The underwater light is one of the most common places for a Cape Coral pool to leak, especially in pools more than ten or fifteen years old. The light sits in a metal or plastic housing called a niche, and a conduit runs from the back of the niche to a junction box on the deck. Water can escape through that conduit, around a cracked niche, or past a failed seal.
The telltale sign
Let the pool sit without adding water. If the level drops and then stops right around the middle of the light, the light is very likely your leak. A specialist will confirm it with dye: a few drops released near the conduit opening behind the fixture will get pulled in if water is escaping.
How light leaks are repaired
Most light leaks are fixed without draining the pool. The fixture is unscrewed and lifted out onto the deck on its cord. The conduit opening is then sealed with a pool-grade sealant or a conduit plug, and gaps or cracks in the niche are repaired with underwater epoxy. If the niche itself is badly cracked, it may need to be replaced, which is a bigger job.
If your light is old, the specialist may suggest replacing it with an LED fixture while it is out. That is optional, but it saves a second trip later.
Safety note
Pool lights involve electricity and water. Do not open the fixture yourself. Electrical work on pool lighting should be done by a qualified, licensed professional.
Why pool lights leak
A light niche is a hole in the pool wall with a pipe running out the back of it. When the pool was built, that conduit was supposed to be sealed where it enters the niche, but sealant breaks down over the years and water slowly finds its way into the conduit and out into the ground. Other causes include:
- A plastic niche that cracked from age, sun or ground movement
- The seal between the niche and the pool plaster or pebble finish pulling away
- A gap left after a resurfacing job that didn't seal around the niche
- A cracked lens or failed gasket on an old incandescent fixture, which floods the fixture and can trip the breaker
Lights, resurfacing and older Cape Coral pools
Much of Cape Coral was built in waves from the 1970s on, and many pools have been resurfaced once or twice. Each resurfacing changes how the finish meets the light niche. If your pool was resurfaced and started losing water soon after, the light niche and the return fittings are the first places to look. A specialist will dye-test the edge of the niche as well as the conduit behind the fixture.
What a light leak repair costs
Sealing a conduit and touching up a niche is usually one of the less expensive pool leak repairs, often done during the leak detection visit itself. Replacing a cracked niche is a bigger job, because the area around it has to be opened up. Swapping an old fixture for an LED light adds the cost of the fixture and installation, but it ends the leak risk from a failed lens and costs far less to run.
Other signs your light needs attention
- Water or condensation inside the lens
- The light flickers or trips the GFCI breaker
- Rust stains around the niche
- The fixture is loose and pulls away from the wall
If the breaker trips when the light is on, stop using it and call. That points to water in the fixture, which is an electrical safety issue as well as a leak.
Pool Light Leaks questions
Do they have to drain the pool to fix a leaking light?
Usually not. The fixture is pulled out on its cord and the conduit and niche are sealed underwater with pool-grade sealant or epoxy.
How do I know the leak is at the light and not somewhere else?
If the water level drops and stops right around the middle of the light, that's a strong sign. A dye test at the conduit behind the fixture confirms it.
Should I switch to an LED light while it's out?
It's optional, but since the fixture is already out, it's the cheapest time to do it. LEDs use far less power and avoid the lens and gasket failures common in old incandescent lights.
Areas served
Specialists we connect you with serve Cape Coral, including Cape Coral Parkway, Pelican, Yacht Club, Cape Harbour, the Northwest and Northeast Cape, and the Gulf Access canal neighborhoods, plus Fort Myers, North Fort Myers, Lehigh Acres and the rest of Lee County.