Plumbing, Heating and Pool Repair Guides

How To Fix A Leaking In Ground Pool Light

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If you have an in ground swimming pool with a light that is leaking then you will need to understand on how to fix this type of leak. The in ground swimming pool light is made up of two parts. You have the light itself that is a self-contained unit with a cord and then you have something called the “pool light niche”. This is what the swimming pool light hooks into once it’s in the pool.How To Fix A Leaking In Ground Pool Light

The place that the swimming pool light will most likely leak from is where the cord of the swimming pool light goes through the light niche and into the electrical conduit. What commonly happens in that the fitting between the light niche and the electrical conduit bend go bad and then water starts to leak through the electrical conduit and then into the ground. There are two ways to fix this type of leak in your swimming pool light, but first you will need to remove the light from the niche. To do so you will need to remove the top screw from the light and then the light will float to the top of the swimming pool water. The pool light should have enough wire to reach to the pools surface. When re-installing the pool light you will have to coil this wire in order for the light to fit back into the housing or niche as we have been calling it.
Inground Pool Light
Once you have removed the pool light from the niche you will want to make sure that the wire is still connected to the junction box. You do not want to remove the light wire; you will just want to remove the light from the pool niche. Now you can either use under water swimming pool epoxy or a swimming pool light wire plug to “cork up” the leak in your pool light. If your going to use epoxy to fix the leak in the pool light niche you will need to mix it up according to the directions and then put the epoxy all around the wire and the opening where the conduit fitting gets connected. Try to be neat with the epoxy because if you ever need to change out the light fixture you will need to chip away the epoxy and then pull out the wire. If you do this really messy you will have a tougher time if you ever go to pull the light wire out when replacing the light. This is not the “cleanest” way of repairing the leaking pool light niche.

The next method you can do to repair the leaking pool light niche is to buy something called a pool light niche cord leak plug. This is a black rubber plug that will fit around the wire of the pool light and into the inner part of the electrical conduit and then can be pressed it firmly to seal the niche. This is by far the best way to seal the light niche if you can find this part at your local swimming pool supply and repair center.

Once you use either one of the above methods to repair the leak in your pool light then you will want to now re-install the light. You will have to now push the pool light under the water and then wrap the cord around the outside of the light so that the extra bulk of the cord will fit back into the light niche. Once you have wrapped up the cord you will want to align the top of the light with the set screw hole and insert the Philips head set screw and re-tighten the screw so the light will stay into place. If you have any questions about leaking pool lights please post a comment below and fee free to ask.

42 Comments

  1. My pool light stopped working I removed it from the pool opned it and tested the bulb in a house light and it worked. I resealed it put it back in the water then noticd it bubling fro the front of the light. Remobed it dried it out and used some silicon but did not have that much to put on the seal. Now light is half full of water! If I remove the light will the socked be rusted out? Only in water x 1 1/2 weeks. CAn I use it again after drying it out?? Does it sound like front seal was bad opposed to rear?

    Thanks Mike

  2. I have an under water light pool fixture that I removed the old 300 watt 12 volt sealed beam bulb and placed an LED fixture behind a Lexan lens in the cover ring. Now the problem….tried using silicone to seal the fixture but the results were not good….silicone is not the best sealant to use. What kind of sealant can I buy to remedy the problem?

  3. I believe my pool is leaking at the light. I have removed light to replace bulb. I gather, reading your instructions, that the hole where the wire comes through should be sealed. Will use underwater putty for that. But, the enclosure where the light fits has another hole with what looks to be a small jet or nippled device in it. What is this? Shold it be sealed? Is it where water that surrounds the light fixture is drawn out? Help?

  4. We have an inground pool. Water is leaking into the actual light bulb compartment. I am worried about getting electrocuted. How dangerous is this?

    • If you turn the lights on and there is a short in the system, i.e. water getting into the light fixture the GFCI should “trip” turning the power to the lights off. You can still swim in the pool since there is no power going to the lights. Added protection, push the circuit breaker toggle switch to the off position. Call a tech.

  5. What’s up everyone, it’s my first go to see at this website, and article is genuinely fruitful for me, keep up posting these good information and helpful reviews.

  6. We are losing about an inch of water a day in our inground pool. Cannot see any visible tear in liner, but did notice water in one of our pool lights. Could this be the source of why we are losing pool water?

    • I have the same problem about an inch of water a day and my pool lit was full of water please let me know if that was your problem thanks
      Jim

      • Me too!!! I was losing an inch of water per week and the water stopped leaking when the level reached the bottom of the light. HELP!!!

  7. pool leaks down right below light niche [the container that holds the light ] then stops 3inches below where the cord goes through ,I did put puddy around the wire .help !!

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  9. Hi there,
    Please tell me which parts I should seal and what to use on pool light.
    It leaked 1inch per day till past cord since 1/2 inch the 1/4 inch once past the complete fitting. I am beside myself trying to work out how to repair does this commonly happen? Please Help
    Regards
    Val

  10. Thanks for your article as it led me to eliminate the leak from the pool light. What I ended up doing is letting the pool drain itself to where the level stopped which was at the pool light. I then used a garden (drain) hose and then another water hose with a jet sprayer to get the drain hose flowing to continue dropping the level down below the light. I learned this trick from a friend who helped me drain a hot tub without using a pump. Then removed the light from the niche box and let everything dry out. I went down to Ace Hardware and met a retired electrician that had years of experience installing pool lights and gave me a tip to use Plumbers epoxy putty to fill the conduit hole where the cable runs into the niche. I let this cure for a day and then came behind it with a flexible epoxy called G/Flex 655 as a backup. The retired electrician wanted me to use silicon over the putty as a backup but I already had the G/flex which is a miracle product for the marine world.
    Thanks and regards,
    Ricky

  11. I have a suspected pool light leak. During the winter the pool water started to drop. There is now only about 6 inches of water in the shallow end and the water level is at the bottom of the pool light in the deep end. Could it be the conduit in the pool light? Is the conduit on the bottom of the pool light housing? The water level stopped dropping when the level reached the bottom of the pool light. Any suggestions?

  12. All good ideas, Bought a new light and still leaked water somewhere. Took light out and ended up cleaning inside niche with a wire cup brush and found 2 pin holes in it. Looked green before starting and had a copper look finish after words, Used A-B epoxy to fill holes.. Replaced niche gasket also. Took advantage water was so low. Pool is a vinyl in ground 16×32 7ft deep. Problem solved. Don’t no how true but was told that water evaporates about 1/8 ” daily depending on weather-sun especially in Florida. Will see

  13. I have water coming from the light to the wiring. My electrical is old and needs to be upgraded but the water is coming up. Do I have to seal the light fixture first or can I have the junction box placed higher above ground so the water does not wet the wires.?

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