Our 1996-built pool has PacFab Hatteras light fixtures that are likely original (we bought the house and pool last year). Two larger fixtures in the pool, one smaller one in the spa.
No issues with the spa fixture or one of the pool fixtures. The other pool fixture bulb burned out shortly after we bought the house. I replaced the bulb with a 500w halogen and installed a new gasket about a year ago, and the light worked fine. I'm 99% sure that the label on the back of the fixture indicated that a 500w bulb was suitable.
In the past month or so (FWIW - as the average pool temperature has run in the 90-95 range in the TX heat), I've noticed the following behavior in the fixture whose bulb I replaced - I'll turn on the lights, the fixture works fine for 10 minutes, then turns off, then turns on 10 minutes later, then turns off 10 minutes later, etc. The other lights remain on the whole time. All lights are protected by a GFCI outlet that doesn't trip (I replaced the outlet last year and verified it to be working).
Questions:
1) Could this be indicative of an overly-sensitive thermal protection module? (I remember seeing this module inside the fixture as I was replacing the bulb). Anything else I should check?
2) If the thermal protection module has failed, could I get away with swapping both 500w lights for pool-fixture-rated LED bulbs? I assume that these produce significantly less heat? Or should I swap the bulb for a 300 watt pool bulb?
I guess the next step if this didn't work would be to replace both fixtures, but would rather avoid this step unless absolutely necessary. We rarely use the pool lights, but want them to work properly when called on.
No issues with the spa fixture or one of the pool fixtures. The other pool fixture bulb burned out shortly after we bought the house. I replaced the bulb with a 500w halogen and installed a new gasket about a year ago, and the light worked fine. I'm 99% sure that the label on the back of the fixture indicated that a 500w bulb was suitable.
In the past month or so (FWIW - as the average pool temperature has run in the 90-95 range in the TX heat), I've noticed the following behavior in the fixture whose bulb I replaced - I'll turn on the lights, the fixture works fine for 10 minutes, then turns off, then turns on 10 minutes later, then turns off 10 minutes later, etc. The other lights remain on the whole time. All lights are protected by a GFCI outlet that doesn't trip (I replaced the outlet last year and verified it to be working).
Questions:
1) Could this be indicative of an overly-sensitive thermal protection module? (I remember seeing this module inside the fixture as I was replacing the bulb). Anything else I should check?
2) If the thermal protection module has failed, could I get away with swapping both 500w lights for pool-fixture-rated LED bulbs? I assume that these produce significantly less heat? Or should I swap the bulb for a 300 watt pool bulb?
I guess the next step if this didn't work would be to replace both fixtures, but would rather avoid this step unless absolutely necessary. We rarely use the pool lights, but want them to work properly when called on.
