You sir saved me some SERIOUS money, I was quoted 2500 to replace the lights in my spa and pool. Did it my self for $500 using your methods, thank you!!
Just wanted to say thank you. I bought a 30+ yr old house with an inground pool. The light hasn't worked for years. I tried everything in my power (before calling a professional) to pull the the cord free. That sucker wouldn't budge! Just poured half a bottle of dish soap in the pipe...BOOM! I'm sure everyone has a different situation. Your advice worked for mine! Much appreciated.
As a pool service and repair technician I applaude you sir. There are many ways to do a task but this is the best way! There are far to many wannabe pool guys out in the field doing crap work and putting others in unsafe situations. A nice video indeed
Great video - first time pool owner here, and the current light in my pond is trashed. I have a new LED light to run about 20 feet from the light box to the pond. Very helpful to see the tips about tying a pull-string, and knotting to the wire, and using dish soap in order to pull smoothly through the conduit. Great job - thank you!
thank you for your knowledge , could you educate me on the #8 insulated bonding wire that was inside you conduit , could that compromise the pull? have you pulled the bonding cable out ? this job it was no problem, i am concerned about my pull,
How do I find out what type of light brand is it? My parents inground pool was put in in the mid 1980s. The whole housing/ballast need to swapped out and we already bypass the timer box and I already put a new switch in and GFCI outlet. I lost current from the switch to the ballast. The ballast terminals are corroded and I figure the wire cable has a short somewhere. I like to swap it to a LED.
I plan to use the old wire attached to the new wire to pull the new wire. The old wire can be pulled with a claw hammer. I plan to use the soap method also. Always assume all wires are hot because they just might be hot with the breaker off. Always use a volt meter, only trust a volt meter.
I am having trouble getting original cable out of the conduit despite using dish detergent. Where can I buy or what is the model number of the tool you mentioned that may help pull the cable?
What failure rate have you seen with LED lights? I've seen tons of comments on how short lived LED lights are. Also, do you recommend converting a 120v light to 12v?
We have almost a 0% failure rate on the 12 volt Pentair and Jandy LED Lights. The 120V lights have a slightly higher failure rate, maybe 10% for both Pentair and Jandy; it is almost always the transformer in the light fixture that fails. The light engine is still good. In todays world, I would only install 12 volt lights for safety and reliability reasons. IF you want to talk about Hayward lights we see and extremely high failure rate with-in the first year. We had failure analysis done by CREE (the manufacturer of the LEDs) and it was the power supply for the LEDs that failed. It is poorly designed and the components are under rated. PAL light failures are even higher than Hayward, good luck having them last even 1 year
@@craigwooster6646 I have Pentair Globrite color lights. Two of the failed almost at the same time this year after two years of use. I also have the Pentair laminate with a light, one of them failed a week earlier. They use separate transformers. They are all 12 volt lights. To say I’m a bit disappointed is an understatement. Since the remaining three laminate still operate, and the remaining Globrite still works my pool guy says it’s the lights that have gone bad, not anything else. I hear pool guys say they never have seen a failure, but looking on line, many consumers are very disappointed in the performance of these lights. All three cost almost $2,000 dollars. Great video……..Any advice on what May cause such a high rate of failure? Thanks, alex
The j box where the lights are wired is above the water level so there for water will not travel up. Pool builders shoot silicone into the conduit from the pool light niche
the conduit should be waterproof attached to the back of the niche. Ofcourse the cable attached to the light is also water proof. No need to seal anything.
Is there a brand of spa light that will work with a Pentair pool light other than a Pentair. Pentair is so pricey. The Hayward pool light was replaced with a Pentair Intellibrite architectural light but not the spa light. The Hayward spa light needs replacing.
Nice video, very helpful. my question is this, is there pool water that seeps into the conduit up to the level of the pool? I tried pulling on my chord but it would not budge, it looked like it was held in place by a plastic gasket. Thanks, Lloyd
Yes. There are some niches that have rubber stoppers that wrap around the light cord and ground wire. Frequently the stopper is held in place with a large plastic nut in the shape of a star. You will need to unscrew the nut and then yank on the light cord to free the stopper from the conduit.
So, it's not a requirement to waterproof any of the wiring or anything? I'm just confused. I had a pool guy quote me over 1200 to fix my lights but this looks (reasonably) easy enough to do? I would love to pull new lights but am worried about electrocution or leaks out of the pool..... My pool guy highly didn't recommend doing it because he was concerned for leaking. But.... that doesn't seem to be an issue? Any idea what he was concerned about? Again, this looked relatively doable.
Turn on electrical off when pulling the light, the cord itself that’s in the water is insulated so that’s fine under water, if that insulation is bad, you would rely on having a good circuit breaker. Junction box is above water level so the pool will flood before water gets to exposed electrical.
This is one of the best light videos on RUclips . Awesome , I love seeing how people do things compared to me , I use the conduit rope a lot And yes heaps of soap lol
Also use a mirror gooseneck from harbor freight to see behind light without getting in water. Easy peasy. No reason to get in water. I do 100s lights every year without getting so much as my arm wet. Spa lights just drain spa into pool. Easy peasy
True provided you are at least 6 ft tall. Getting it back in from the deck presents it's own challenges. If there is a stopper mechanism in the light niche or even butyl tape or worse silicon injected into the conduit, it makes it almost impossible to remove the light without getting in the water. Bottom line is suck it up, jump in the water and it will take half as long to get the job done
The soap will dilute and not be any issue. Some pool cleaners use a 25/75 dish soap water mixture to squirt onto surface of water to smooth the water out so that you can see the pool bottom. Makes it much easier to see any diet or debris. The soap amount is so minuscule compared to the thousands of gallons of water
So My light burned out Got a Brand new one and figured I'd install it...Welp the idiots before me Silconed the wires at the Clamp and inside down the PVC and also inside where the Light goes virtually impossible to remove idk what to do been trying for Days
Everything here is true. Except the soap. When that soap ends up mixing with the water in spa during the pull you will have a huge amount of bubbles and phosphates to deal with. Use butyl tape to seal back of light conduit. There is a water soluble conduit lube that works better then soap without all the potential mess. Good luck. Lights suck. Lol
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You sir saved me some SERIOUS money, I was quoted 2500 to replace the lights in my spa and pool. Did it my self for $500 using your methods, thank you!!
Happy to help!
Just wanted to say thank you. I bought a 30+ yr old house with an inground pool. The light hasn't worked for years. I tried everything in my power (before calling a professional) to pull the the cord free. That sucker wouldn't budge! Just poured half a bottle of dish soap in the pipe...BOOM! I'm sure everyone has a different situation. Your advice worked for mine! Much appreciated.
Glad it worked!
As a pool service and repair technician I applaude you sir.
There are many ways to do a task but this is the best way! There are far to many wannabe pool guys out in the field doing crap work and putting others in unsafe situations. A nice video indeed
Thank you for your positive feedback we appreciate it!
3 hours ago I couldn’t get the wiring to budge. Now it’s free and ready for new wire. Thanks! Technique worked great.
Great video - first time pool owner here, and the current light in my pond is trashed. I have a new LED light to run about 20 feet from the light box to the pond. Very helpful to see the tips about tying a pull-string, and knotting to the wire, and using dish soap in order to pull smoothly through the conduit. Great job - thank you!
I love how u break it down in layman’s terms. Thank u
Great video! I appreciate the detail in which you described the whole process.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Very informative video. Thanks your video will certainly save me time with the installation.
Great Job explaining the steps! Thank you very much
The dish soap did the trick. Bravo fantastic advice
Great video. Followed these tips and cable came out easy as pie ... Thanks
Thank you so much for your tutorial video it gave me all the confidence I needed to do it. AMAZING!
Thanks. The soap did the magic for me.
thank you for your knowledge , could you educate me on the #8 insulated bonding wire that was inside you conduit , could that compromise the pull? have you pulled the bonding cable out ? this job it was no problem, i am concerned about my pull,
How do I find out what type of light brand is it? My parents inground pool was put in in the mid 1980s. The whole housing/ballast need to swapped out and we already bypass the timer box and I already put a new switch in and GFCI outlet. I lost current from the switch to the ballast. The ballast terminals are corroded and I figure the wire cable has a short somewhere. I like to swap it to a LED.
Can you post a close up of the connection between the string and wire? Can't see it in the video.
What to do if the wire fishing breaks in the middle when pulling in the new light?
I plan to use the old wire attached to the new wire to pull the new wire. The old wire can be pulled with a claw hammer. I plan to use the soap method also. Always assume all wires are hot because they just might be hot with the breaker off. Always use a volt meter, only trust a volt meter.
I am having trouble getting original cable out of the conduit despite using dish detergent. Where can I buy or what is the model number of the tool you mentioned that may help pull the cable?
I think that pool needs chlorine as much as a light?
What failure rate have you seen with LED lights? I've seen tons of comments on how short lived LED lights are. Also, do you recommend converting a 120v light to 12v?
We have almost a 0% failure rate on the 12 volt Pentair and Jandy LED Lights. The 120V lights have a slightly higher failure rate, maybe 10% for both Pentair and Jandy; it is almost always the transformer in the light fixture that fails. The light engine is still good. In todays world, I would only install 12 volt lights for safety and reliability reasons. IF you want to talk about Hayward lights we see and extremely high failure rate with-in the first year. We had failure analysis done by CREE (the manufacturer of the LEDs) and it was the power supply for the LEDs that failed. It is poorly designed and the components are under rated. PAL light failures are even higher than Hayward, good luck having them last even 1 year
@@craigwooster6646 I have Pentair Globrite color lights. Two of the failed almost at the same time this year after two years of use. I also have the Pentair laminate with a light, one of them failed a week earlier. They use separate transformers. They are all 12 volt lights. To say I’m a bit disappointed is an understatement. Since the remaining three laminate still operate, and the remaining Globrite still works my pool guy says it’s the lights that have gone bad, not anything else. I hear pool guys say they never have seen a failure, but looking on line, many consumers are very disappointed in the performance of these lights. All three cost almost $2,000 dollars. Great video……..Any advice on what May cause such a high rate of failure? Thanks, alex
Inhave the same brand but the mini led. They are stuck in the pipe and not sure how to get them out with out the pipe coming out behind the liner.
How about sealing the cable on the niche? Wouldn't you want to prevent water from going in behind the niche?
Following.
The j box where the lights are wired is above the water level so there for water will not travel up. Pool builders shoot silicone into the conduit from the pool light niche
the conduit should be waterproof attached to the back of the niche. Ofcourse the cable attached to the light is also water proof. No need to seal anything.
Great video, many thanks.
What labor do you charge for that job?
Is there a brand of spa light that will work with a Pentair pool light other than a Pentair. Pentair is so pricey. The Hayward pool light was replaced with a Pentair Intellibrite architectural light but not the spa light. The Hayward spa light needs replacing.
I have a stuck wire. Can you help?
Nice video, very helpful. my question is this, is there pool water that seeps into the conduit up to the level of the pool? I tried pulling on my chord but it would not budge, it looked like it was held in place by a plastic gasket.
Thanks,
Lloyd
Yes. There are some niches that have rubber stoppers that wrap around the light cord and ground wire. Frequently the stopper is held in place with a large plastic nut in the shape of a star. You will need to unscrew the nut and then yank on the light cord to free the stopper from the conduit.
What if the spa light wire is calcified and won't move?
So, it's not a requirement to waterproof any of the wiring or anything? I'm just confused. I had a pool guy quote me over 1200 to fix my lights but this looks (reasonably) easy enough to do? I would love to pull new lights but am worried about electrocution or leaks out of the pool..... My pool guy highly didn't recommend doing it because he was concerned for leaking. But.... that doesn't seem to be an issue? Any idea what he was concerned about? Again, this looked relatively doable.
Turn on electrical off when pulling the light, the cord itself that’s in the water is insulated so that’s fine under water, if that insulation is bad, you would rely on having a good circuit breaker. Junction box is above water level so the pool will flood before water gets to exposed electrical.
This is one of the best light videos on RUclips . Awesome , I love seeing how people do things compared to me , I use the conduit rope a lot
And yes heaps of soap lol
Thank you!
The aqualink rs system revision "s" and newer will work with pentair new intelibrite lights.
Great Video 🙏💯
Great video
Also use a mirror gooseneck from harbor freight to see behind light without getting in water. Easy peasy. No reason to get in water. I do 100s lights every year without getting so much as my arm wet. Spa lights just drain spa into pool. Easy peasy
Most times you can reach pool light by laying on the pool deck and reaching down to unscrew pool light
True provided you are at least 6 ft tall. Getting it back in from the deck presents it's own challenges. If there is a stopper mechanism in the light niche or even butyl tape or worse silicon injected into the conduit, it makes it almost impossible to remove the light without getting in the water. Bottom line is suck it up, jump in the water and it will take half as long to get the job done
How do I get rid of the dish soap that gets into the pool?
I haven't tried it but have been told chlorine works as a lubricant to pull wire.
The soap will dilute and not be any issue. Some pool cleaners use a 25/75 dish soap water mixture to squirt onto surface of water to smooth the water out so that you can see the pool bottom. Makes it much easier to see any diet or debris. The soap amount is so minuscule compared to the thousands of gallons of water
So My light burned out Got a Brand new one and figured I'd install it...Welp the idiots before me Silconed the wires at the Clamp and inside down the PVC and also inside where the Light goes virtually impossible to remove idk what to do been trying for Days
Everything here is true. Except the soap. When that soap ends up mixing with the water in spa during the pull you will have a huge amount of bubbles and phosphates to deal with. Use butyl tape to seal back of light conduit. There is a water soluble conduit lube that works better then soap without all the potential mess. Good luck. Lights suck. Lol
pentair lights are junk