IG pump plugged into outlet

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loomer

loomer

0
Jun 3, 2016
27
Marlton/NJ
Hello. Glad to be here on TFP, and to finally be putting up my first post. As a first time pool owner, I have done a lot of reading on your forum and already consider it my go-to online resource.

I inherited a pool when we purchased a house about 4 months ago. I have had it open for about two months now, and things have been going well. Levels have been good, clear water..etc. However, back in February during our initial home inspection, we had the pool inspected and found out that the pump that is currently being used for the pool is an above ground rated pump. It has been in the back of my mind that when I had the chance, I was going to purchase a new in-ground rated pump.

The current pump seems to be moving the water fairly slow, and it gets really hot if left on for a few hours. Especially during the day in the hot sun. I have been running it overnight for that reason alone.
The current pump is setup where it is plugged in with a twist plug to an outlet at the pump/filter platform. It has an on off switch tied in with the outlet. From there, it is wired to its own dedicated GFCI breaker on the house breaker box. I was hoping for now I could just use the plug that is currently being used for the old pump, with the new 1HP Pentair Superflo replacement pump that I just got. Of course most in-ground pool setups are shown being hardwired in, and sometime in the near future when I get a timer I may just do that. But for now, I’d like to keep it as simple as possible and keep things the way they are with the plug if possible.

My question, is it OK to use the plug/outlet setup for an in ground pump?
 
Sorry, sometimes posts get overlooked by the folks that are experts in that particular aspect of pool ops. I can't help you personally, but keep an eye here and give the thread a bump whenever it drops off the first page. Someone will help you out.
 
Welcome to TFP!

I do not know if it is safe to install and operate that pump with that plug. There are likely few people here who will make electrical recommendations that are or seem to be outside of the norm. I'm guessing the installation manual does not offer that as an option. Electrical safety is very important with a pool. It is critical that the pump be wired according to the instructions and local building codes to include proper grounding and bonding.
 
Hello, and thank you for the responses.

This is directly from the manual: "The pump should be permanently connected to either a circuit breaker, 2-pole timer or 2-pole relay. If AC power is supplied by a GFCI circuit breaker, use a dedicated circuit breaker that has no other electrical loads."

The outlet that the pump is twist lock plugged into is on a dedicated GFCI breaker. Nothing else but the pump is on it. I feel like my setup should satisfy all of this, with the only difference being that it is using a plug into an outlet instead of being hardwired. After reading further in the manual, I am also somewhat unclear as to what I need to do to bond the motor to the pool?
 
What voltage is the existing pump?
What voltage is the new pump?
What is the twist-lock receptacle and plug NEMA rating (L6-15, etc.)?

If the voltage (and somewhat amperage) of the new pump matches the old pump, you will be fine to use the twist-lock setup. If it doesn't there will be some rewiring and replacing of the twist-lock plug & receptacle required.

So, yes the twist-lock is acceptable as long as it's properly wired and sized.
 
To add to what others have said, yes, if properly sized and wired correctly it will work. But, I'll ask the question, why?

It will take the same amount of work to remove the cord from the old pump and reinstall on the new pump as it would to just wire the new pump correctly. With a length of "liquid tite" and properly sized wires the existing box with the twist loc receptacle would just become a junction box with a flat waterproof cover. I would bet it would be less than $50 in parts from one of the big box stores.

As to bonding, the new pump should have a lug that you will attach a piece of #8 solid wire to the existing bond wires.
 
Bama Rambler said:
What voltage is the existing pump?
What voltage is the new pump?
What is the twist-lock receptacle and plug NEMA rating (L6-15, etc.)?

If the voltage (and somewhat amperage) of the new pump matches the old pump, you will be fine to use the twist-lock setup. If it doesn't there will be some rewiring and replacing of the twist-lock plug & receptacle required.

So, yes the twist-lock is acceptable as long as it's properly wired and sized.
Click to expand...

The OLD pump is: 115v / 12 amps
The NEW pump is: 115v / 13.2 amps

Twist lock is rated at L5-20 / 20amps / 125v

Sounds like this will work?

Would you happen to know what the deal is with the bonding, and what needs to be done (if anything) with that?

Thanks!
 
Sounds to me like the pump is the wrong size for the impeller. I don't see how any outlet would cause this. Pump needs to run on 120v if it's plugged into a 120v outlet, obviously.

I have read this forum quite a bit and most of these issues have to do with the pump being the wrong size for the impeller.
 

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tim5055 said:
To add to what others have said, yes, if properly sized and wired correctly it will work. But, I'll ask the question, why?

It will take the same amount of work to remove the cord from the old pump and reinstall on the new pump as it would to just wire the new pump correctly. With a length of "liquid tite" and properly sized wires the existing box with the twist loc receptacle would just become a junction box with a flat waterproof cover. I would bet it would be less than $50 in parts from one of the big box stores.

As to bonding, the new pump should have a lug that you will attach a piece of #8 solid wire to the existing bond wires.
Click to expand...

Hrm.. That is certainly something I will consider. I hadn't considered wiring it that way, but it certainly makes sense. I just thought it would be much easier to remove the plug from the old pump, and install into the new pump if it was possible, since the outlet is already there. Plus, I live in a cold weather climate where temps go well below freezing in Fall and Winter, so I wanted to try and have a setup that would allow me to bring the pump inside during the winter months with ease to help preserve its life.
 
As others have said, there is a lug on the pump motor where you connect the bonding grid to. You should currently have a bare wire connected to the existing pump that you'll just hook to the new pump.

I wouldn't worry about the motor being the wrong size for the impeller. I doubt that anyone has changed the impeller on that pump. Contrary to weird_tolkienish I don't remember very many issues of incorrectly sized impellers on pumps.
 
Nope. Existing pump does not have any bonding connection. As I mentioned in the original post, it may be because the pump is intended for an above ground pool? Or the previous home owner was negligent? Either way, no bare copper wiring.
 
Can you post a picture of your setup? If the pool was installed properly there should be a bonding wire in the vicinity. May have to do a little light digging to find it as it sounds like previous owners may have buried it or removed it not knowing better.
 
sure.. I'll look around. I mean I'll tell you this. the pump that I am using (the old pump that came with the house)... for one, it was not hooked up to anything when we moved in. it was being stored in the garage for the winter months. We had to bring it out to the concrete filter platform to hook it up in May. Another thing, part of our closing agreement on the house was that the previous home owner run power out to the pool platform. So, before us there was never even power setup at the pump and filter platform. The previous home owner apparently ran an extension cord from outlets by the house to the pump during the summer months. So, I'm not sure there is any of this bonding work. If it does exist, where would it be? by the pool somewhere? or by the filter and pump?
 
Personally, I would consider upgrading to 220v for efficiency, especially if it's some distance from the panel to the pump which sounds likely. You can use your existing wiring, you just need a 220v breaker in your panel. Your motor is probably switchable between 120/220.

Bama Rambler said:
there is a lug on the pump motor where you connect the bonding grid to. You should currently have a bare wire connected to the existing pump that you'll just hook to the new pump
Click to expand...

It looks a bit like what's pictured. All the metal touching your water needs to be bonded TOGETHER so they are at the same electrical potential. Please note that BONDING is not the same as GROUNDING

step5-p1090155r.jpg
 
here is a pic of my setup. I looked around the pump deck real quick before work and didn't see any wire around there. So one end is attached to the pump, what is the other end of the bonding wire attached to?
dcf2b0f462581908faa0e8d7394a2417.jpg
06b476f02dd620911181e2396ef9644b.jpg


Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
 
When we moved into oour house 20 years ago the 220v SuperPump was wired via a plug into a waterproof 220v outlet box(snap down cover like yours) when I upgraded to a VS pump the electrician wired it the same way. I’m assuming it’s meets our local code.


This type of install makes it simple to bring the pump indoors for the winter. If the pump needs to be repaired I can swap out the old pump in minuites.
 

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