Got electrical shock tonight and have bonding questions

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W

Weldo

0
Jul 5, 2016
3
Shreveport, Louisiana
I'm three weeks into being an above ground pool owner and got shocked tonight. I have an Intex 16' with the 1500 gph pump and an swg. I was standing on very wet ground playing around with hose configurations (duel inlets) so I could vacuum. The pump was on but the swg was not. I touched the Intex return valve to shut the flow off when it shocked me. It was a hard constant jolt until I let it go.

I buried #8 copper wire 18" away and 4" deep around the pool a few days ago and attached it with copper bonding lugs with stainless steel screws to four of the sixteen pool uprights. I coiled the remaining 6-8 feet and buried it under the concrete pavers that the pump and swg are sitting on. I have not bonded the water yet as I haven't decided if I am going to install a thru wall skimmer yet.

Is the lack of water bonding the reason I felt the shock?
Is there a way to bond the Intex pump and the swg?
I do not want anyone else to get shocked so is there anything else I need to concern myself with to provide a safe environment to ourselves and guests?

I unplugged the pump and swg tonight since i will have a couple friends of mine in the backyard tomorrow finishing my privacy fence. Furthermore, I am going to follow the wire of the exterior outlet the pool equipment is plugged into to make sure it is properly grounded; I know not all of my outlets are grounded in a 50+ year old house. I am on pier and beam so this is easy.
Thanks everyone and thank you for pool school!
 
Don't quite understand what shocked you, as almost all the pieces on Intex equipment are plastic?? Also, you should never turn a valve with the pump running. Sounds like there is an electrical issue with either your pump or your SWG. I'd make sure of that before doing anything else. Bonding an Intex pool seems overkill (no pun intended...) to me, but I guess better safe than sorry.
 
The shock came from two different voltage potentials equalizing thru the conductor between them. In this case the conductor was the human. This is not a good thing. The water was at a certain voltage potential and since it is inside of a vinyl shell (effectively isolated) it can not equalize with the voltage potential of the ground around the pool. A water bond will need to be installed to prevent this in the future.


Mickelin said:
Bonding an Intex pool seems overkill (no pun intended...) to me, but I guess better safe than sorry.
Click to expand...

Electricity does not care what type of pool you own. Voltage potentials and gradients exist all over in the universe. Large conductive masses such as pools of water and the earth itself all contain voltage potentials. For the most part these equalize out or are so small that you do not feel them. In the case of a pool that is isolated from the earth these potentials/gradients can be significant.
 
In the absence of a pool skimmer to use the water bug fitting above you can use this fitting what will install into the pipes to you pipe with minor effort.
https://www.amazon.com/Perma-Cast-P..._SR160,160_&psc=1&refRID=VPZ1QWT61G0TWGVW8T1J

You did a good job doing the bonding of the rest of your equipment but the water bond is a very important part of that loop you have left out.

If your outdoor outlet is lacking a proper grounding connection even if you have a gfci device outside it wont work without a proper ground connection.

Make sure your bonding loop and your equipment grounding loop are isolated from each other. The bonding point of a pump is not the same thing as the green equipment grounding screw. The same goes for the SWG.
 
Thanks for the water bonding ideas; I'll get that done asap. The Intex pump and swg do not have any bonding lugs. Intex says they are double insulated, whatever that means, so do not need bonding. Has anyone figured a way to bond them anyway? I buried the coiled up remains of the copper wire under the pump in case I ever get a pump with a bonding lug. It just seams that not bonding the pump and swg leaves out another important part in the loop.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Do you own a multimeter? If yes we can isolate the problem.

But you said you felt a strong shock. That is a concern because that may be more than stray voltage or leaks from the PDS.

Feeling a shock means you have two problems. Lack of bonding and a source for power. I suggest you have an electrician run down that source.

Also you should always bond the water if you are bonding anything else. If you use the in pipe bond place it as close to the pool as possible.
 
Sorry you are correct a GFCI will function with out a ground in that it will sense a difference in current between the two wires hooked up to it and trip.

That being said having protection from an un-grounded gfci is better than nothing but not nearly the same as having one properly grounded. If a device is wired from the factory with a 3 prong plug it is meant to be used exclusively in a 3 wire system of hot neutral and ground.

Don't all the intex pumps come pre-wired with a 3-prong gfci device on the cord? or do some ship with only a plug end.

A double insulated motor is just that, there are two independent layers of insulation between the voltage and outer casing of the motor. They are acceptable for use but not as safe as an insulted motor with a grounded frame. Intex may be skirting the issue a bit as the 2014 nec code says any pool over 42" is considered permanent and needs to have the equipment bonded. In the past it used to be a 48" height limit which excluded all of the intex products.
 

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Here's how my electrician bonded my pool to city specs:
Copper wire starting point is screwed to pool upright, goes underground the entire diameter of pool.
Comes up out of the ground and runs through the water bonding fitting and ends screwed to back of motor.
IMG_1221_zps6qe4wpgo.jpg



IMG_1220_zps34orpqe9.jpg
 
Weldo: Do you still have a problem? I would have an electrician or pool store shop take a long hard look at the motor. If its double insulated and on a GFCI you should not be getting a shock. So someone need to look closely at it. Pictures would be helpful.

Juicemann: That is not a compliant water bond. Because it is possible for the pump or the filter to isolate the water bond it would not pass inspection in most jurisdictions. The water bond should either be in the pool or directly adjacent to the pool. On your return fitting would be best here.
 
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