My Pentair Intellibrite 5G finally died!

[Killer95Stang]

Pool was built in 2013 with three 120V color Intellibrite 5G lights. These arw controlled by Pentair automation. After 11 seasons of faithful service, one of the three lights finally died.

What are my options? I would like to keep the replacement light or light engine synchronized with my current system. Anything aftermarket that will work, or am I stuck purchasing overpriced Pentair?

Thanks

 

[Dirk]

Following this thread. My first 5G burned out quickly enough for Pentair to replace it. That second one is still going, but I'm waiting for it to go out eventually. I currently have a couple of vague ideas, but haven't vetted them out yet.

1) I'll be looking to go low voltage next time. Having a 120V appliance in my pool is, IMO, as crazy as it sounds.

2) There is a post somewhere on TFP* that mentions the possibility of building your own pool light with LEDs and available control circuits. It would cost much, much less than a Pentair unit, and be infinitely more controllable. Pentair's colored LEDs are capable of producing millions of different colors, but the circuitry only offers a handful of options, most of them quite lame. So I'll pursue this when the time comes, based on 12V if I can.

NOTE: I only have one light, and I control it with home automation, not my pool automation. So I don't have any experience with the Pentair light-show-syncing protocol.

If I don't electrocute myself, I'll post on what I end up doing someday. In the meantime, I can't offer any real advice. Sorry. Mostly just wanted to listen in on your thread.

*Or it might have been a google-search result article, it's been long enough that I don't remember.

 

[Dirk]

I found a bookmark for a thread I wanted to keep track of. You will find it interesting:

pentair intellibrite replacement?

its probably time to replace a pool light. an LED bought in 2012 seems to have failed and ive been dreading this day. i have 2 pool, 1 spa on different outlets but in sync via intellitouch controls. so i wanted to either a) replace all fixtures and go with a standard LED bulb, or buy a single...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Dirk]

I didn't reread this article this morning, but this might have been what I found before, or it's similar at least. Got any DIY in ya? It's probably where I'll start when the time comes.

BUT FAIR WARNING: messing around with a pool light can be a very dangerous thing. Even just installing an off-the-shelf brand light. You are working with salt water and electricity after all. If you don't 100% know what you are doing, have a very reputable, pool-experienced, licensed electrician do the work. People have been killed fooling with their pool light electrical system. It's not worth it to save a few hundred bucks.

With any luck, I'll talk myself out of this hair-brained scheme when the time comes:

Pentair 5g retrofit DIY LED Pool Light for $60 – The Hook Up

www.thesmarthomehookup.com