How do I replace a light in a in-ground pool with water also if i remove it in the water will water get into the niche were the light was?

Answer 1

Typical in-ground pool and spa lights are a water-tight sealed chamber using a special sealing rubber oring and compression ring mechanism to compress the oring to the glass,front lens. This chamber sits in the niche and is held in by that little stainless steel screw that is usually at the top. It is much easier to remove the chamber by doing the removal in the pool,but before doing any work,turn off the pool switch and turn the supply breaker in the electrical panel off....SAFETY FIRST. Once the srew is removed, the chamber can be pulled out and will be slightly buoyant and try to float to the surface. Hold onto the chamber and watch for the front, as it is made of glass. When the unit was installed it should have been installed with plenty of cord to reach the pool deck to work on it. Remove the compression ring,old gasket and glass lens and you will have access to the bulb. Now,this is important;the chamber inside should be COMPLETELY dry inside. Any water and the entire light assembly is shot and must be replaced by a trained pool service technician as this means the unit has a leak somewhere, and after a short exposure time the water has corroded the bulb socket and is unusable. But if it is dry inside, replace the bulb with one from a pool supplier and a NEW oring. Do not skimp on this or the unit will probably leak. Not a good time to save a buck here. Also, it is a special bulb, so make sure it is replaced with one of proper rating from a pool supply store. Reinstall lens, gasket and compression ring and water test chamber for a few minutes to make sure no obvious leaks. Coil up cord around unit and reistall in wall niche. Make sure nobody is in the pool when you perform this repair and while powering up the unit. ALSO. TEST the GFCI. Any problems with it or you don't know what a GFCI is, then do not repair your light and call a professional pool technician. Personally, I think it is better here to just pay a professional, as it could be that the light is not working for other reasons besides the bulb. Having spent many years as a pool tech, I have seen more than one homeowner attempt this repair and not seal unit properly and it leaked after a new bulb was installed and now the entire assembly has to be replaced. Perhaps the old adage,"How many people does it take to change a light bulb?", is applicable here and the answer is just one, but a professinal one.