Wire size for pool pump

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O

onenut

0
May 9, 2009
22
Columbus, MI
I am in the starting stage of installing a above ground pool, just starting to collect items before the install
my question is what gauge wire should i be looking for
pump will be located 200 ft from house fuse panel, and from what I have read that there will be some voltage drop over that length of a run,
1 1/2 hp motor
15 amp
120 volts
20amp breaker in panel
I was thinking like 200ft 10-2 direct burial 18" deep
20amp GFI on post 5ft away from pool wall with weather cover
and bond the pump and pool
do all you thinks 10-2 will be enough to allow for the drop in volts for that lenght of a run
 
Two things that might make life easier: First, you shouldn't need a 1.5HP pump for an AG pool. 1HP should do the job on most any AG pool, and you might be able to get by with a 3/4HP. Second, a 220V pump will greatly reduce the wire size required and the voltage loss on the long run.
 
forgot to add that this is a 28ft round pool 48" is only 2 years old the next door neighbor is moving out and the new owners did not want the pool so I received the pool free :-D
he had the pool next to his house but I am not so lucky, I have to install 200ft back from the house
 
The wire size determines your voltage drop. You need to know what kind of voltage drop you can afford on the pump.

From what I'm seeing to keep your voltage drop to 5% on a 15A circuit at 200 feet you need #8 wire, which would actually cover you for a 20amp service also, thus giving you some head room after installation.

There are some other rules to look into for continuous run motors and such that I'm not familiar with, but I'd say 10-2 is too small.

dave
 
WOW #8 wire.. I like to see someone wrap that around the screws on the Receptacle..

I myself also have approx 200 ft run.. Probably a tad more. I ran 10 gauge and my voltage didn't drop at all.

I am also slightly confused and need to break out the Code book (need to find it).. Now regardless to a 240volt or a 120volt Pump, I still do believe that the circuit must be a 20 amp Circuit.. Somebody educate me on this while i try to locate my book..
 
You need to run 4 conductor wire (10 gauge) from the main panel (240 volts off a 30 amp breaker in the main) to a subpanel located nearer the pool. Then you can wire up recepticles with 12-2 . You really should use conduit to run the 4 conductors, too.

Honestly, wiring a pool is not a DYI job, IMO. Too much can go wrong. Everything needs to be bonded correctly, sub panel wired correctly (i.e. remove the jumper between the ground and common bus) , etc. the pump should be wired with flex conduit into a second sub box. Spend the extra money and hire an electrician that knows what he's doing. Electricity aorund water has to be done correctly. Lots of stuff you can DYI, but wiring a pool shouldnt be one of them, IMO.
Not trying to discourage DYI; i'm a king DYI'er, but this i would hire out.
 
Sparkmaster said:
I am also slightly confused and need to break out the Code book (need to find it).. Now regardless to a 240volt or a 120volt Pump, I still do believe that the circuit must be a 20 amp Circuit.. Somebody educate me on this while i try to locate my book..
Click to expand...

Yes, 20 amp. Doesnt matter if it's 240 or 120. 240 just has 2 hot legs, and a ground, instead of one hot leg and ground. You can run 240 on a 15 amp breaker if the equipment doesnt pull more than 12-13 amps.
Sometimes you dont need a common on a 240 motor, depends on how its configured. Out by a pool, i would run #10, 4 conductor: 2 hots, 1 common, 1 ground. #10 needs a 30 amp breaker. Bond the pool to the pump, ladder fittings, heater if you have one. The bond wire should be 8 guage minimum and has nothing to do with the gound from the main.

As i said previously, hire an electrician. You will be glad you did.

(FYI: 15 amp is #14, 20 amp is #12, 30 amp is #10, 40 amp #8, etc
 
Brad S said:
(FYI: 15 amp is #14, 20 amp is #12, 30 amp is #10, 40 amp #8, etc
Click to expand...

Those are minimums. For longer distances you need to use thicker wire. There is no way that #12 is going to be acceptable for 20 amps over a 200 foot run. I agree with lovingHDTV, #8 is really the minimum you should be considering for this situation. To keep the voltage drop under 3%, which is a good rule of thumb, you would need to use #6.
 

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You cant put wire bigger than #12 around a recepticle screw, it's not practicle. And yes, #12 over 200 feet wont work either. 200 feet requires 4 wire conductucer, THHN wire to a sub panel. Besides, a pool pump requires an insulated ground wire, so NM or UF direct burial wont work anyway, at least not to code.


IF I were going to DYI, i would:

1) Put a 60 amp, dipole breaker in the main
2) Run #4 THHN. Thats stranded wire. You need 4 conductors, 1 black, 1 red, for the hots, one green for ground, and one white for the common.
3) Run the conductors in 1 1/2 inch conduit
4) Mount an outdoor sub panel
5) run the wires into the panel.
6) wire the pump into the panel with flex conduit to an appropriate breaker size.
7) You can add recepticles off the sub panel as needed for other devices you want to power. recepticles can be no closer than 5 feet from the pool.

60 amps is plenty of power out there. Even accounting for the volatage drop. 60 amp really only requires #6 wire, but with the 200 feet, you should use #4.

I should add item 8.

8) If you are not EXTREMELY comfortable doing this, hire an electrican.
 
I am comfortable doing this, I have wired my house and wired my garage, I use to work for a AC company and would wire AC units all day long....
I just did not want to spent money and time on the wire for it to be undersized, for that long of a run as for the direct burial that is why I had asked, I was hoping someone would point me in the correct direction and I want to thank all that have responded
 
I don't have my code book with me but I think I recall something about how close the conduit can be buried to the pool. 10 feet stick in my mind.

Also don't forget that you can only have 360 degrees of bends between pull points.
 
Right on the 360. I believe the distance is 5 feet though. In-pool light condiut doent count since they are low voltage. But, you need a deck box since the conduit run from the light up to the deck gets full of water.
 
this is what I have come up with after read the above post's
going the 240v route
50 amp main breaker
30ft 6/3 with Gound NM-B cable [romex] inside basment to outside wall into LB type fitting
Can I wire nut the nm-b cable to thwn in the lb fitting or is there a better way?
165ft #6 thwn stand 2 black's one with red tape on both ends for hots (found new wire at my fathers house Hope he wasn't saving it :shock: )
165ft #6 white common
165ft #6 green ground (can I use a smaller green like #8 ) guess it will save a few dollars
1" pvc conduit only need 2 90's min 18" deep
outdoor sub panel (dont know it I will get a 2 or 6 breaker sub)
gfi breaker to 120v pump ran in seal tight conduit
i have been reading up on the bonding and will do as to code
I think this sound much better just the few questions to figure out
 
This sounds fine! 50 amp is great.

1) Yes on the #8 ground
2) 18 inches is ok,even if under concrete. Too hard to make a shallower trench and more work, why bother
3) go with a 6 breaker panel, you wil be glad you did, you have plenty of power
4) wire nuts from romex to THWN is fine
 
Brad S said:
You cant put wire bigger than #12 around a recepticle screw, it's not practicle. And yes, #12 over 200 feet wont work either. 200 feet requires 4 wire conductucer, THHN wire to a sub panel. Besides, a pool pump requires an insulated ground wire, so NM or UF direct burial wont work anyway, at least not to code.


IF I were going to DYI, i would:

1) Put a 60 amp, dipole breaker in the main
2) Run #4 THHN. Thats stranded wire. You need 4 conductors, 1 black, 1 red, for the hots, one green for ground, and one white for the common.
3) Run the conductors in 1 1/2 inch conduit
4) Mount an outdoor sub panel
5) run the wires into the panel.
6) wire the pump into the panel with flex conduit to an appropriate breaker size.
7) You can add recepticles off the sub panel as needed for other devices you want to power. recepticles can be no closer than 5 feet from the pool.

60 amps is plenty of power out there. Even accounting for the volatage drop. 60 amp really only requires #6 wire, but with the 200 feet, you should use #4.

I should add item 8.

8) If you are not EXTREMELY comfortable doing this, hire an electrican.
Click to expand...


Re #7 above, I think the "convenience receptacle" needs to be between 10 and 20ft away from the pool wall.

Wow, this "free pool" will cost the OP some $$ in copper cable. It'll all be worth it. Good luck.
 

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