Help me identify this light

[kelemvor]

Can anyone help me identify what bulb would go in this light socket? The guys down at the local pool store can't seem to ID it, and I've bought and returned several incorrect guesses.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14865808@N00/4819933168/sizes/o/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14865808@N00/4819933152/sizes/o/

[kelemvor]

I found some papers on the control box/breaker panel. Looks like the circuit isdf 12/13/14v 300w max. How can I identify if it's setup for metal haylide or xenon or something else?

I flipped the breaker on and tried taking readings with a dmm at the socket but get nothing; so I might just have an electrician or something come out.

Any suggestions would be super great!

[aylad]

Hi Kelemvor,
Just wanted you to know that you're not being ignored--your post has lots of views, but I guess so far nobody has seen a light that looks like that one. Did you have the electrician take a look at it?

Welcome to the forum--sorry nobody's able to help with this particular problem so far!!

Janet

[Searcher]

I found some papers on the control box/breaker panel. Looks like the circuit isdf 12/13/14v 300w max. How can I identify if it's setup for metal haylide or xenon or something else?

I flipped the breaker on and tried taking readings with a dmm at the socket but get nothing; so I might just have an electrician or something come out.

Any suggestions would be super great!

Looks to me like it may be a GE 23427 (300PAR56/WFL) 12 volt pool bulb.

I found many places that sell them but upon viewing the corrosion I see in your pics, it looks like your can is leaking which may have blown the bulb.

[waste]

Welcome to the forum!

Those pics are so big, I kind of get lost scrolling around to view them. :eek:

Looks like a 12v 300w T-3 halogen bulb would be what you want. You've got a transformer to take it down to 12 volts (10: 1 step down transformer). If you didn't have the transformer, Ace hardware (the couple near me) carry the 120v bulbs for ~ 1/2 of what a pool store sells them:eek:

[Searcher]

Welcome to the forum!

Those pics are so big, I kind of get lost scrolling around to view them. :eek:

Looks like a 12v 300w T-3 halogen bulb would be what you want. You've got a transformer to take it down to 12 volts (10: 1 step down transformer). If you didn't have the transformer, Ace hardware (the couple near me) carry the 120v bulbs for ~ 1/2 of what a pool store sells them:eek:

Yeah, I missed the dual connection in the pot so it is NOT what I thought it was. Leakage still needs to be taken care of though.

[kelemvor]

The base doesn't look right to me on the 23427. The pool store suggested two GE gy6.35 http://www.gelighting.com/apo/products/lighting/halogen/06.htm but the pins are too small (both in the diameter of the actual pins and the distance between the pins).

The light was sitting out on the pool deck for about 6 months (at least) while the house was vacant. It's possible some of the corrosion happened then; however it's interesting you mention that because I assumed water in the cubby hole the light goes into would be OK. I take it I must drain the pool down below the light level when I put the new bulb in (and keep the seal on the cover water tight)?


For smaller versions of those photos you can click at the top of the page where it says "medium" or "small" etc.

[Searcher]

Actually you want water around but not in the pot. You will have a rubber gasket at the front of the pot. The the lens goes between said gasket. There will be a clamp that squeezes it all together so that the entire assembly is water tight.

You may want to float the pot to be sure it is water tight now. Mine developed a leak through the stainless steel which was easily fixed by sanding both sides, opening the hole and applying PC7 epoxy through the clean hole I made and making sure the epoxy stuck well to the pot, inside and outside.

If you are missing parts and considering the PITA you are having with bulb ID and with the corrosion, maybe a new low voltage light may be in order.

If you do decide to go that route, let us know and we will run you though the procedure of fishing the new cord through your conduit.

Another thought, if possible, is to replace the existing sockets with something "standard" and go with easily found bulbs.

If you do use the old pot, shine her up inside and when you set the lens, make sure the lens is aligned with the bottom screw that holds the pot in place.

[kelemvor]

A couple more incorrect guesses from the district manager of the local pool store (chain). He said there's some guy in his Texas warehouse that's pretty amazing at identifying stuff like this on sight, so he sent that guy my photos.

They said a replacement socket would be around $400 most likely (he didn't really look anything else, just guessed) and also somewhat of a bear to fish through under the concrete. Being that it's only 3 years old I'd hate to replace it anyway. That'll be a last resort if this miracle worker in Texas can't figure it out.

[Searcher]

A couple more incorrect guesses from the district manager of the local pool store (chain). He said there's some guy in his Texas warehouse that's pretty amazing at identifying stuff like this on sight, so he sent that guy my photos.

They said a replacement socket would be around $400 most likely (he didn't really look anything else, just guessed) and also somewhat of a bear to fish through under the concrete. Being that it's only 3 years old I'd hate to replace it anyway. That'll be a last resort if this miracle worker in Texas can't figure it out.

Oh my, the wire was not run through a conduit for easy fishing of a new wire? As long as the PVC conduit is primed and glued water tight, there is no pool water leakage as your stub up must be well above your water level.

[kelemvor]

It may very well be, I'd have to drain off a large amount of water to find out, and I'm still hoping this magic man from the pool company can conjure up a bulb.

I suppose a side benefit would be the drain would reduce my tds a bit, right?

[kelemvor]

Looks like I'm not going to get anything out of the pool store. I'm guessing it might be one of two fairly expensive sta rite bulbs so I don't want to risk ordering them just to find out I'm wrong.

Anyone know of a reputable pool guy in the Pinellas county, Florida area that could put in a new light for me?

[Watermom]

Sorry, but posting the name of people isn't allowed on the forum. Somebody can send you a PM with a suggestion if they want but not post it in a thread. Hope you understand.

[Ohm_Boy]

I don't know much about pool lights, but I can help view the image in one screen. I use a plug-in for Firefox called Image Zoom. ( h††ps://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/139/ ) With it installed, you can right-click on the photo, select Image Zoom, and image fit - that makes the pic fit in the window.

The more you know.

[kelemvor]

I gave up on identifying the proper bulb(s) and I'm no longer in a position to drop 500 or so for a light so I decided to put my college education to use (since my day job doesn't make use of electronics repair at all).

I soldered some 12v 50w g 6.35 landscape bulbs onto the two 12v pairs and insulated with some good heatshrink. The socket its-self is still waterproof, and even if it were to leak - everything is properly grounded and on GFCI.

It's not quite as bright as I wanted and it'll be a pain to replace bulbs like that so I found some gy6.35 sockets online for about $2 each and some 100w 12v gy6.35 bulbs for about $1 each. Should be just about perfect once I replace those except I can't find any 100w halogen bulbs with a color temp above 3000k (I'd like to use around 6000). Maybe I'll go with one of those LED setups in the future...

Funny, the pool store charged me almost 80 bucks for 2 100w 12v bipin bulbs... $1 each lol. Glad I returned them.

If anyone has any info on where I could find some cooler bulbs, please let me know.

[aylad]

Pretty!!! :)

Janet