Now that the heat in Las Vegas has finally been turned on and we've hit 110 already the pool electrical system decided to go on the fritz. The unit controls the pumps, the heater, the fountains, the lights and where the water circulates to keep everything sparkling clean without manual manipulation....it's a cool and useful and utterly necessary to keep Chez Runyon in tip top condition.
Our backyard is sort of a Shangra La - big pool with rope swing and superstructure, little pool and 28 person jacuzzi. The eating area is complete with outdoor fridge, BBQ, plenty of seating and what not. It is THE party yard.
A pool malfunction therefore is troublesome.....disasterous even.
You need a pool out here or else it's possible to drop dead from heat stroke or simply catch on fire if you stay outside too long. Yeah, it's that hot....like seven inches from the midday sun.....
Some history....The guy that did the orignal electrical work 7 years ago is the brother of a good friend. I'm still not sure if the brother knew with 100% certainty what he was doing since during the install he was always talking on his cell phone and would disappear for hours during the day. I also think he was colorblind which didn't help with the wiring.
My suspicion was confirmed since each time I've had someone come out to fix something and as they take off the outer panel the first thing they all do is place their hands on their hips, then scratch their heads and mutter, "WTF," while yanking at wires and swearing under their breath.
Me? I just peer out the window and see dollar signs....$$$$$$
And then race back to my office to pretend I don't know what's going on. This is usually followed by a knock on the door a few minutes later that Janae answers, then a loud, "KEITH!!!! The pool guy needs to see you," follows.
"Uh oh.....(profanities)"
This time we had a pool light out and the pool filter pump wouldn't turn off - it just ran 24/7. The only way to kill it was to flip the circuit breaker to off which I was concerned would turn off the power to the entire house since the wiring was sort of....what is the politically correct way to say this....., "jerry-rigged."
Luckily, the filter pump was an easy fix for an experienced electrician - something about a new relay switch (no idea what that is).
All I know is that it took him 15 minutes tops and now my pool runs on schedule and doesn't burn energy all day long (when I would flip the breaker and forget to turn it back on for a few days I felt all green inside but on the other hand, the pool would literally turn green - either way, it's a pain in the ass). I'm not a "green" guy anyway. I like my styrofoam. No dishes to do.
The pool light is a different animal. We have special lights that can amazingly turn the pool water into various colors (it's a woman thing). These "SAM" lights run about $800 bucks a piece installed - I have 4 of them. When two of the lights went out last year, we called the orignal electrician who managed to replace the lights over a period of about 2 months - some 1 month and 29 days longer than usual. Once replaced, they never worked properly and flamed out right off the bat - the gaskets weren't sealed properly. The guy was on his cell phone most of the time doing this job too and I'm pretty sure that he left a cell phone INSIDE the light fixture. In fact, I think he also swam WHILE talking on the phone. Trouble in river city.....
So I called in the Cavalry, a professional electrician, and he was able to fix the problem in a day. Two were fixed, two were still holding on.
The current light problem was due to the gasket leaking. As a guy, I'm used to just letting things go until the wife decides it's time to fix whatever is wrong. The problem I faced was this: pool+water and electrical = problem....not a good combo so I had to get on it. The light was removed, opened and we stared at it to look for signs of rust and whatnot. Pool guy elected to leave the light out in million degree heat to thoroughly dry out (my idea too) and then we'd see if just replacing the bulbs would do the trick versus replacing the entire unit.
Next day, I meet the guy at the house. Apparently cooking the lamp on the deck for 24 hours dried out the fixture and new bulbs did the trick - they were only $75 each (!?!?).
Just when I thought we had the pool problems licked, the lights flipped on at dusk....
....and now the spa light doesn't work.
This. Is. My. Life.
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