Just wanted to write this up for anyone doing a light replacement on their own.
I had a SAm Light (Spectrum Amerlite) installed when I built the pool 17 years ago. Last year the light stopped rotating color and was stuck on an awful shade of green. I don’t use the light very much so I just left it. This year I really wanted to replace it. The current Pentair light is the IntelliBrite 5G which runs about $600-700. After reading reviews an seeing a bunch of failures and a high cost to replace the light engine, about $450 I decided to look at other options.
I found the Pentair Amerlite 784 series is the same size as my old light and would fit perfectly. The Amerlite comes in 12v or 120v (mine is 120v), different length cord and different wattage. I had a short run and went with the 50’ cord. As far as wattage the only difference is the bulb, so get the 300w. When I did this over July 4th there were sales and the 400w was cheaper than the 300w. I spent about $150.
For the bulb I wanted a color changing bulb and narrowed it down to the PureColor LED because it had a two-year warranty and good reviews and the price was under $200. Someone on another thread mentioned the J&J Electrical light ColorSplash LXG LED. After reading about this one (three-year warranty) I decided to get this bulb which was also on sale.
Total spent under $300 for both fixture and bulb. And bulb replacements easy and less than half the IntelliBright.
Installation was pretty easy except the pull. Definitely a two-person job but I did it myself. Needed to jump in and out of the pool a dozen times but got it done. I need to apply a little dish washing soap in the junction box conduit to get it started and it whipped right out. It was really stuck. I have an 8-gauge ground in the same conduit and thought it may have been twisted but it was not. I discovered the ground lug in the niche was missing the screw so off to home depot for an assortment. Turned out it’s a 10/24 x ½” stainless steel machine screw. While at Home depot I bought a new plug and socket to make a 22’ extension cord from the left-over fixture cord.
I also suggest testing your GFCI’s while working on the light. I discovered both (one for the light and one for the cover in the same junction box) were bad. They tested ok with a GFCI circuit tester but the test/reset buttons were broken on both.
Bulb works great! I do not have a control box so I need to switch it off and on to change scenes.
Here is a link to a quick video of the light.
I had a SAm Light (Spectrum Amerlite) installed when I built the pool 17 years ago. Last year the light stopped rotating color and was stuck on an awful shade of green. I don’t use the light very much so I just left it. This year I really wanted to replace it. The current Pentair light is the IntelliBrite 5G which runs about $600-700. After reading reviews an seeing a bunch of failures and a high cost to replace the light engine, about $450 I decided to look at other options.
I found the Pentair Amerlite 784 series is the same size as my old light and would fit perfectly. The Amerlite comes in 12v or 120v (mine is 120v), different length cord and different wattage. I had a short run and went with the 50’ cord. As far as wattage the only difference is the bulb, so get the 300w. When I did this over July 4th there were sales and the 400w was cheaper than the 300w. I spent about $150.
For the bulb I wanted a color changing bulb and narrowed it down to the PureColor LED because it had a two-year warranty and good reviews and the price was under $200. Someone on another thread mentioned the J&J Electrical light ColorSplash LXG LED. After reading about this one (three-year warranty) I decided to get this bulb which was also on sale.
Total spent under $300 for both fixture and bulb. And bulb replacements easy and less than half the IntelliBright.
Installation was pretty easy except the pull. Definitely a two-person job but I did it myself. Needed to jump in and out of the pool a dozen times but got it done. I need to apply a little dish washing soap in the junction box conduit to get it started and it whipped right out. It was really stuck. I have an 8-gauge ground in the same conduit and thought it may have been twisted but it was not. I discovered the ground lug in the niche was missing the screw so off to home depot for an assortment. Turned out it’s a 10/24 x ½” stainless steel machine screw. While at Home depot I bought a new plug and socket to make a 22’ extension cord from the left-over fixture cord.
I also suggest testing your GFCI’s while working on the light. I discovered both (one for the light and one for the cover in the same junction box) were bad. They tested ok with a GFCI circuit tester but the test/reset buttons were broken on both.
Bulb works great! I do not have a control box so I need to switch it off and on to change scenes.
Here is a link to a quick video of the light.
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