Pool Fiber Optic Lights

[mplekker]

Hello again everyone. I've been working on my pool, and came accross a neat device that turned out to be pool lighting. It's a green box with a bright light in it, and a rotating colored glass disc. Underneath the disc, there are two strands of fiber optic cable, that go into the ground and come out in the pool, around the top of the liner. The idea is that you will have a multi colored ring around your pool at night time.

So what I did is clean up the control box, and got it running. The light works (very bright) and the colored glass disc rotates. I then hooked it back up to the two strands of fiber optic, and waited for dusk to see the light show. It works, but only a little. Right where the fiber optic enters and also exits the pool I have neat lights, changing from red to blue to green and so on. A few feet down, the light fades quickly. On the opposite side of the pool, I see no lights. Could the strand be broken somewhere? Or maybe I just need to sand the ends of the fiber optic strands right at the light, since they were pretty muddy and I only wiped them off. Does anyone have experience with these kinds of lights?

Mario

[sharkman009]

Hello again everyone. I've been working on my pool, and came accross a neat device that turned out to be pool lighting. It's a green box with a bright light in it, and a rotating colored glass disc. Underneath the disc, there are two strands of fiber optic cable, that go into the ground and come out in the pool, around the top of the liner. The idea is that you will have a multi colored ring around your pool at night time.

So what I did is clean up the control box, and got it running. The light works (very bright) and the colored glass disc rotates. I then hooked it back up to the two strands of fiber optic, and waited for dusk to see the light show. It works, but only a little. Right where the fiber optic enters and also exits the pool I have neat lights, changing from red to blue to green and so on. A few feet down, the light fades quickly. On the opposite side of the pool, I see no lights. Could the strand be broken somewhere? Or maybe I just need to sand the ends of the fiber optic strands right at the light, since they were pretty muddy and I only wiped them off. Does anyone have experience with these kinds of lights?

Mario

The fiber optic strands need to be clean for the light to travel through them. Another issue we have seen is they will sometimes begin to grow mildew on the fiber optics and that can stop the light from traveling through them.

I have not had problems with strands breaking so I dont think that will be an issue.

There are also different sizes of light fixtures and if your system was undersized it will not put out enough light to travel all the way around. Hope that helps.

[DKN1997]

Hello again everyone. I've been working on my pool, and came accross a neat device that turned out to be pool lighting. It's a green box with a bright light in it, and a rotating colored glass disc. Underneath the disc, there are two strands of fiber optic cable, that go into the ground and come out in the pool, around the top of the liner. The idea is that you will have a multi colored ring around your pool at night time.

So what I did is clean up the control box, and got it running. The light works (very bright) and the colored glass disc rotates. I then hooked it back up to the two strands of fiber optic, and waited for dusk to see the light show. It works, but only a little. Right where the fiber optic enters and also exits the pool I have neat lights, changing from red to blue to green and so on. A few feet down, the light fades quickly. On the opposite side of the pool, I see no lights. Could the strand be broken somewhere? Or maybe I just need to sand the ends of the fiber optic strands right at the light, since they were pretty muddy and I only wiped them off. Does anyone have experience with these kinds of lights?

Mario

the perimeter lighting you describe is a loop. the two ends of this loop terminate just under the color wheel. If you are using a stranded fiberoptic cable, check and make sure of a few things:

like the previous poster said, they have to be clean, on the tips.

they should be "even" in the bundle where they terminate.

make sure one "end" of the loop has not pulled out and is sitting in the bottom of the illuminator box.

also, make sure, when looking at the fibers, that there is no space between them.

you could also recut the cable to expose fresh fiber. a dedicated hot knife works best, but I have done them by heating up a knife with a torch and letting the hot tip slice off the cable. don't push hard, let the heat work. after cutting, use a very very mild sand paper or an emery board to "shine up" the cut you just made.

[Rolexor]

the perimeter lighting you describe is a loop. the two ends of this loop terminate just under the color wheel. If you are using a stranded fiberoptic cable, check and make sure of a few things:

like the previous poster said, they have to be clean, on the tips.

they should be "even" in the bundle where they terminate.

make sure one "end" of the loop has not pulled out and is sitting in the bottom of the illuminator box.

also, make sure, when looking at the fibers, that there is no space between them.

you could also recut the cable to expose fresh fiber. a dedicated hot knife works best, but I have done them by heating up a knife with a torch and letting the hot tip slice off the cable. don't push hard, let the heat work. after cutting, use a very very mild sand paper or an emery board to "shine up" the cut you just made.

I saw in a book on pools and spas a fiber optic set up that is more like a star field with the ends shining out all over the pool (bottom, side, etc). Does anyone have any information on this?

Thanks,

Greg

[pat]

I saw in a book on pools and spas a fiber optic set up that is more like a star field with the ends shining out all over the pool (bottom, side, etc). Does anyone have any information on this?

http://www.fibrestars.com/ps/prods/waterfs.htm, look towards the bottom of the page... in regards to the fiber being dim, you can't cut it with a regular knife (crushes the fibers). You do need a "hot knife" Either way it won't be as bright as a regular pool light

[DKN1997]

I saw in a book on pools and spas a fiber optic set up that is more like a star field with the ends shining out all over the pool (bottom, side, etc). Does anyone have any information on this?

Thanks,

Greg

My company built the pool at the bottom page of the fiberstars site. it has 10,000 fiber optic lights in the bottom. it's the one that says "lighted star floor kits"

it's nice, but costs a ton of money should not be retrofitted. it can be done, but unless you have money to burn, not a good idea.

and you can cut the fibers with a knife, but it has to be heated. the amount of heat is a bit of a crap shoot, so a dedicated hot knife is the best choice, just not the only choice. I have