Home brew underwater lights

I wanted to add a light or two under the fountain and one at least in
the pond in the middle around a little lagoon we have off to one
side, and after pricing them things, you would think they were made of
gold.....so I decided to build my own........I don't have any images
yet, but they are easy to make and CHEAP to build out of very common
parts.....and are alamost identical to the egg lites sold.

A 38 watt 12 vdc Halogen bolb fits nicely inside a 1 1/2" PVC pipe
coupling with just a small bit of sanding or opeing up one end with a
lathe. Its a very small amount that has to be removed. The bulb will
then fit in side this coupling end and bottom out against the shoulder
in the coupling. Next you need a short piece of 1 1/2" PVC pipe just
long enough to glkue inside the opposite end of the coupling, and long
enough piece sticking out to glue on a 1 1/2" PVC cap. In the end of
the cap I drilled a hole to accomodate a liquidtite "SJ" sized water
proof connector. These are a black nylon connector that has a seal to
squeeze on the wire as its tightened and also an O ring or rubber
washer under the threaded end that gets the lock nut on. I had some
sockets that fit the halogen bulbs that I found in an old store
display, but you could solder the wire directly to the contact pins on
the bulb, but a socket is less than $3.00 to buy. The water proof
connectors are 70 cents a piece, and the coupling and caps are about
50 cents a piece or less..........I priced bulbs and found them
anywhere between $4 and 6 bucks each. So these lights are abale to be
made for under$6 or so bucks each not counting the wire. The
connectors I used will also work with the low voltage UF wire commonly
used for outside low voltage lighting and its rated for under water,
and it is available at Big Lots (the cheapest source) for $4.49 per
100 feet. I picked up a outside low voltage transformer / timer
assembly at WalMart in the clearance section for $29 thats rated at 88
watts and its sufficient to power three of these lights and it has a
timer built into it as well or you can get a low voltage lighting kit
at Big Lots with a 90 watt transformer and photo cell and 6 or 8
lights for under $15.00, pitch the lights in the trash and use the
supplied wire and transformer.

For ballast I used PVC pipe glued to the outside of the lights
coupling body and made a sort of stake out of it, and just shoved it
into the pond bottom or you can attach it to a brick or epoxy some
lead fishing weights inside the bottom of the cap. I did two with
epoxy and lead and it was sufficient to hold lights in place in the
bottom of the pond. Attach th wires to bulb by solder or conector,
puch bulb into end of coupling and apply a seal of clear RTV.
Look goodl work great and cheap as can be and easy to make.
I look at it as saving well over $100 and have three underwater lights
now. I'll try and post some imaages on my website when I can get some
time.

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