How Do I Know If My Pool Is Grounded?

[JasonLion]

If the bonding wire is insulated, that is a clear sign that the bonding system was installed incorrectly. Code requires that the bonding wire be bare copper. If someone installed an insulated wire, they don't know what they are doing and you should not trust anything else they did either.

 

[jblizzle]

To add to what Jason just said, the ground wire in the motor conduit should be green insulated and it sounded like you said it was bare.

 

[gwegan]

In summary:

First, with rare exceptions which Jason explains best you, generally should not have a ground rod for your pool or equipment.

Second, your pool, either its walls or the rebar inside the walls should be connected by listed pressure connectors to a number 8 bare copper wire that runs to all metal within five feet of the pool and all metal pool equipment wherever located.

Third the pool deck should have a rebar or copper mesh under it within 3 feet of the pool (there is argument as to whether this is required for other than concrete).

All of these items should be connected together.

You pump, heater and other electrical appliances should be grounded with green insulated solid copper wire to the local sub-panel.

 

[ThinkPad]

Yes, the ground wire from the motor is bare.

gwegan, I have realized that is not a grounding rod, it is the bonding wire.

Click Here To See The Pump Bonding

Click This Image To View A Close Up Of The Wiring:


Somebody Wanted To Know If I Had A GFCI:

That GFCI is conduited to the transformer box. There is a third conduit coming from the transformer box that goes into the ground.

Now, how do I use ohmmeter on my multimeter to test the bonding. Where do I put the positive and negative leads? What setting (20m, 200k, 20k, 2000, 200, or the symbol with the triangle with the vertical line to the right of it, and a horizontal line going through them)?

 

[jblizzle]

Do you have a light in the pool? I would turn it on and throw the GFCI and make sure that it is protecting the light. That would be more of a concern to me than the bonding (which is also important).

 

[ThinkPad]

Yes, that was a concern to me. The light does not work, it hasn't since I moved in two and a half years ago. I'm assuming the bulb needs to be replaced. We just keep the switch off. I would have to say when I hit the test button on the GFCI, it does not stay pushed down. It might be wired after the switch, idk. The GFCI does look old and worn. We don't swim at night and will probably never need the light. I would just prefer to stay away from dealing with the light right now.

- - - Updated - - -

So, what does everyone think of the wiring. There is an unknown conduit coming from the timer box and the transformer box. I'm assuming one of those goes to the light or the switch for the light.

 

[Kiss4aFrog]

I think you should make sure the system has GFIC protection not just the light. The GFI outlet is nice but I was asking if the system itself was protected.

 

[ThinkPad]

No, I do not believe the pump is protected by the GFCI. When I press the test button, the button does not stay down, and the pump will continue to run. I'm assuming that is only for the pool light, as it connects to the transformer box. It could be possible that it is dead.

 

[SunnyOptimism]

Not all pumps can be GFCI protected or, more accurately, not all GFCI protected circuits can handle electric motors. I believe there's problems with some motors causing enough RF interference that it looks like ground fault to the clamping circuit. So that might explain why it was not setup with a GFCI.