How to Wire Pool Lights

Many swimming pools have sealed lighting fixtures which can provide lighting for security when swim after dark. Some contemporary swimming pool lights can produce several colors in a series of patterns that are timed to give ambiance as well. Since electricity and water are a dangerous mix, a pool lighting must be completely sealed for security, to prevent water from getting into the element. You may wire pool lights into the electric circuit to your pool with some simple hand tools.

Drain water from the pool before the water amount is no less than 6 inches beneath the pool lighting casing.

Switch off the circuit breaker for the pool or for the whole residence. Open the junction box for the pool light’s wiring connections with a screwdriver. Test the wiring from the circuit in the junction box with a noncontact electrical tester. If the lighting in the tester comes on, turn off other breakers or the main breaker into the home until the lighting no longer illuminates when examining the wires.

Feed a fish tape through the junction box toward the lighting fixture housing. After the tape appears in the casing, overlap about 6 inches of the end of a #8 copper grounding cable and also the tip of the wiring cable for the pool lighting with the end of the fish tape. Wrap a electric tape across the overlapped joint to secure the wires into the fish tape. Gently pull the fish tape from the junction box till the wires seem. Pull around 12 inches of both wires out to the junction box, then eliminate the electric tape and place the fish tape aside.

Cut the end of the #8 copper wire from the roster with wire cutters, then connect the end of the wire to the fixture’s grounding connector with an adjustable wrench.

Coil the additional wire for the fixture and tuck it in the housing. Tilt the fixture and place the base of the fixture on the lip of the casing. Push the surface of the housing forwards, sealing the gasket across the lip of the casing, and tighten the mounting screw into the threaded receptacle on the cover of the casing.

Remove about 6 inches of outer sheathing from the fixture’s diagnostic cable at the junction box with a utility knife. Then strip 1/2 inch of insulation from the tips of the wires with a wire stripper.

Attach the wires into the wiring controller within the junction box as outlined in the setup manual for the pool lighting kit. If your lighting doesn’t have any wiring controller, hook the black wire from the pool lighting to the black wire from the electric panel with a wire nut. Wire the white and bare wires in like fashion, then tuck the wires to the junction box and put in the cover plate.

Turn the circuit breaker and analyze the pool lights prior to refilling the pool.

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