Pentair Globrite LED pool light failures

The journey with Pentair Globrite pool light problems began about a year after the pool was built and has been ongoing for four years, during the first four years after the pool was built three original lights and one of the replacements failed. The sales literature references LED light's lifetime of 20,000 hours or more.  My contractor covered the warranty on the first two light failures and replaced the failing pool lights.

When the second two pool lights failed I scheduled a meeting with my pool contractor. He was a no-show due to a conflict (Hmm). The only person in the office was the receptionist and while I was there parts were delivered. She said one of the boxes might be a replacement pool light for me. The box contained a Pentair Microbrite pool light. 

I called about two weeks later to find out if there was any schedule for the replacement of the failed pool lights, no schedule but it would be discussed at the next weekly meeting. 

I called Pentair to find out what was going on with the high failure rate, and the senior Customer Support agent told me that the pool lights were only warranted for one year. He basically ended the conversation at that point and directed me to contact the contractor.  I got a funny feeling that he had run into a lot of unhappy customers, with the same problem I had.

I did a Google search and found the Pentair Globrite and Microbrite pool lights had an extremely high failure rate (IMHO). Many owners were complaining of the failures and very expensive replacement parts.  All the failures seemed caused by water leaks, in either seals or cracks in the black plastic shell.

Finally, my pool contractor got the Pentair LED pool lights pulled so I could see the cable lengths required. Surprise, they were not Pentair Microbrite, but were Pentair Globrite pool lights. This in part explains the Pentair Senior Customer support person not wanting to spend any effort on my problem. My Google search reveled that there was a very high failure rate due to the Globrite LED pool lights because of water leakage.

The high failure rate may have been the cause of slow, very slow responses from my pool contractor, who also provides our pool maintenance.

Another surprise, the Pentair Globrite LED lights use a "proprietary" not standard pool fixture, as the contractor staff had said. Surprise, Pentair offers an adapter for allowing the proprietary fixture to support the Pentair Microbrite LED pool lights. Hmm, sounds like a way to replace failing Globrite lights and sell their customers more products. The Amazon page shows 27% of customers gave Pentair Globrite one-star reviews.

 I did another Google Search to find out if the Pentair Microbrite also had a history of customer complaints about failures. The Amazon pages shows 16% of customers gave Pentair Microbrite one-star reviews.

I was looking for a solution for my failed pool lights, so I priced the Pentair replacement option. The adapter to convert the Globrite niche to a standard-size niche that supports the Pentair Microbrite part# 618040 costs from $35-$44 dollars each plus usually shipping, Pentair Microbrite 100 feet cord part #EC-620425 Pentair $499 (some dealers may have discounts). Warranty is also available at an added charge. Installation is estimated at $300 (removal and install a new Microbrite).  So the worst case for me was replacing all four of my pool lights. Since the operation of the lights has also been erratic a controller card would be $500-$750. The cost of using Pentair products would be about $3200 for the (cough, cough) replacement with Pentair lights.  Plus an added charge for an extended warranty of 1, 2, or 3 years. With a Pentair Microbrite product that has significant reported customer unhappiness.

I started to look for an alternative supplier to replace the entire Pentair LED pool light system. I found an alternative supplier  S. R. Smith. Their Treo LED pool lights got 4 or 5 stars from 88% of buyers. 

I selected the Treo LED pool light since it fits into the proprietary Pentair Globrite niche (1 13/16 inches).  It has a three-year warranty and the LED bulbs are replaceable. I'm also replacing the existing Pentair controller/transformer due to erratic control problems,  with the  S. R Smith Poollux Plus Controller/transformer with remote control, which has a 2-year warranty.

Pricing for the replacement of the Pentair pool LED lighting with S. R Smith pool lights. Poollux Plus Controller/transformer with remote control  $450, four Treo LED pool lights (each $325) $1300,  installation $300. Total estimated at $2050. A three-year warranty is included. Price will vary depending on the dealer you purchase from.