anyone install Pal color LED pool lighting

[busybee2498]

How bright are these and how do they work?

[PoolDoc]

I'll move your post into the pool equipment section, but I wouldn't expect an answer. I'm in the midst of a 'reset' of the PoolForum, and posting traffic is way down. But there have only been 1 or 2 mentions of that particular light on the forum, ever.

I used my Super Search page to check; TroubleFreePools (a much larger forum) has a few more discussions. You can see for yourself with this link:

https://www.google.com/search?q=site...%20led%22+%22+

Some things to keep in mind:

1. Like pool heaters and slides, people THINK they'll use pool lights far, far more than most do.

2. Unlike heaters and slides, but just like in-floor cleaning systems and auto-covers, pool lights rarely work long.

3. As is true of in-floor systems and auto-covers, the most common reason for light failure is poor installation. But very few builders seem to know how to do it right

There's something else. It has nothing to do with pools, but I had reasons to investigate LED light failure modes. The #1 problem is cooling! LED light chips can't take much heat . . . and few LEDs are built for proper cooling. This applies to flashlights and household bulbs, but also to pool lights. The chips are small:



and generate quite a bit of heat, but can NOT stand even moderately hot temperatures.

To do an LED pool light CORRECTLY, you are going to have to bond the LED chip to something VERY conductive. Otherwise, the chip will fail prematurely. The newer light bulb makers are using aluminum, which is conductive and cheap. But you can't (or shouldn't) do that in pool lights, because the aluminum --which MUST be exposed to water, so the heat can GO somewhere ELSE -- will corrode.

Gold would be ideal, because it's very conductive and non-corroding. But it's a wee bit expensive. Silver would work, and USUALLY wouldn't corrode. Copper is the remaining choice, and while it won't corrode in ALL pool water (like aluminum) it will corrode if you let the pH get low.

You could try something like a corrugated stainless steel shell, with aluminum pressed into the corrugations on the inside . . . but if you don't do it right, the heat transfer won't happen . . . and the LED will get hot. But it doesn't look like any of the makers are even trying this.

Bottom line? LED lights are probably suffering from the same overheat conditions that killed the 1st and 2nd generations of LED house lighting! So, don't spend more money on lights, than you can afford to throw away . . . since there's a good chance that's exactly what you are doing!

(I know: buzz-kill, right? But it's what I do. PoolForum and the BBB method help with pool chemistry, a lot. But we have no solution for many of the stupid things done in the pool industry, so all I can do is warn people!)