A pool light that went dark is an electrical problem until someone proves otherwise. The first checks are the GFCI at the equipment pad and the circuit that feeds the niche. They are not a swim-with-a-screwdriver job. If you feel a tingle at a rail, a wet deck, or in the water, get out. Call 911 if anyone is hurt. Then call a licensed electrician. Bright Pro Electric matches you with that electrician. We do not enter the niche.
Pumps, heaters, and pad equipment wiring sit on pool equipment electrical wiring. This page is the light: the GFCI, the junction box, the circuit, and the stop rule around water.
Do not go in the water to “just change the bulb”
Underwater luminaires and wet niches are listed products. Opening a niche, pulling a cord, or standing in the pool with a tool is how people get shocked. Leave the water. Leave the light unused.
A tingle is an emergency even if the light still works. Equipotential bonding and GFCI protection exist because voltage around a pool is not a DIY puzzle. This page does not give bonding steps.
If the light is a landscape fixture on the deck, not in the water, use landscape lighting repair.
What the electrician checks at the pad first
Many San Diego backyard lights die because the GFCI on the equipment pad opened after rain, after a motor start, or after a real ground fault. A reset that holds is information. A reset that will not hold is stop. Do not keep resetting.
The next category is the circuit: a tripped breaker in the house panel, a dead switch, a failed transformer for a low-voltage listed light, or an open in the wet-niche cord. The electrician meters those with the circuit de-energized as required. You do not.
Coastal Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, and Coronado pads sit in salt air. Inland El Cajon and Escondido pads sit in heat. Both chew covers and fittings. Exposure is not a diagnosis.
Older Clairemont and Allied Gardens pools often have a junction box at deck level and a niche that has not been opened in years. Newer North County tracts may have LED replacements on a listed low-voltage driver. Copy the listing. Do not mix line-voltage and low-voltage parts because they “both look like pool lights.”
Permits and who owns which trade
Electrical work on the circuit, the GFCI, the junction box, and the listed connection is C-10 work. Opening the pool shell, replacing a niche, or doing water work is a different trade. This page does not assign that second trade a brand. Get both scopes in writing if both are needed.
New circuits, replaced GFCIs as part of a larger pad job, and bonding repairs are permit questions. Confirm with the office for the address. City of San Diego Development Services, County PDS for unincorporated parcels, and each city’s building department set the rule.
This page does not publish a pool-light repair price. No verified San Diego figure for that call sits in the claims file. If the electrician adds a new 15- to 45-amp circuit in the City of San Diego, the published Simple permit for the first five of those circuits is $176.57.
The 2025 California Electrical Code took effect January 1, 2026. Pool articles are applied by the electrician and the inspector, not by a mnemonic from this page.
Check the contractor on the CSLB license lookup.
Frequently asked questions
Why did my pool light go out after it rained?
Water at a GFCI, a junction box, or a damaged cord is a category. Reset once if there is no tingle and no smell. If it will not hold, leave it off and call. Do not swim on a fault.
Can I replace a pool light myself?
No from this page. Wet-niche work is listed, bonded, and often permitted. A wrong cord or a missing gasket is a shock risk.
The GFCI clicks and the light stays off. Now what?
Leave it. A GFCI that will not reset, or that resets and the light stays dead, is electrician work. Do not bypass the GFCI.
When to call us
Call when the light is dead, the GFCI will not hold, or anyone felt a tingle. Get out of the water first. Call 911 if someone is hurt. Then call (858) 988-5580. Hours are Monday through Saturday, 7am to 7pm. After hours, leave a message on the contact page. Same-night dispatch is not guaranteed.