Yep, this is what happens when ignorance is bliss, as they say.
About twenty-five years ago, when I was fairly new to pool ownership, I had noticed that my pool light had stopped working and proceeded to change the bulb, which was rated at 12V 100W. This went well and fixed the problem but in closing up the housing, I decided that it would be a good idea to seal up around the bezel. That's where the ignorance part comes in. I didn't realize at that time that it's not meant to be sealed, so that water can help to cool down the innards. The light continued to work for a few years then failed again but I did nothing to try and fix it again.
Fast forward to this week, where I'm trying to identify where the pool is losing water, using fluorescent yellow pool dye. It looked like there was a possibility that some dye was sort of 'clinging' to the light bezel so, after chipping away some of the epoxy seal, I removed it to investigate further into the niche. That was somewhat inconclusive, due to water movement as I was in the pool at the time.
However, when I opened the light housing to check the bulb, this is what I found. The unit had obviously overheated at some point and melted the permanent sealant around the bulb holder, causing it to flow down to the front gasket. The bulb holder contacts are not in great shape but it appears that the bulb itself may still be okay as I can measure resistance across it.
I'm planning to replace the whole light fitting with a more up-to-date LED unit sometime in the near future, as part of a pool and deck renovation project.
So, even with a 12 bolt system, it is important to make sure that pool water is allowed to circulate inside the niche to cool down the inner housing.
About twenty-five years ago, when I was fairly new to pool ownership, I had noticed that my pool light had stopped working and proceeded to change the bulb, which was rated at 12V 100W. This went well and fixed the problem but in closing up the housing, I decided that it would be a good idea to seal up around the bezel. That's where the ignorance part comes in. I didn't realize at that time that it's not meant to be sealed, so that water can help to cool down the innards. The light continued to work for a few years then failed again but I did nothing to try and fix it again.
Fast forward to this week, where I'm trying to identify where the pool is losing water, using fluorescent yellow pool dye. It looked like there was a possibility that some dye was sort of 'clinging' to the light bezel so, after chipping away some of the epoxy seal, I removed it to investigate further into the niche. That was somewhat inconclusive, due to water movement as I was in the pool at the time.
However, when I opened the light housing to check the bulb, this is what I found. The unit had obviously overheated at some point and melted the permanent sealant around the bulb holder, causing it to flow down to the front gasket. The bulb holder contacts are not in great shape but it appears that the bulb itself may still be okay as I can measure resistance across it.
I'm planning to replace the whole light fitting with a more up-to-date LED unit sometime in the near future, as part of a pool and deck renovation project.
So, even with a 12 bolt system, it is important to make sure that pool water is allowed to circulate inside the niche to cool down the inner housing.
