- May 14, 2025
- 5
- Pool Size
- 30000
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
So many questions. Gotta start somewhere.
Bought a house with an inground pool. Original pool was built circa 1970s. It's about 30,000 gallons, 10 feet deep, and has a bump out for a spa. The structure of it is sound and in good condition (we had it inspected before we bid on the house), and over the years it has been maintained and has had some improvements, including newer systems (seems like it's all pentair: automation, variable speed pump, DE filter, remote and a wireless bridge for app automation)
One issue we knew about were the pool lights, of which there are two: one in the deep end and the other in the spa. The sellers disclosure said the bulbs were out, which indicates to me that maybe the fixtures are ok, but just the bulbs are out. Indeed, neither one works. I cannot for the life of me figure out where in the pool house the line coming in for them is, and the breaker box has ZERO things labeled so while it's easy to figure out what controls what for things that work (because those things go off when you flip the switch), I can't tell where (or if) the pool lights are even connected.
After I turned all the breakers off (including all systems and even the lights for the pool house) I unscrewed the light in the spa since it was easy to access and tried to pull it up and out of the water but the line is too short. I put it back in and turned the systems back on.
There are two silver boxes behind each pool light set back from the pool deck sticking out of the gorund so I'm ASSUMING those are the junction boxes.
Options:
1) Get dry access to the fixture by draining the spa side. It's a small spa and I have a pump. There's a decorative fountain nearby that I can pump the water into and then put it back in once I'm done. In fact, that's exactly what I did yesterday after I cleaned and prepped the fountain--I filled it with clean and treated pool water using the pump and a garden hose. I can stick rubber covers over the drains in the spa and get the spa drained quickly without wasting any water. Advantages of this approach are determining whether the fixtures and power are actually working and it's just the bulb that's out. BUT even if if's just the bulb, disadantages of this approach is that obviously this is not an option for the pool-side light. Maybe the cord for the pool side light is longer, but it's certainly reasonable to assume it's not.
2) Go at it from the junction box side. Disconnect the current fixture and pull it through and then thread it back. Advantages of this approach are that it would work for pool and spa side. Disadvantages are...well, it's quite a few running feet through a passageway that's 50 years old. Biggest fear would be getting it out and then never getting it back in. Certainly I could attach it to some flexible cable and preserve the run so I'm not fishing it so much as just pulling it back through.
How DO people change pool light bulbs???
IF the junction box approach is the right one, would it be smarter to simply change the whole fixture once I've committed to pulling the cable all te way out? The light fixture itself looks like it's about as old as the pool. And this way I can make sure there's plenty of cord for future bulb changes should that be needed.
Bought a house with an inground pool. Original pool was built circa 1970s. It's about 30,000 gallons, 10 feet deep, and has a bump out for a spa. The structure of it is sound and in good condition (we had it inspected before we bid on the house), and over the years it has been maintained and has had some improvements, including newer systems (seems like it's all pentair: automation, variable speed pump, DE filter, remote and a wireless bridge for app automation)
One issue we knew about were the pool lights, of which there are two: one in the deep end and the other in the spa. The sellers disclosure said the bulbs were out, which indicates to me that maybe the fixtures are ok, but just the bulbs are out. Indeed, neither one works. I cannot for the life of me figure out where in the pool house the line coming in for them is, and the breaker box has ZERO things labeled so while it's easy to figure out what controls what for things that work (because those things go off when you flip the switch), I can't tell where (or if) the pool lights are even connected.
After I turned all the breakers off (including all systems and even the lights for the pool house) I unscrewed the light in the spa since it was easy to access and tried to pull it up and out of the water but the line is too short. I put it back in and turned the systems back on.
There are two silver boxes behind each pool light set back from the pool deck sticking out of the gorund so I'm ASSUMING those are the junction boxes.
Options:
1) Get dry access to the fixture by draining the spa side. It's a small spa and I have a pump. There's a decorative fountain nearby that I can pump the water into and then put it back in once I'm done. In fact, that's exactly what I did yesterday after I cleaned and prepped the fountain--I filled it with clean and treated pool water using the pump and a garden hose. I can stick rubber covers over the drains in the spa and get the spa drained quickly without wasting any water. Advantages of this approach are determining whether the fixtures and power are actually working and it's just the bulb that's out. BUT even if if's just the bulb, disadantages of this approach is that obviously this is not an option for the pool-side light. Maybe the cord for the pool side light is longer, but it's certainly reasonable to assume it's not.
2) Go at it from the junction box side. Disconnect the current fixture and pull it through and then thread it back. Advantages of this approach are that it would work for pool and spa side. Disadvantages are...well, it's quite a few running feet through a passageway that's 50 years old. Biggest fear would be getting it out and then never getting it back in. Certainly I could attach it to some flexible cable and preserve the run so I'm not fishing it so much as just pulling it back through.
How DO people change pool light bulbs???
IF the junction box approach is the right one, would it be smarter to simply change the whole fixture once I've committed to pulling the cable all te way out? The light fixture itself looks like it's about as old as the pool. And this way I can make sure there's plenty of cord for future bulb changes should that be needed.
