I was quoted $1600 to change my broken pool light housing by my local Pinch a Penny, and that didn’t even include modifying the conduit or existing wiring. So I decided to replace my pool light with a new LED by myself, and spent under $350 on the whole project. I can’t complain about saving $1,300 (at least), plus I know it was done right.

Parts

• 12V LED Pool Light with Transformer - $290
• Project Box - $20
• Power Tester Pen - $15
• Stainless Steel Pool Screw - $7
• Fish Tape - $25
• Assorted Conduit and conduit glue

My existing pool light was broken, and it turned out the seal had broken and the inside was rusted out, so I needed an entire new housing.

The transformer box was also rusted over, and testing the electrical wiring let me find out that the junction box near my pool was not getting power. So that made me think the existing transformer was burned out, so I bought a new LED light with its own transformer. This fits in any 10” pool light opening, and only needed 1 screw to stay mounted. This light can be turned on via switch, which I just leave on, or you can download an app, or use the included remote to turn it on and off and switch colors and settings. I only use the remote.

The wiring was pretty straight forward, and I made sure the part worked before even putting the light in the water, and it wired as I expected.

For safety, always work with the power off, and verify with a power tester pen if power is on. My pool light was actually on a sub-panel I had never noticed, so it was not turned off by any of the breakers in my electrical panel. I cut and pulled out the old light, then started rebuilding the junction box by my pool. It was rusted and ruined and didn’t even have a cover. This part took me the longest, as I had 1/2” conduit going in to 1” conduit right next to each other. It just took a while to build the correct setup for my conduit at Lowes. I also painted it green to match the grass, and will plant some flowers or something around it to hide it.

Once I got that junction box fixed up and sealed with conduit glue, I installed the pool light with a new stainless steel pool screw. I actually used a normal screw until my stainless screws came in, and it rusted within hours.

I pulled the line for the pool light through with a fish tape. Then I pulled that same line to the project box and old transformer area, near my pool pump stuff.

I ended up ripping out my old transformer, but re-used the in ground conduit.

I rebuilt the conduit with a new project box and conduit, then fished the pool light wire to that box. This is where I installed the included transformer.

The 4 pool light wires hooked into the right side of the transformer with 4 wires, just wire nut together the like for like wires. The left side wires are a red/green/white, which I ran through conduit to my pool timer box. The wiring for my light was already in this box, so I followed the wires and reused the same wiring from the previous pool light. It is just power/neutral/ground. Wire nut those together.

Then I tested by flipping on the breaker and the light switch, and it worked! I made sure to seal everything up well, and added silicone and used waterproof seals everywhere I could. I want this light to last as long as possible!

The light looks wonderful at night, has many colors, and lights up the entire pool and even some of the yard. It’s a huge improvement, and I wish I didn’t wait for a year to DIY it.