I have a call into Pentair on this but I thought I'd put this out to the group to see if any of you have had this happen:
I built a hillside vanishing edge pool in Marin County, CA about a year and a half ago, 16' x 40', one side and one end VE, autocover, etc. We lit the pool from the non-VE side with (3) 250watt incandescent Pentair lights in small nitches. I just got a call that the pool lights were not working so I had them check the breaker and GFI plug in the Jandy Aqualink panel; both checked out on and normal. I went out and checked power at the J-box which has power to the light cords. I have been in this business for over 35 years and have never seen this happen. The lights are in a bench which means diving in the pool to pull them out to check the bulbs, which I have not done as yet since the pool is about 55 degrees. Lights are all installed correctly with triple grounding as required.
On the hillside about 10' below the pool the owner has a large photovoltaic solar electricity generating system which is ground mounted on a concrete pier/grade beam foundations. Not sure if this makes any difference but I did question the general contractor and solar installer about any possible problems with the solar being installed so close to the pool. I was assured that it was all done to code and there would be no problems.
Of course, on a multi-million dollar home project, the GC wants me to repair/replace the lights under warranty even though the warranty has expired. The GC does give me work from time to time so I do need to address this, but I don't want to do the repair just to have it happen again.
Any insights greatly appreciated. Below is a picture of the pool.
Replies
It is possible there may be stray voltage in the pool, though I don't see how that would cause the lamps to fail like you described. How about for giggles, test to see how much stray if any voltage. One lead from the volt meter on DC Volts in the water, the other lead secured to ground. What do you read? less than one volt DC could pose enough to be an issue to certainly attack things like the pot metal in the trim rings around the pool lights, the heat exchanger in the heater, etc. Not sure what you'd do to locate the source though. Confirm ALL electrical connections everywherre on the equipment pad to ground are VERY secure.
-Jeremy
Florida Leisure Pool & Spa
www.FloridaPoolSpa.com
Thanks, I'll try that. I have confirmed all bonding....
Lee is that cantilever deck lumber and concrete or just lumber. I am interested to see how you did the cantilever concrete?
Thanks
Brett: The concrete is just a standard cantilever. The Ipe deck is supported by steel and goes out over the pool. The architect that designed this pool had a bench and steps with the wood deck extending beyond them, so I actually built a gunite structure under the wood deck so no one can swim under it, tiled the top. The water under the wood deck is only about an inch deep.
They also designed the steps to end with the inside of the pool wall so we had to cantilever the concrete deck at the end of pool out 14" on top of a metal plate. I'll add a few more pictures
Auto cover slides under the cantilevered deck....
Is the chrome ring turning black? If so it could be a bonding issue. If not, I would suspect that poor water chemistry may explain the corroded bolts.
How much use to they get? They could burn out in 1 1/2 years if used every night (like on a timed circuit).
I don't see how the PV system could cause any issue. If there were any voltage surges I would think that something besides a halogen bulb would be affected.
No black rings, pool is on service with a good service person who I refer for my higher end jobs. Lights used sparingly according to the owner, but with an auto cover they could have been left on for a week at a time. A real conundrum....they work now. Thanks for your reply Clint!
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