Would the use of tinned copper for pool/spa wiring be considered code compliant? I am having trouble finding any info regarding this in the NEC.

It depends what you are doing with it. Tinned copper is not suitable for bonding, but can be used in several other places.

Jason,

I intend on using it to power my portable hot-tub. Three #6 insulated and stranded wires. 2 hots and a ground.

As Jason said, it's fine for that. Just not for bonding.

Here is a snippet from the wiring that came with my spa. Basically as long as your not using aluminum wire you should be okay. Naturally if you want to be super sure just ask the guy at the electrical store (not home depot/lowes). From what I can tell though the wire you are talking about is better than just plain copper wire anyways.

240 Volt Electrical Installation
GFCI and Wiring Requirements
The power supplied to the spa must be on a dedicated
GFCI protected circuit as required by ANSI/NFPA 70
with no other appliances or lights sharing the power.
Use copper wire with THHN insulation. Do not use
aluminum wire.
Use the table on the next page to determine your
GFCI and wiring requirements.
Wire runs over 85 feet must increase wire gauge
to the next lower number. For example: A normal
50 amp GFCI with four #8 AWG Copper wires run
over 85 feet would require you to go to four #6 AWG
copper wires.

Also expect to need a common lead. Lights and other accessories on tubs are rarely 240V.

Scott

That would be a neutral.

Mx, how far is your tub from the panel? What are you going to run on your tub? Pump? Lights? heater? The power needs and distance will dictate what you need to run for wiring. Are you running the power from an exising subpanel outdoors? From Inside? More detail will help here.

The tub is a Jacuzzi J-280 and there is no neutral required.




The run of wire from my 100A SWG/sub-panel to the tub is approximately 25 feet. Both are located outdoors. The tub is a totally self contained unit comprised of 3 pumps, heater and LED lighting. According to the owner's manual the max current draw with all the equipment running is 45A. The tub will protected by a 60 amp GFCI breaker I placed in the sub-panel. I ran 1" NM conduit through which to pull the wires.

Ok, you can use #6 stranded copper wire. Not sure why you want the tinned copper, its not needed.

Just go down to HD and get some black, red, and green #6. It'll be on roles back in the wiring section. Somebody will measure it off and cut it for you. Get several more feet than the 25 so you have enough to hook into the sub panel and at the tub.

Hopefully it wont be too stiff to pull through 1" conduit. For #6, you really want a bit bigger raceway, but you should get by with it.

It's a cost saving exercise.

There are several huge spools of large wire left over from construction of the power plant I work at. It's industrial, heavily insulated tray cable. I removed the the multiple layers of sheathing and extracted the wires. I just needed reassurance that it was allowed by code. Thanks.

Well, I'm not sure what you have. Wire you stripped sheath off of may or may not be the right stuff. I DO know that #6 THHN/THWN stranded copper rated at 90 degrees C IS up to code. The ground wire needs to be insulted.

The wires appear to have a PVC insulator encased in a nylon jacket.

That's THHN then.