Leaking Light

[awtoner]

Moved from here.
I'm the latest victim of a leaking Sam light. I had to replace the bulbs on my ~2005 fixture, and I think the act of moving it around caused a leak at the cord entry. Mine worked fine for a night, but the next day one bulb was burned out, the color wheel wasn't moving, and there was water in the light. After drying it out all day and replacing the bulb, I noticed the strain relief was still wet. I proved the cord was leaking by sitting the back of the light in a shallow pan of water, keeping the lens dry. With the light on and getting warm, the cord pretty quickly started bubbling underwater, then after cooling I found water in the light. Apparently the other night, it bubbled out the back without me noticing (perhaps stuck in the top of the niche?), and then pulled water back in when it cooled off.

In researching replacement gaskets like these on Amazon, I noticed a small number of 1-star reviews for both which mentioned leaks. I was wondering how this was possible, and I think now it may be more about disturbing the cord than bad gaskets.

Amazon.com: Impresa Products 2-Pack Pentair-Compatible Light Lens Gasket - 8 3/8" - Equivalent to 79101600Z - Works with IntelliBrite Lights, AmeriLite Lights and SAm AmerLite Lights in Pools and Spas: Home & Kitchen

Buy Impresa Products 2-Pack Pentair-Compatible Light Lens Gasket - 8 3/8" - Equivalent to 79101600Z - Works with IntelliBrite Lights, AmeriLite Lights and SAm AmerLite Lights in Pools and Spas: Pool & Spa Replacement Parts - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

Amazon.com: Pentair 79101600Z Lens Gasket Replacement Kit AmerLite Pool and Spa Light: Garden & Outdoor

Amazon.com: Pentair 79101600Z Lens Gasket Replacement Kit AmerLite Pool and Spa Light: Garden & Outdoor

www.amazon.com

So now I've got two choices:
1) Try the epoxy method in this thread. It seems worth a try and is my kind of DIY hack. It also preserves my existing light and controls. I'm worried that there's already long-term damage with salt-pool water in the light, likely speeding eventual failure of the color wheel motor. I also don't really like the colors on the SAm...magenta but no yellow, true red, and orange.

2) Replace with a new light. My main hangup here is my Jandy AquaLink RS-8 with firmware T. It supports the Jandy LED WaterColors, JandyColors, Hayward Color Logic, Pentair IntelliBrite, and Pentair SAm/SAL.

I know a Pentair IntelliBrite 5g would fit in my niche, but it still doesn't have the colors I want. Also with its additional modes, I don't think it wouldn't be directly compatible with my controller. I'd have to manually toggle on/off to cycle through the modes.

Now that I look around, I don't really see any lights that offer all of the ~8 solid colors I'd want. So maybe I'm back to epoxy on the SAm.

 

[ajw22]

Since the SAM light gives you the color and control you want I think you should try and repair it as long as possible and keep it going.

 

[awtoner]

I ordered the G/flex 650-8 "toughened" epoxy instead of the 655 "thickened" or other variants. I wanted something that would flow better into the damaged strain relief and was available quickly from Amazon. Then I did a cardboard & tape molding, requiring two pours due to leakage.

The light passed the partial-submersion test that previously failed at the strain relief. It has also passed the test of using at night then still working the next day. I'm hopeful this buys me some time before I need to buy a new light.

The only suggestions I'd add are:

• The cardboard turned into a mess with epoxy soaking through and not being easy to remove. Maybe find something less permeable but still easy to form.
• Watch out how much epoxy is added up the cable. I was barely able to clip the bottom of the light into the niche since the cable now pokes out more into the back of the niche.