Lights for Swimming Pools

Last week I was on vacation with my family and another family. As any good flashaholic would do, I stopped by the local discount store and checked out their flashlight supplies. I found some single cell aa lights for 3 bucks so I bought 4 of them with some batteries. Later that week my wife was down at the pool with the older kids and asked that I bring my bright lights because the pool area didn't have ant lights. It was dark and lights were needed. I did not desire that my ra clickies and twistys be used in the pool but didn't know if the new cheapie LED lights were water tight. I then had the idea to use the water bottles that were in the trash. I simply made sure the bottles were empty and then turned the lights on and slid them inside the bottles and put on the caps and I then had waterproof lights for swimming pool activities.

Why not just buy a light that is meant for underwater use? I have some Underwater Kinetics flashlights that good for 10 feet and more, they are not that expensive.

Used My Quark MiNi AA and solarforce L2 in the pool passing it along with friends, used it the whole night with occasional submersing. Used the MiNi AA in strobe and beacon underwater and medium mode while grilling dinner in an unlit area. Both lights survived without problems until I went home. The Mini AA have moist but still dry inside but the L2 have water inside where in the battery is rusting, I was amazed the light is still working even when water is inside, culprit is the mode changing while submersed underwater. Dried both lights and didn't encounter any problem afterwards. Both great lights.

It's so funny someone just posted this. Someone just gave me a 12 foot intex pool so I set it up. My 1 year old loves it! I wanted to see how it would look at night so I tossed my nitecore ezaa in there on high. Worked great! I.shut off all the outside lights and its just a blue orb in The backyard. I didn't leave it in there long but will provBly hop in there tonight to try an extended test.

After our 12 volt pool light stopped working, I've been using an SC60w every night. It works great. When taking any light into water...please clean, check and lubricate your O-ring(s)!
With a ZebraLight, there is only one o-ring to worry about.

G27

I don't take any of my nice lights in my pool, I purchased some of the Coast and Pelican dive lights when they were on sale.

afdk said:

Why not just buy a light that is meant for underwater use? I have some Underwater Kinetics flashlights that good for 10 feet and more, they are not that expensive.

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1. On vacation. 2. Saw cheap LED lights not knowing how I would use them. 3. Made do with what I had.

you did well with the water bottle idea. thats flashaholic improvisation

I've found the biggest weakness with the Solarforce L2's waterproofness is the rough machining on the tailcap section which mates with the o-ring. I solved this by wet sanding the surface with progressively finer sandpapers down to 1000 grit, then I polished it to a smooth mirrorlike finish with metal polish. After this my light remains 100% waterproof even submerged for extended periods like over 1 hour submerged and that's without any lubrication, with no water intrusion at all. Of course normally I keep it lubed up but it requires very little to feel smooth and stay water tight now. Another cool side effect is that the tailcap unscrews so smooth now, it feels like the volume control knob of a very expensive stereo system, if you've ever felt one you know the feeling super smooth and an almost hydraulic resistance to movement.

Dadof6 said:

I then had the idea to use the water bottles that were in the trash. I simply made sure the bottles were empty and then turned the lights on and slid them inside the bottles and put on the caps and I then had waterproof lights for swimming pool activities.

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Great idea, great improvisation.

qwertyydude said:

[...]Solarforce L2's waterproofness is the rough machining on the tailcap section which mates with the o-ring. I solved this by wet sanding the surface with progressively finer sandpapers down to 1000 grit, then I polished it to a smooth mirrorlike finish with metal polish. [...]

Click to expand...

Sounds like a useful improvement, maybe even worth a separate posting? ;-)

Cheers
Thorsten

There is quite a long thread on the same sort of thing thing here.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?277617-Any-small-torch-can-be-used-under-water.

Jay R said:

There is quite a long thread on the same sort of thing thing here.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?277617-Any-small-torch-can-be-used-under-water.

Click to expand...

Upon reviewing the thread posted above, I believe that is probably where I got the idea to put the lights in the water bottles for the swimming pool. I do remember reading the article last year and when the time came to make something happen the thread must have registered in my head. Thanks for reminding me that I'm not that brilliant all on my own.

All Fenix flashlights are IPX-8 rated, so they are good for up to about 10 feet underwater. I've taken all my Fenix lights underwater already, a few times the pool, mostly the river. No problems whatsoever!

Great idea! Score one for ingenious flashaholic fathers!

I have the older version of this:

http://www.coastportland.com/waterproof-dive-torch-led-flashlight.htm

Mine uses 3 nichias in a clover pattern reflector. The older one's had no black switch, but were activated by twisting the head down. Got two of them for $5 a piece at Final Markdown a few years ago...not bad for "real waterproof" user lights...nice and tough, and great for the kiddo's...plus they seem to do good on Duraloop AAA's.

inova inforce?

Ziploc baggies!
Double them if you are worried

My old Fenix L1T-V2 has spent a lot of time in the pool, just dont unscrew the bezel or tailcap and its sealed completely.