Effects, James Hunter - Install S. R. Smith pool lights

Existing Pentair installation and pool light conduits and Intermatic termination box

The beginning of the journey, replacing Pentair pool lights with S. R. Smith pool lights.

A - is the Pentair Controller.
B - is the Intermatic 5 port lighting box of the existing pool light cables, including the transformer 120 VAC to 12 VAC to power the Pentair pool lights.
C - main circuit breaker for AC power to Pentair system.
D - WiFi antenna for Pentair system.
E - WiFi remote switch plugged into utility outlet, for backyard lighting all are LED outdoor lights.

The gray PVC pipes, on B the termination box, are the conduits for the pool light cables. We labeled the conduits so it was easy to see where each pool light was connected.

The decision was to "bypass" the Pentair lighting (transformer and controller), but leave the wiring and controller in place, and use the Intermatic box to contain the wiring needed to replace the Pentair Globrite lights and cables with S. R. Smith PoolLUX+ (controller/transformer) and Treo LED pool lights.

Intermatic box open showing original wiring, original installation did not use terminal stripes used wire nuts

Turn the power off at C above the main circuit breaker before opening or working on the pool lighting.

The first step was disconnecting the Globrites from the power connectors (yellow wire nuts) and the cable clamps. We attached a pull string to each cable and removed them. We measured the cables to ensure we got replacement lights with cables long enough for each run.

Open view of Intermatic box and where cables will be attached

The fifth port was available and we used it to connect the cable from the S. R. Smith PoolLUX+ . We used shown below, 5 Port Lever Wire Conductor Compact Wire Connectors. We avoided changing any of the existing Pentair wiring, simply bypassing the Pentair card and transformer.

Preparing S. R. Smith Treo pool light cable

Pulling the new S. R. Smith Treo was initially challenging. We gave up on the strings that had been pulled when the original Pentair pool lights were removed. The technique we used was to clip the lock off a tie wrap and use electrical tape to make a loop using the tie wrap, to help center the cable at 90-degree turns in the conduit, and pull the wiring with the snake. We also lightly lubricated the cable, by hand with Ideal Yellow 77+ wire lubricant. The technique worked well and took about 20 minutes per cable, to pull and secure the cable clamps at the termination box.

The lubricant is wax-based with Teflon additive we only saw a few drops floating on the pool water, so cleanup was easy.

Prepare Treo pool light cable using a tie wrap loop to make pulling easier

Tape one end of the tie wrap (lock cut off) to the cable end with electrical tape, bend the tie wrap to make a loop, and continue to tape both ends of the tie wrap till secure, to the cable end.

Pull the snake with the attached cable through the conduit to the termination box (B). When the Treo light is in place and secure, clamp the cable in the termination box (B).

Installed S. R. Smith Treo in a Pentair niche, no change to niche required

One of the four pool lights replaced with a S. R. Smith Treo LED pool light. The clamps in the Intermatic 5 port termination and transformer box, hold the S. R. LED cable, and LED lights fit flush with the poolside.

smseace 5 Port Lever Wire Conductor Compact Wire Connectors avoiding using termination stripes in Intermatic box

The wiring was simplified by using two smseace 5 Port Lever Wire Conductor Compact Wire Connectors. (available on Amazon).

The Treo LED pool lights cable has a black and red wire. We attached all four lights to red wire to the first "lever wire connector" and all four black wires to the second "lever wire connector". We trimmed the excess TREO cable on each of the light cables allowing about 8 inches that we striped the cable covering off each cable to allow enough to attach each cable's red and black wires to easily connect to the lever connectors ports

S. R. Smith PoolLUX+ termination stripes for 12 VAC to Treo pool lights and 120VAC power cable connection

The first connection is a two-wire cable from one of the TREO pool lights (we used a piece of the excess cable). The 12 VAC for the TREO pool lights is non-polarized AC, we selected to connect the RED wire to 12V on the connector strip and the Black wire to the L/V connection.

We connected the other ends to the fifth port on each of the lever connectors

The second cable was the 120 VAC cable. We used a Pinfox 10ft 18 Gauge 3 Prong Heavy Duty Replacement Power Supply Cord Cable 110V 115V 120V Pigtail, available on Amazon.

Completed installation replacing Pentair Globrite pool lights with S. R. Smith Treo pool lights

The finished installation of the S. R Smith PoolLUX+ transformer/controller and four Treo LED pool lights. We basically bypassed the existing Pentair controller and removed the failed Pentair Globrite LED pool lights. We attached the PoolLUX+ to our Wifi 120 VAC remote switch to integrate the replacement lights into our Google Home system. We control and schedule the pool lights using an Android cell phone and an Amazon Fire 10 tablet running Google software with the Amazon software.

Note: If someone wants to in the future, the Pentair controller, transformer, and wiring were simply bypassed. This allows them to simply re-install Pentair pool lights if there is a need and a more reliable LED pool light becomes available.

This graphic shows a single S. R. Smith Treo LED installed in a Pentair Globrite fixture, using existing conduit, to connect to the Intermatic 5 port pool termination box. The Treo pool light cable is clamped to hold the Treo LED against the poolside, then trimmed and striped, and connected to the two l5 port lever connectors. The cable from the S. R. Smith poolLux+ is connected to the 5 port lever connectors. The connectors and wiring will fit in the Intermatic termination box for weather protection.

At the end of the Journey, replaced Pentair Globrite LED pool lights with S. R. Smith Treo LED pool lights.