Generic 12v LED lights?

[ChasingWaterfalls]

My 120v light has burned out and I want to update to a 12v color LED light. I have a 10" Pentair niche and iAquaLink controller. I'm also intending to change my spa light at the same time to the spa version of whatever pool light I choose.

I've looked through existing TFP posts and seems a lot of reports of reliability issues with all brands of color LED lights, though granted a lot of those posts were older. Has there been any name brand product that recently improved as to longevity/reliability?

Does anyone have any experience with some of the cheap generic lights on Amazon, such as this one for example: https://www.amazon.com/Inground-Changing-Controller-Underwater-Swimming/dp/B0CXJJJDST/?th=1 There are numerous listings that all look identical, all around $250-$280ish, which includes a transformer. They are 60w, plus seem to have some reviews confirming brightness, so I'd think they should be as bright as most name brand LED color lights. A downside is I doubt the iAquaLink app can fully control these lights, but these lights come with their own phone app. I would guess the iAquaLink app could still be used to turn them on/off on a schedule, but not likely be able to change the color or show... anyone know for sure if my guesses are correct?

My thoughts are if name brands are expected to be relatively short life anyway, it may make more sense to go the cheap route. To do both the pool and spa lights, the Amazon lights would cost less than $600 total, compared to approx $1500 for say 2 J&J lights plus 2 transformers. That savings would be worth it to me if the only primary difference would be having to open a 2nd phone app (or grabbing a separate remote control) whenever we wanted to change colors/shows. But I don't mind paying more for a name brand if it provides better quality and/or specs..

 

[Texas Splash]

Good morning! Did you ever make a decision yet on the lighting? If not, let us know. We have members who have made such modifications, so perhaps we just need to give this thread some more action for others to see it.

 

[jgofnj]

I bought this last year and it works fine. No issues so far, only $26:

Amazon.com

 

[ChasingWaterfalls]

Good morning! Did you ever make a decision yet on the lighting? If not, let us know. We have members who have made such modifications, so perhaps we just need to give this thread some more action for others to see it.

I bought this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CXJM6SSY?th=1

It arrived a few days ago but I haven't found time to install it yet. My intentions are to try it to make sure we're satisfied before buying the matching spa version. I'm planning to use my iAqualink app to turn on/off the 120v power supply to the 12v transformer so that I can set up an on/off schedule through iAqualink.

I don't think there will be any way to change colors through iAqualink, but each time it's powered up I think it will remember the last color setting. I doubt we'll want to change colors that often, but when we do I like that there are 3 ways to do so - on the hardwired control panel/transformer unit, by the supplied wireless remote control, or via a phone app. So not a huge inconvenience compared to being able to do that directly within iAqualink, which I'm willing to endure for the cost difference.

Assuming I'm satisfied with the pool light and then buy the matching spa light, I'll have a total cost of $516 for both. In comparison, the best price I found for 2 J&J lights plus 2 transformers was $1508 (all pricing includes sales tax and any S&H). Pentair or Hayward LED niche lights would have been more than that.

Besides the price difference, I was discouraged from going with one of the more expensive "name brand" routes due to seeing so many posts commenting of issues with all brands of LED color niche lights, and in particular relating to longevity. So I decided to go the cheap route for now. In a year or two if I'm in need of a new light again, I'll re-evaluate. Hopefully by then technology will have advanced and I'll see posts of somebody making a LED color light that will last to infinity and beyond.

I'm planning to do a follow up report and post pictures once I have my light installed and time to experiment with it a little bit.

 

[ChasingWaterfalls]

I bought this last year and it works fine. No issues so far, only $26:

Amazon.com

That's a 120v bulb and I want to convert to 12v. Also my niches don't have E26 bases. So that bulb isn't a good fit for my situation and preferences.

 

[Texas Splash]

Maybe you can share a pic once you get everything set up?

 

[Lisn2me]

Let me know how that one fits and works I am looking to do the same thing here soon and was looking at this one Poolexa or this one PoCare reviews seem ok but a couple are suspect so wanted to see someone actually install one of these. specifically how Well the app works and how are the instructions. The Poolexa looks like for long term it may be better as you can order replacement parts if needed

 

[ChasingWaterfalls]

Let me know how that one fits and works I am looking to do the same thing here soon and was looking at this one Poolexa or this one PoCare reviews seem ok but a couple are suspect so wanted to see someone actually install one of these. specifically how Well the app works and how are the instructions. The Poolexa looks like for long term it may be better as you can order replacement parts if needed

I hope to have it installed within the next couple of days. My goal is to post pics and initial comments by this weekend.

You mentioned interest in the app - that's one area I've already spent a little time researching, but I need to do a lot more. Admittedly at this point I only know just enough about LED light control apps to be dangerous, but I think whichever light you buy, you'll have multiple app options.

The light I bought directs me to download the HappyLighting app. I already have some LED strip lights on my back deck for indirect mood lighting which are controlled by the Magic Home Pro app. So I'm thinking I'll end up combining both on the same app after I've compared apps to decide which I like better. I've seen user reviews commenting that they had successfully changed to a different app to control LED lights, so I think/hope I can combine all lights into one app.

Here's LED light control apps that came up on a quick search for android for example: led light controller - Android Apps on Google Play I'm sure you'll find the same or similar wide range of apps for iOS devices.

Another thing is most LED light control apps have scheduling functionality built in. Originally I was planning to use iAqualink as the 120v power source to allow scheduling via iAqualink. But since the LED apps have scheduling functionality, I'm going to wire them directly to a live 120v source and use my iAqualink old pool light circuit to schedule landscape lights. We currently have some solar landscape lights, but want to change them out to wire powered lights.

I'm doing a somewhat involved rewire, so that coupled with a busy life schedule has delayed completion of the pool light project. I'm mounting the hardwired controller/transformer unit for the new LED pool light inside our gazebo on a post. I've already removed trim and routered a wire channel into the post to hide the wires, among other preliminary tasks, so I'm getting a lot closer. I have night pics of my old incandescent light and will take pics of the new light in white mode from the same vantage point with the same ambient light conditions to compare brightness once I get it operational.

 

[ChasingWaterfalls]

My generic pool light is finally installed!

To recap my situation, this was the 19th yr for my 120v incandescent pool lights. My spa light burned out late last year, and my pool would only stay on for a minute or two before the GFCI breaker would trip. So I decided to go to 12v color LED lights. When I removed my old pool light, I found what appeared to be condensation moisture coating the inside of the light housing, so that explained the GFCI tripping.

Normally I tend to pay more for quality instead of going for cheap generic pricing, but due to many TFP posts reporting of widespread longevity issues with all brands of color LED pool lights (even all of the name brands), I decided to go with a generic light made overseas strictly due to the huge price difference and the appearance that there was a good chance of not getting substantially better quality even if I paid 3x (or more) . I'm hoping in a year or two, technology will have improved such that I can change the light out again to a more long term solution and perhaps go to a name brand at that time.

This is the light I bought: Amazon.com I bought the 10" w/ 50ft cord. Of course it's about $30 cheaper now than when I purchased a few weeks ago. It's also offered with 100 ft and 150 ft cord length options, as well as a 6" option typical for spas. There are other product listings on Amazon for different "brands" that look identical, and I believe likely are identical as my box arrived with no brand name whatsoever printed on it:



Here's some pictures of the contents:





The installation is pretty intuitive and straightforward - which is fortunate as the instructions are very lacking (typical of all generic merchandise made overseas). I notice on the box and in the product listing that they state the product is has a IP68 rating, but on the product components themselves it's stated they are IP65 rated. Also I noticed some Amazon reviews complaining of rainwater damage to the controller, plus my observation that the white plastic outer housing is clearly not designed seal out water/dust (if anything it might actually trap rainwater inside), so I question if it's been properly tested and certified as to an IP rating. It appears that the primary protection to the controller/transformer unit is a coating applied to the circuit board. Similarly, they poured a clear resin over the front of the LEDs and let it harden to seal them. But that coating seems to be very thick and substantial compared to the controller unit coating.

I put my pool light controller inside our gazebo to provide significant weather protection. When I do our spa light, that controller will need to be out in the weather, so I'm going to buy an enclosure for it (I saw that recommended on an Amazon review) - something like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B081M14P2Z/?th=1

As a precaution, I coated where the cable goes into the back of the light with some caulk in case the compression rubber was damaged or not installed properly during assembly. Also while I had the old light out, I did a dye test for leaks in my niche, especially where the conduit attaches, before installing the new light. Fortunately I was good there.

When installing the new LED light into the niche, the tab at 6 o'clock didn't want to catch, so I had to bend it slightly - I looked at the tab on the old light to position it correctly. Also I noticed that the screw was barely long enough, so apparently the rim of the new light id slightly thicker. But the light installation into the niche still went quickly and easily.

Here's a picture of the transformer/controller unit installed inside our gazebo:



The two 1 gang boxes down below are for a 120v receptacle and a ceiling fan switch - they were already there, but I replaced the old boxes and covers with new ones to freshen up the appearance.

I think my old incandescent light was supposed to be 500w, but I couldn't find any markings on the bulb to confirm. The new light is 60w LED. Here's some comparison pictures with the LED set to max brightness and white color, with filter pump off for calm water:









The first two were taken with the flood lights off and the last picture above was taken with the flood lights on.

The new LED light is not quite as bright and is more of a cool white compared to the old light being more of a warm white.

To be continued soon - I still need to provide some first thoughts on the phone app, go over all the pros/cons I observed, provide a few more pics, etc