Light replacement???

[trivetman]

My pool light keeps shorting and its not the gasket. I’ve got The electrical disconnected until i can replace the whole fixture.

replacing seems easy if I can fish the new wire through. BUT....theres a caulk/putty in place where my wire comes out of the niche and the wire is cemented im place. Was this likely put in because the conduit behind was leaking? Whats the right way to deal with it?

 

[homegameroom]

I would investigate this quite a bit - it can be difficult to replace a pool light, especially if there is a long run of wire. My light niche has goop where the wire enters due to a leak.

Did you completely isolate the light wiring and test it for a short (disconnect it from the switch/transformer/breaker and take out the bulb)?

Having said that, there is a guy down here who advertises on Craigslist to replace any pool light for $125, which would be money well spent!

 

[trivetman]

The short is definitely between the jbox behind the pool and the light bulb. It could be a replacable part like the bulb but my money is on cracks in the wire insulation. I am really just wondering what that pile of putty is all about and if cutting into it is likely to open a big can of pool leak worms

heres a post i made a while back when i was first looking at this problem

Pool Light Shorting....Again!

I replaced the gasket on my pool light last year after the GFCI was tripping. It was working for a while after that and now it's shorting out again. I figured I didn't get the gasket on quite right, but I don't see any water inside the light, so maybe not. I opened the J-box behind the pool...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Divin Dave]

There is nothing wrong with the light cord conduit being flooded, unless of course the conduit leaks.
Obviously I dont know why the putty was applied, but putty is not the right way to fix a conduit leak. It never works out in the long run. A cord stopper slipped around the cable and TIGHTLY installed into the conduit entrance in the niche would have been the right thing to install instead of the putty.

Cord Stopper Fixes Leaking Pool Light Conduit, Fits 3/4 in. Conduit, 120V

Pool Light Cord Stoppers are split down the side to slip over the pool light cord, then just push it into the light conduit hole at the back of the light niche to seal up the conduit and stop pool light leaks!

www.intheswim.com

If the putty is removed and the conduit does leak, its generally not a big deal unless you decide to dig up the conduit and fix it. I did that and its not easy.

 

[trivetman]

Yeah...especially not easy when the conduit is under concrete deck. I might just let this light stay unfixed rather than risk making a bigger problem

 

[Divin Dave]

If I had known about that stopper way back when, I would have given that a try first before I dug it all up to fix the conduit. I had to dig under 3 ft of pool deck. There was no way I could refill the "tunnel" under the deck and pack it properly so I had to fill that space under the deck with gravel. It was no fun. No sir.

Yeah...especially not easy when the conduit is under concrete deck. I might just let this light stay unfixed rather than risk making a bigger problem