I had to (mostly) drain my pool to do some tile work. While I was at it, I decided to replace one of the three Intellibrite pool lights that wasn't working (the gasket had leaked, but that's another story). The pool has been empty below the lights now for three or four days but the wall continued to be wet under a different light. I decided to replace all the pool light gaskets since I hadn't done that in 9 years (my bad). When I removed the light where the wall was wet, the dirt inside the niche was pretty wet and water was dripping out of the joint as shown by the red arrow in my picture. Someone had really caulked the heck out of that joint (and in all the lights) although if they intended it to seal this one, it didn't work). If I'm understanding this thread, water coming out of that joint is really nothing to worry about other than being a pain if I ever had to replace the electrical line. This is important because I've long suspected there might be a slow leak somewhere in the pool, but a leak detector guy said he couldn't find any leak - except he couldn't tell if there was a leak in the pool lights. And now I see water dripping inside the pool light. What should I do?
Possible Pool leak - suspect conduit from light fixture
- Thread starter johnsimion
- Start date
- Jun 22, 2014
- 52,051
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
It's okay to have water in that electrical conduit. What's not okay is if the PVC itself is cracked somewhere allowing water to seep out. That could be why someone tried caulking it. Instead, you might try replacing that caulking with a light niche cable stopper plug or some butyl tape made for pools. I don't have access to online links to those products at the moment, but I'll tag @1poolman1 who might have them handy.
Like this:
Pool Light Cord Stopper - 1 Inch 2-Hole - Retrofit for Bonding Ground Light - Q-CS9
This Light Cord Stopper has 2-holes and is for 1 inch pipe and retrofits for bonding ground installations. Light Cord Stoppers help eliminate water leaks at the pool light. Stop wondering if that light niche conduit is sealed. Cord Stoppers can be used on new or old installations. The 1 inch...
www.poolweb.com
Even if there is a leak in the conduit, this will stop water from flowing in the conduit. A little silicone grease on the inner holes and outside will aid in installation. The picture is wrong, the retro-fit models are split to allow it to fit over wiring that is in place.
I don't think they caulked it to stop a leak because all three lights were caulked like that when the pool was built - we're the only owners of this property and we built the pool and we know that for certain. Thanks for your help and I'll keep it in mind in the future, but right now I'm just tired of fixing this pool (the latest was having to cover my spa overflow so pigeons can't land in it and poop anymore) and I could go on for an hour about all the other things that have gone wrong. In addition, right now I'm trying to learn how to replace one Intellibrite pool engine and the gaskets for two other lights and a spa light before they also go bad ... because I was too dumb to know I had to replace gaskets regularly. I never wanted to learn how to do this but I have to because when I call pool companies, nobody even returns calls these days. So, right now since the issue I asked about doesn't seem **likely** to be a leak, I'm not inclined to do anything about it right now. I'm not even certain we have a leak in the first place. It's hard to tell with all the evaporation we have here in summer. But thanks to both of you for your help. I'll definitely keep this in mind for the future.
Light gaskets are not an item that needs to be replaced on any type of schedule. Usually only when the fixture is opened to replace a bulb. If you are replacing the gaskets, get silicone ones and never have to do it again.
Some pool builders, as a matter of course, will plug the light conduit with silicone-sealant on every build in the off chance that the conduit will leak. Doesn't mean that there ever was a leak, but also doesn't mean it is not leaking.
The pool is now nine years old. I drained the pool for another project and while I was at it, decided to replace a Pentair Intellibrite lamp that went bad. Once the pool was drained, I could see that the failed light was halfway full of water and the other two had condensation in them, although still working. I have had "pros" replace two lights previously at different time although I can't say which ones. After that experience - and since they didn't return my phone call - I didn't want to pay a "pro" out the nose to fix something I almost never use, so I decided to replace the "engine" in the one light and replace ALL the gaskets. I spent hours poring over the manual, watching videos and oh-so-carefully putting them **&^*( things back together. I am refilling the pool right now and they're underwater and still working. If they fail this time I'm just going to take them out altogether - these lights are just for show anyway.
Quoting another John from another post: "Given the first seal failed in 8 years, I'll probably have to consider changing it every 5 - 6 years to be safe (and not spend another $500 changing the whole light fixture)." Based on that John's experience and my own, the gaskets SHOULD be replaced on a schedule. Maybe that's because I have a saltwater pool?
(How often do you change the seal in your pool light?)
Quoting another John from another post: "Given the first seal failed in 8 years, I'll probably have to consider changing it every 5 - 6 years to be safe (and not spend another $500 changing the whole light fixture)." Based on that John's experience and my own, the gaskets SHOULD be replaced on a schedule. Maybe that's because I have a saltwater pool?
(How often do you change the seal in your pool light?)
The salinity of your pool, if done properly, is in the range of tears or sweat. That won't cause an issue with a gasket, seal, light ring, pump seal, heater or anything pool related.