Blew a 2-year-old, 400W incandescent in my spa and figured I would just go to LED. Installed a 12W, 120V, daylight-white LED (Kollniun brand) that the description said was a Spa/Pool bulb. Replaced the fixture gasket even though it was only two years old. Worked perfectly with great illumination, but then the catch.
The 30-year old incandescent still in the pool looked yellow-green against the new, bright white spa. So, bought another LED bulb, same model (for color match), and replaced it too. This, of course, did not go as well. Turn on the lights (two separate Pentair Easytouch mechanical relays), and neither light turns on. Got to be something common, right?
Verified the GFCI works and it does. Pulled the pool light back out of its niche, disassembled again, and screwed in a normal lamp LED bulb. It starts blinking. Check the Easytouch panel, and nothing seems wrong. So I remove the wire nuts for that circuit (after turning off the breaker of course), still nothing I can find: Measuring correct voltages when carefully energized. Reconnect the wire nuts, power it, and magically now everything works. But, the pool light has shadows because the LED bulb is 3” shorter than the old incandescent, so further recessed away from the glass lens, and that matters in the pool. Just going to live with that.
Lessons:
If you replace an incandescent pool light with LED, expect to do both pool and spa for color matching.
The shorter LED might result in shadows in the larger pool. No problem in the spa.
Even though the Easytouch output relays are mechanical, there is something weird interacting with LEDs.
The 30-year old incandescent still in the pool looked yellow-green against the new, bright white spa. So, bought another LED bulb, same model (for color match), and replaced it too. This, of course, did not go as well. Turn on the lights (two separate Pentair Easytouch mechanical relays), and neither light turns on. Got to be something common, right?
Verified the GFCI works and it does. Pulled the pool light back out of its niche, disassembled again, and screwed in a normal lamp LED bulb. It starts blinking. Check the Easytouch panel, and nothing seems wrong. So I remove the wire nuts for that circuit (after turning off the breaker of course), still nothing I can find: Measuring correct voltages when carefully energized. Reconnect the wire nuts, power it, and magically now everything works. But, the pool light has shadows because the LED bulb is 3” shorter than the old incandescent, so further recessed away from the glass lens, and that matters in the pool. Just going to live with that.
Lessons:
If you replace an incandescent pool light with LED, expect to do both pool and spa for color matching.
The shorter LED might result in shadows in the larger pool. No problem in the spa.
Even though the Easytouch output relays are mechanical, there is something weird interacting with LEDs.
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