Balboa Water Group Topside Control Bulb 10226

Hard to find bulb and SpaCare made finding and purchasing it simple. I had great service and would recommend this vendor without hesitation.

My 20 year old hot tub uses these bulbs in the control panel, 2 per panel. After 20 years all of the bulbs had burnt out which meant to see the controls I had to shine a light on the panel (usually a phone flashlight). I found out from the tub manufacturer (Catalina Spas) that the panels had bulbs and they could be replaced. I ordered 4 bulbs which arrived promptly and then went to install the pair in the main control panel. After removing my front access panel I discovered that you cannot get your hand up inside the tub all the way up to the control panel to get at the bulbs. I got a long slotted screwdriver and was able to reach the lights and remove the 2 old burnt out ones. I then tried to install the new ones and found that the bulb wouldn't stay on the slotted screwdriver, in fact one of the bulbs dropped and I cannot find it and will have to order another. I tried double stick tape and got one of the bulbs to stick to the screwdriver long enough to get the bulb in and turned. The second bulb I could not get to stay attached with tape due to the angle and reach involved. I finally got out a hot glue gun and literally glued the bulb to the screw driver so I could insert it into the panel, turn the bulb and then bust the glue connection to the screwdriver. These bulbs work great and I hope they last many more years but I wish there was an easy long handled install tool to make the job a lot easier on my tub. It's a shame these panels are before the days of LED lights and it would be nice to replace these bulbs with longer lasting and brighter LEDs but for now I have a lit up primary panel and soon I will repeat the process for the secondary panel as well. I did not take any pictures of the install process but will try to do so for the next set.