I am trying to track down my bonding wire to see if it has been cut between the pad and the pool. I located it at the pad before I renovated the equipment pad. I assumed it was all connected and never thought to track it before the renovation. I now have a new pad poured and cannot track the wire under the pad. I had dug all around the pad and about 20 feet along the side of the pool between the pad and pool. I dug about one foot deep and have found nothing. I also dug around all the plumbing pipes hoping it would have been laid with the pipes but no luck. Any suggestions on locating the wire? What's odd is that the pool light is bonded but the ladder and the handrail anchors are not. Pool was built around 1996 but I think those items had to be bonded back then. I have a temporary wire going to the anchors until I can find the original wire or figure out a way to install new ones. Just looking for any helpful suggestions.
Bonding wire help.
- Thread starter joshua5438
- Start date
Why do you think the equipment isn't bonded?
Could the ladder and handrail sockets be bonded in the concrete?
You may be able to take a metal detector set to coins and trace it like that. That's a long shot, but it may work.
Could the ladder and handrail sockets be bonded in the concrete?
You may be able to take a metal detector set to coins and trace it like that. That's a long shot, but it may work.
I received a shock last weekend when I had a cut on my hand. That led me to getting an ohm meter and testing all the metal items around the pool. The pool light reads 0 ohms, which means its bonded. The ladder and handrail read between 50 and 100 ohms. Anything above 1 ohms is a clear sign it is not connected to the bonding loop. Just seems odd that my light would still be bonded if the ladder and rail are not. Almost seems like they have been left out of the loop. When I renovated the equipment pad, I found a bonding wire on the back side of the pad and connected the pumps to that. That is what I am testing back to and the pool light is attached to that creating a loop to show 0 ohms.
Given that info it doesn't appear to be bonded. You could make saw cuts in the decking and run a bonding wire to the unbonded items. Then use some hydraulic cement to fill the cut.
I forgot to mention that I tried using a metal detector last night with no luck before I posted this. I was hoping to find a broken wire from the pad to the pool and be able to fix the issue. With the light actually being bonded it appears the wire is not broken and the other anchors never got bonded. Thats all I can figure. I am trying to figure out how to cut the cement and then how to attache the wire to the anchors. I plan to install pavers over the concrete maybe next year so I am not overly worried about the appearance at this point.
You could try contacting a utility locating company. The ones that mark up for power, cable, phones. They can clamp onto the items and follow the wire if it is bonded back towards the pad and find the break
Interesting... I wonder how much they would charge. I will research that one. Thanks!
I work the the cable company and years ago used to do locates. Just an idea hopefully they can or will do it
If they won’t you can call the before you dig number and ask for locates around your pad because you will be digging. Then when the guy shows up kick him some cash to try to locate your wire [emoji41]
Good suggestions.. My only concern with now trying to find the broken wire is that I do not have a broken wire. I only have the one wire going into the ground behind the equipment pad and would assume that one wire is what connects to the loop. If so, my pool light is still bonded even though my ladder and rail is not. I am really starting to wonder if it was bonded when it was originally built? If I can find the wire going to the light and it's properly connected as it seems to be, that doesnt help me connect the bond to the ladder and rail. I may be digging for days trying to find all the broken wires, if they even exist... I really need to put some thought into this one...
The locater can hook the ladder and should be able to tell right away if anything is connected to it.
Worth asking.
Worth asking.
If you are for sure going to do the pavers I think the saw cut idea is best, you can either rent one or if you are like me, cheap and a little masochistic you could get a 4" grinder with a diamond blade. Might take hours with a wimpy grinder but if you take your time and let it cool every so often it will work. Being your are going put the pavers down you can just calk it in the cut till you get the pavers installed. As for how to attach it I would bolt it or braise it with a clamp like THIS
One other thought I had is if there is rebar in the concrete that is likely bonded your could try to locate it and bond the ladder to that, but being there is no guarantee it is even there and/or bonded I still think the saw cut is the easiest surer fire method.
One other thought I had is if there is rebar in the concrete that is likely bonded your could try to locate it and bond the ladder to that, but being there is no guarantee it is even there and/or bonded I still think the saw cut is the easiest surer fire method.
What you described is exactly what I have been thinking to do. I had not seen those grounding lugs before though. I wonder how I could get those attached to the anchors? I really dont want to have to chisel out around the anchor for those. hmmm...
borjis
LifeTime Supporter
I bonded my ladder last year doing a very similar thing. I have no light, so there was no
water bond, or bonding for the ladder....previous owner said they never got shocked but
I did'nt want to chance anything.
Used a very sharp wide chisel and hammer between the hollow control joint and the ladder anchor, then routed 8 gauge copper wire from the pad,
into the dirt near the edge of the decking, then all the way down to the control joints.
The joint material was long hollow plastic square tubing like.
I routed the wire through that then cut a small hole in the control joint plastic where the wire
came through and laid into the chiselled out concrete to the ladder anchor.
Then attached the bond wire around one of the lugs and tightened it down with bronze washers.
I covered the exposed wire in the chiselled out trench and joint material with similar colored grout.
completely hidden and worked like a champ.
water bond, or bonding for the ladder....previous owner said they never got shocked but
I did'nt want to chance anything.
Used a very sharp wide chisel and hammer between the hollow control joint and the ladder anchor, then routed 8 gauge copper wire from the pad,
into the dirt near the edge of the decking, then all the way down to the control joints.
The joint material was long hollow plastic square tubing like.
I routed the wire through that then cut a small hole in the control joint plastic where the wire
came through and laid into the chiselled out concrete to the ladder anchor.
Then attached the bond wire around one of the lugs and tightened it down with bronze washers.
I covered the exposed wire in the chiselled out trench and joint material with similar colored grout.
completely hidden and worked like a champ.
borjis
LifeTime Supporter
Sorry, I don't.
I was prepared to use a tile saw, but a light went off on my head to try the chisel
with a hammer (and safety goggles) and that worked perfectly. Making a very narrow trench just deep
enough for the wire to be flush.
I was prepared to use a tile saw, but a light went off on my head to try the chisel
with a hammer (and safety goggles) and that worked perfectly. Making a very narrow trench just deep
enough for the wire to be flush.