Swimming Pool Light

Is there any good reason why you don't simply replace the fitting? You seem to have done the hard work and identified which fitting is tripping the breaker.

As to what is happening - if some of the return current flows back the earth wire rather than back the neutral, then there will be an inbalance between the currents in the line and neutral wires, as seen by the safety trip. So the trip will operate. That is what it was designed to do.

You /may/ be able to break out the sealant and replace it with new - hard to tell without seeing the thing. You may be able to effect a repair with self-amalgamating tape and/or sealant-loaded heat shrink tubing. The odds are that you have to repeat the process every year or so, after that - but it does depend on the fitting.

However, unless the light fitting is irreplaceable or extremely expensive, replace it.

You have isolated the problem. The breaker is telling you the next step is call the Undertaker. REPLACE THE LAMP.

You can try a new lens gasket but if that doesn't fix it the lamp assembly is the next FRU. The potting on the connectors and socket is not field fixable.

=>Have a question about a swimming pool light I hope someone may have =>experience with.

Most pool lights I've dealt with employ an isolation xfmr 120/12V connected to a 12V sealed-beam headlight or similar. If you're running

Cheers-- Terry--WB4FXD Edenton, NC

All the other aswers are good sage advice. I'll just enlighten you on the resistance readings you saw. A neutral wire is ALWAYS continuous to ground. If you follow the wire back to your breaker banel neutral bar, then up through your service cable to the utility pole, you would see that it is connected to a rod that goes directly to ground. The resistance you were measuring was just in the wire itself. As the first response said, the GFI is really looking at only the return current on the neutral with respect to the hot leg, and any difference is going directly to ground somewhere downstream from the breaker, hence the trip!

There are millions of people using 120v lights in pools. As the OP has found, if a couple drops of water get in that housing the GFCI trips.

Right. Also consider what might happen if your repair fails and someone gets electrocuted. When the insurance company forensic team discovers your home made fix, they might refuse to cover you in the subsequent civil suit.

Quite right - although it won't be my repair, but the OP's.

I should have added the usual warning for this group about electricity being dangerous and no work should be attempted other than by the qualified and experienced.

Personally, to address your "your" inclusion, if I couldn't repair anything, including pool light fittings, to at least, and probably better, engineering standards than the original

- I certainly wouldn't put it into service.

However, as a society, we throw too much away when all that is needed is a quick, but professional, repair.

A lot of my work is in close proximity to water - usually salt water - and it does need special consideration: which I, perhaps, tend to assume that everyone is aware of..

Thanks everyone - very much for the replies. Your time is very much appreciated and I picked up a little different perspective.

thanks again, Chris