Duct Seal in lamp socket??

[jerjwillelec]

Thread light fixture nameplate reference: Swimquip; No. S36603; volt 500 watt

I came across something I'd never run across before. I do electrical maintenance at our city aquatic center which is roughly 24 years old. The under water luminaires were needing some attention after years of neglect so we decided we were going to pull all of them out, replace the gaskets and lamps and reinstall them before they fill the pool for the season. While pulling out the lamps, in the socket there is a non conductive putty, maybe duct seal of some sorts. From what I can tell, it is there to provide a barrier between the center hot tab and the neutral portion of the socket as the two are very close to one another and the barrier appears to be necessary. I've referenced the nameplate number at the beginning of this thread.

What I am unsure of is if this was a factory install or field installed and if it actually duct seal? Has anyone run across this before? As you can probably imagine, there is a bit of corrosion after 24 years...

 

[hbiss]

If I were you, I would get rid of those fixtures before somebody gets hurt.

-Hal

 

[tom baker]

I agree with Hal. Mike Holt once said he would not swim in a pool with an underwater light fixture.
Are these lights on a GFCI?

 

[CoolWill]

Line voltage pool lights give me the willies anymore. I know the crud you're speaking of on the lamp sockets, but I don't know what it is. Even the idea of low voltage lights gives me pause. There's just no good reason to have electric lights in pools.