Pentair Sam Replacement?

Jump to latest Follow Reply
J

Jreising326

New member
May 30, 2020
2
Redding, ca
Long story short, I own a 22 year old pool and just started replacing the Intertech "stuff" with nodejs-poolController. My SAM light is the old skook one with mechanical wheel, and the motor is toast. Is there a reliable replacement to the SAM light that doesn't cost a fortune? I have no problem making a DIY LED light, I'd just prefer to buy something that won't leak or die in a few years, if that is even possible. As best I can tell my SAM light takes 120V in, but is well potted and converts it to 12VDC? If I were to go DIY I'd probably violate building codes here, and while I think the safety risk is something I can manage (I'm an electrical engineer), I really just want something off the shelf in this area that just simply "works", if such a thing "exists". 12v or 24v low current LED is preferred, trying to make house more energy efficient is my primary goal, not singularly focused on pool, yet. All decent advice is greatly appreciated. This may be my first post here. I've been lurking a while. Thanks in advance.
 
Thank you! I was not aware of the TFP-TV and some of those videos will be helpful. I was aware of Sunseeker, and if I go that route I'd probably replace the entire light and not just the LED module/upgrade. Mainly because my SAM light is older than the one in their video, and I want to eliminate the 120VAC line to the Niche. The other option I'm considering is the PAL light. I'll read up a bit more on PAL as I am less familiar with them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mknauss
I am also looking at replacing my 2 dead sam lights. I have seen the pooltones and am curiouse about contolling them with intellicenter. I know that it says the intellicenter will not controll them but will it not controll at all or it just will not match with what you are trying to change it to. It seems like it would at least change colors and once you found the one you like you can just keep it there. Or am I wrong and it will do nothing?
 
barnnns1 said:
It seems like it would at least change colors and once you found the one you like you can just keep it there. Or am I wrong and it will do nothing?
Click to expand...
The color or theme shown on the Intellicenter will not match what the light shows. The system will change the light as it is a simple cycling of the relay attached to the lights that changes the color.
 
mknauss said:
The color or theme shown on the Intellicenter will not match what the light shows. The system will change the light as it is a simple cycling of the relay attached to the lights that changes the color.
Click to expand...
thank you. If im understanding correctly I could just go through the different colors on the intellicenter(even though they wont match the color on the lights)and when i find what I am happy with it should come on that each time they go on and off with timer>
 
Should work. It will be trial and error. But with some patience, it will work.

You could keep a list on what it says on Intellicenter versus what the light shows. It should be consistent.
 
mknauss said:
Should work. It will be trial and error. But with some patience, it will work.

You could keep a list on what it says on Intellicenter versus what the light shows. It should be consistent.
Click to expand...
thats what I was thinking but with 12 vs 16 color options I think they will keep changing from each other. I am thinking the controller would probably work just to go through some different colors just for the cool factor but would probably have to turn the light on and off on the app till I get the specific one I want. My only concern at that point would be that it holds that in memory untill I want to change it and not randomly have a differnt color every day when the light kicks on
 
Had not thought of that. You are likely right.
The Pooltone is supposed to remember what it was set at when turned back on. So as long as the relay does not cycle, it should stay the same.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
mknauss said:
Had not thought of that. You are likely right.
The Pooltone is supposed to remember what it was set at when turned back on. So as long as the relay does not cycle, it should stay the same.
Click to expand...
yeah thats the pat im unsure of. Im thinking it should work as long as there is no cycling done by controller when timer comes on. Meaning the controller will only do the cycling if its asked to change colors.
 
Jreising326 said:
Long story short, I own a 22 year old pool and just started replacing the Intertech "stuff" with nodejs-poolController. My SAM light is the old skook one with mechanical wheel, and the motor is toast. Is there a reliable replacement to the SAM light that doesn't cost a fortune? I have no problem making a DIY LED light, I'd just prefer to buy something that won't leak or die in a few years, if that is even possible. As best I can tell my SAM light takes 120V in, but is well potted and converts it to 12VDC? If I were to go DIY I'd probably violate building codes here, and while I think the safety risk is something I can manage (I'm an electrical engineer), I really just want something off the shelf in this area that just simply "works", if such a thing "exists". 12v or 24v low current LED is preferred, trying to make house more energy efficient is my primary goal, not singularly focused on pool, yet. All decent advice is greatly appreciated. This may be my first post here. I've been lurking a while. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
I am the second owner of a 22 year old pool with three SAM lights, like what you describe. I don't know where the power is converted, but the wires coming out of the potting to my lights is only 12V. There is smaller pair going to the motor and some electronics that I think is low voltage too. I didn't like power consumption of 6 x 75 watt bulbs and converted to LED MR16 bulbs a few years ago. I had to sacrifice a little on brightness because the brightest available MR16 LED bulbs were about a 50 watt equivalent. None of my color wheels work. I have been surfing to see what I might do instead. Replacement motors would be expensive but are unobtainable, so that's not really even an option. I see that color changing MR16 bulbs are available and I am thinking about trying a couple of those and just pulling off the color wheel. I would like something that could mimic the old color wheel.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply