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The Florida summer is almost over, which means it’s time to give your swimming pool a well-earned inspection. More than likely, your pool worked over time to keep you cool the past few months, so it’s important that you contact a pool electrician to make sure that everything is in proper working order. Swimming pools are an incredibly valuable part of any Florida home, so proper pool maintenance is key.
Although your pool most likely needs a post-summer clean, more importantly, it also needs an electrical check. Make sure you to hire a qualified electrician from Art Plumbing, Air Conditioning & Electric to check on all your pool electrics, such as the pump and lights.
If your pool ever gives you a shock or even just a low-grade tingle, call a professional immediately. Electrocution is the second leading cause of pool-related deaths after drowning. When water mixes with the electricity used to power faulty pool lights or a faulty pool pump, it can create a dangerously charged environment. Although pure water is a poor conductor of electricity, the water in our swimming pools contains ions that allow it to conduct electricity. To prevent electric shocks, all visible metallic pool components are bonded together to create a bonding grid. One of the main things our electricians check when analyzing your swimming pool is whether or not it is potentially dangerous for swimmers.
When your pool was installed it will have been equipped with something called a Ground Shock Circuit Interrupter (GSCI). This small device will pick up on electric currents and shut off the power to your pool as soon as it notices a current that poses a potential shock hazard. If your GSCI is activated, contact us immediately as there is a serious electrical problem that needs to be solved.
Your pool pump uses a lot of power to operate, and can subsequently become very hot. Like most electrical motors, a lot of energy is not converted into useful mechanical energy but is instead lost to the surrounding environment as heat. This is not unusual, and even pool pump motors straight out of the box will lose heat energy. So, don’t panic if you can feel heat radiating off of your pool pump, as this is not necessarily a bad thing.
However, your pool pump can quickly become overheated, and this is a serious problem. Because of all the different moving parts inside of a pool pump, electrical failures accompanied by increased friction can result in extreme overheating, and even an electrical fire. When the parts inside a pool pump start to strain and the system becomes overheated, it doesn’t always cause visible problems immediately. In fact, it’s very possible that your pool pump motor has been overheating all summer without you even noticing a problem! If your pump motor ever feels too hot or hotter than usual, make sure to contact a professional. Don’t turn the motor off, and don’t try to fix it yourself. There are many different reasons your pool pump could be suffering from mechanical or electrical issues.
Have you noticed that your pool lights have started to dim, or have even gone out entirely? Pool lights can be difficult to repair or replace simply because they are underwater. It’s a lot harder than just changing a bulb!
If your light goes out, the most obvious reason is that the bulb has died. However, if it is a relatively new bulb, there might be another problem. Bulbs that burn out before they should, or bulbs that have a visible broken filament, have potentially been subjected to an electric surge or faulty wiring. Replacing the bulb without fixing the problem will result in you having to buy light bulbs by the dozen.
Pool lights can also ‘trip’ or flick on and off if the circuit breaker that protects the electrical line connected to your lights is overtaxed and overworked. Because the breaker is also connected to the wiring inside your house, it’s important to fix tripping issues before they become a household problem.
