Intex and Bonding Question

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crek31

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My patio project is nearing completion, so in the next two or three weeks I'm expecting to re-claim my backyard and be able to put up our pool. In addition to gaining a useable outdoor entertainment space by way of a covered patio, I am also hoping to have a heated pool in the yard. Other than having had an Intex for two years (and keeping it clear using Bleach and Intex equipment) I know nothing about pools, nothing about pool equipment, and neither my husband nor I have an ounce of mechanical ability -- so while the water chemistry of a pool is not a fear anymore for me, everything else about this is.

I will have a metal frame style Intex. I am not planning to use the Intex pump/filter this year. Rather, I intend to buy "real" pool equipment for use on the Intex. Something along these lines:

RayPak 200,000 btu natural gas heater with electronic ignition (I'm getting it free, but it is used and broken at the moment)
Pentair Clean and Clear 200 sq. ft. cartridge filter
Pentair Optiflo 1 HP 2 Speed pump (still need to figure out if need horizontal or vertical)
Intex SWG


I am trying to coordinate with my electrician so that he can get all the covered patio stuff done, and also be ready with the pool portion of it when I'm ready to finally put up the pool. I spoke to him tonight, and came away with questions and concerns that all this effort to get a heated pool will result in an unsafe situation rather than a fun backyard for the family.

I have stumped my electrician by having an Intex pool that will be taken down off-season, but that has equipment that normally would be on a permanent AG. I have asked him if it needs to be bonded, and I think he is unsure. He will be running GFI outlets out to the pool area. The pool equipment is likely going to be along my back garage wall, next to the air conditioner. The pool is going to be about 20 - 30 feet away from the pool pad, but close to soon-to-be-poured concrete I assume will have rebar or mesh in it. I'll eventually run the water underground, but for this year it might be hoses strung across grass, mud, or concrete to the equipment. I wish I had a picture handy - I can post one if it would be useful to see the physical lay out.

QUESTION: What should my electrician be doing to ensure the pool and equipment are safe from an electrocution standpoint? I am asking from the perspective of wanting to know how to make it safe, even if "code" doesn't require something because of the temporary nature of the pool. I do trust my electrician, as I know him to have an excellent reputation with our City codes people and he has bonded inground pools. He is just a little thrown by this hybrid situation, for lack of a better word. Oh -- not sure if this is important: the ladder has metal legs and since it has no lock or anything we just take it out of the pool when we don't want anyone using the pool. If the ladder has to be bonded, how would this be done given that it goes in and out of the pool and gets stored away from the pool.

Thanks for any input I can pass along.
 
The only way I can think of bonding an Intex metal frame is this way.

Grind the paint off of the bottom of one of the metal posts, attach a ground wire with a strong hose clamp and paint with rustoleum to prevent rust.

Attach ground wire where the pool pump is bonded by a ground stake.

Not sure if it's the right way, but someone who knows for sure will post about it.

Sounds like overkill, but I guess better safe than sorry, maybe I should consider bonding and grounding my own pool too!
 
I would bond it to the metal frame the best way possible. Your electrician should be able to come up with something. A pipe clamp won't pass.
That wire needs to run to the pump and anything else metal in the vicinity of the pool.

One another subject. You need a vertical discharge pump for the filter you're getting.
The inlet to the filter is 15½" from the bottom and the top of the discharge on the pump in the vertical configuration is 7½" and even lower in the horizontal config. So the hirizontal config wouldn't work for that filter if the pump and filter is on the same base or you did some fancy plumbing. :)
 
Bama:
When you say "bond it to the metal frame the best way possible" ... I've read all the TFP threads on this that I could find about this. Some people have suggested scraping off the white paint in order to bond to it; others seem to have suggested each of the support posts would need to be wrapped as opposed to just one connection. Any thoughts on what "the best way possible" might be?

Also, any thoughts on the matter of the removable metal pool ladder? Is there a way to bond that? If I don't bond the ladder, is there any point in bonding the frame? If I found an all plastic ladder to put in and take out would that solve any ladder-bonding issue if there even is one? Or would it work to upgrade to a ladder that has the steps that fold up or something that are usually seen on permanent AG pools - anyone know if those work on Intex pools in terms of is there a way to attach it on an Intex?

Also, I know with an Intex pool and Intex equipment, I cannot swim when the pump or SWG is on. With the set-up as I've described it above, will I be able to swim with the pump and/or SWG on?
 
Best way is to drill and tap the metal post. Some jurisdictions require 4 places around the pool and some only one. You could bond the ladder by just running the wire to it and connecting it to the metal, or replacing it with an all plastic one would work.

If the bonding is done correctly then you cna swim with it on.
 
Bama Rambler said:
One another subject. You need a vertical discharge pump for the filter you're getting.
The inlet to the filter is 15½" from the bottom and the top of the discharge on the pump in the vertical configuration is 7½" and even lower in the horizontal config. So the hirizontal config wouldn't work for that filter if the pump and filter is on the same base or you did some fancy plumbing. :)
Click to expand...

Bama -- I am ordering the equipment on-line despite wishing I could buy locally to get some local support. But . . . the price difference approaches $1500 ($1000 diference on the heater alone) so I will hope I can find reasonably priced and competent servicemen to work on stuff they didn't sell me. The hitch-of-the-day is I am dealing with someone on-line who has recommended a horizontal discharge on the pump. The items he is poised to sell me are:

RayPak 400,000 btu cupro-nickel; electronic ignition; natural gas heater
Pentair OptiFlo pump 1 HP 2 Speed(HE SAYS PICK HORIZONTAL)
Pentair Clean and Clear 240 sq ft filter
(I'll also have Intex SWG if it matters)
All for 18' Intex that may become 15 x 30 oval in a few years.

Does switching from the 200 sq ft filter to the 240 sq ft filter change your advice on vertical versus horizontal discharge on the pump? Thanks!
 
The Optiflo is a convertable discharge pump. It's easy to change from one to the other. It doesn't really matter which you pick. You'd think if they're selling them together, they'd know, so I'd go with what they recommend.
 
Bonding is not usually required for a temporary pool. Of course adding bonding will improve safety.

If you are bonding everything, you also want to bond the water. There are special plumbing parts for doing that. There is also the loop of #8 bare copper wire 18-24" out from the pool wall and buried 4-6" deep.
 
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