

Hi. The current 6" Pentair AquaLite, 120 volt halogen is bad. Used only a couple times a month at most, t blew a year after we moved in. Replaced with new. That lasted ~4 years. Bulb blew three times. Folks here taught me to measure resistance to detect current leaks. It flunked. Probably water leaking at the cord seal. Pentair starts at $730 with multi-color LEDs. Pooltone has what I want for $350, but gets very bad reviews. There is this on Amazon, but it seems way too good to be true.

Your “this on Amazon” is accurate and not too good to be true. It just hasn’t been marked up by several companies, then put for sale at a ludicrous price. That one would be a good choice if it fits your niche.

 

[JamesW]

UL Listing required?

When replacing a light fixture that is in a wet niche, is the new fixture required to be UL Listed? I'm considering a fixture from sunseeker, but it is not UL. I would really like to go with the SS fixture, but don't want to do something wrong.

www.troublefreepool.com

The National Electrical Code (NEC) requires all underwater lighting to be certified to UL 676, the Standard for Underwater Luminaires and Submersible Junction Boxes.

 

[generessler]

When my old pool light leaked I pulled in a new Amerilite housing and cord, then removed the new bulb and replaced it with a LED bulb from Inyo Pools. It changes color when you switch it on and off quickly. I’m really happy with it.

The LED bulb was $40ish and the new housing was $250ish on EBay. The housing will be good for another 20 years.

Yeah thanks. I really wish they had a 6" version of Amerlite. Afaics there's only the 10", which won't fit.

 

[generessler]

Your “this on Amazon” is accurate and not too good to be true. It just hasn’t been marked up by several companies, then put for sale at a ludicrous price. That one would be a good choice if it fits your niche.

Yeah the housing looks like a perfect clone of the Pentair I have now, so should fit. It's not UL listed, so not within code. The CE listing is only good for the European Union. My concern is that it also looks 100% like the Pooltone products, which are often reported to have seals that don't work, corrosion problems, and electrical shorts (probably due to the seal issues) within a few months. Yeah the Pentair et al markups are pretty crazy. But they seem at least to enforce some level off quality on their supply streams.

 

[generessler]

An update for anyone who cares... I went with the J&J 6" white LED spa light. All up with tax and shipping, $606. The company is owned by Hayward. They have a 3-year warranty on the housing and one year on the LED element. The housing looks very well made: a ring of 10-32 studs with gasket rather than the Pentair squeeze bezel. The 50' wire pull went smoothly. Fit the niche well. The equivalent watts rating was less than the old halogen, so I thought brightness might be an issue. But it's plenty bright. Definitely daylight color temp, which does not match the pool's Amerlites very well. But my wife actually likes the difference. If she's happy, I'm happy.