Need some clarity on my lighting situation: Pentair GloBrite LED Bubblers & IntelliBrite Color LED Pool/Spa Lights

[n4trombl]

Could use some guidance and clarification on my lighting situation. Quick background: Final stage of the pool build completed today (acid wash) and pool is currently filling as we speak. That said, we just had our 3 Pentair GloBrite LED Bubblers installed as they get placed after plaster is done. In total now, I have 6 Lights, 3 GloBrite LEDs, 2 IntelliBrite Color LED Pool Lights, and 1 IntelliBrite Color LED Spa Light. All 12V, connected to a single 300Watt Transformer and 1 relay. Now in doing some research, I am seeing that this may not be the ideal setup, but I initially went with this approach as I did not mind being all in for the lights (everything on or everything off).

However, this evening while doing some work outside and with the lights on, I started to notice something odd. First, my spa light went out. All the lights had been on and running for at least 10mins without noticing anything odd. Then as I said, spa light went out. Shortly after, I noticed 1 bubbler light went out. Then another, then a minute later, the first bubbler came back on. Now I started to feel stumped. I would have thought that there was something potentially in the programming (which I admit I haven't gotten far yet on) if it would have just been the bubblers as they are different (GloBrite vs IntelliBrite) but the fact that my spa light was the first to go out made me nix that theory. Eventually the spa light came back on but these 4 continued to randomly turn on and off. Even more odd, the 2 IntelliBrite Color LED Pool Lights never changed. The color for everything was set to just White.

Has anyone seen this before? Math wise my wattage should be well under what is recommended in the manual(s) for these lights, so I can't imagine that is the issue. But I'm no electrician so I would defer to those folks!

Happy to share any additional detail but would appreciate any insights!

-Nick

 

[Jimrahbe]

Nick,

I do not know what your problem is, but I'd be interested in the answer..

You say the pool is filling as you speak.. Does this mean you have the lights on without water covering the fixtures???

If you have one relay, I can't see how it could be a programming issue as lights are programmed by turning the relay on and off a specific number of times. This means that all the lights should respond the same.. To get the lights to do different things, or be different colors, then each light would need an individual relay and individual transformer.

Please let us know what you find out.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[n4trombl]

Jim,

That is correct...the pool is filling and at the time I was out there working, the lights were not covering the fixtures. I did not plan to have them on for any extended amount of time, just enough to ensure everything was functioning correctly. The first time to spa light went out I did go over and shut the lights off (not the breaker, just the circuit via Automation Panel), and turned back on. This time around it wasn't but maybe a couple mins before that random on/off between those 4 lights started occurring again.

Agreed on the programming portion, and appreciate the validation. That was my thought as well. If everything is tied to 1 junction box --> 1 300W transformer --> 1 relay, it should be very straight forward.

I have an electrician coming tomorrow to do some other outdoor kitchen/pergola work and plan to have him take a peek just to confirm nothing voltage wise. Plus by that time everything should be fully covered with water.

-Nick

 

[ajw22]

All the lights had been on and running for at least 10mins without noticing anything odd. Then as I said, spa light went out. Shortly after, I noticed 1 bubbler light went out. Then another, then a minute later, the first bubbler came back on.

The Globrite manual page 11 point 7 https://www.pentair.com/content/dam...g-led-light-manual-english-spanish-french.pdf says:

Before operating the GloBrite color light, fill the pool with water until the light is completely submerged.
Note: The GloBrite color light should not be powered for more than 30 seconds if is not submersed in water.

Pool lights are cooled by the pool water. What you observed was the thermal protection in the lights shutting them down due to overheating. Hopefully they were not damaged.

 

[n4trombl]

Thank you very much for pointing that out! This is my first pool, and as you can see from the signature, I did an Owner build so probably some of the little things that a PB would have shared. I had a small hunch that could be the case, but the fact that the 2 Pool LEDs weren't participating in the on/off made me second guess that theory. It makes sense though regardless. Our pool lights (in the pool) are all covered now, and the spa filling will begin shortly. Once everything is filled (hopefully later today) I will retest as everything will be submerged and let you know. Thanks again @ajw22

 

[n4trombl]

Allen was spot on. And it made perfect sense. Lights ran fine & without issue once submerged. Noted for future: Even when you think you've read everything go back and re-read again to ensure you don't miss an important detail such as not running the lights more than 30sec without water.

Appreciate the help!