"Stupid" questions about GFCI protection on Intex system

[Perdk]

Since I am located in Thailand, my biggest worry about my new pool setup is the electrical part.

I am pretty sure we do not have GFCI installed anywhere in our house and even if I got a guy to come and "fix" it, I would simply not trust the quality of the work.

So I have been thinking about what I could do and have the following plan:

1. I buy a GFCI Socket Adapter... Like this one:



2. I plug that into a normal outlet. Have no idea if that is grounded or secured with CFCI (most likely not)

3. I then plug an extender into that with 3-4 outlets. One for my pump, One for my Saltwater system and one for my Intex Pool light.

And now to all the "stupid" questions, which I hope someone here can help me with:

1. Would the above be considered safe???? Could I have everything running and still swim with that GFCI plug attached?

2. If not, I can for safety pull the main plug and then go swimming. But how does Intex equipment with timers react after taking away the power?. Do I have to reset the timers again each time?

3. According to Intex the Pool Lights generate low voltage. Does that mean it is safe to have that connected (without . GFCI or with the above CFCI plug Connected first.

Any advice or help would be highly appreciated. Thanks

 

[jseyfert3]

1. I buy a GFCI Socket Adapter... Like this one:

2. I plug that into a normal outlet. Have no idea if that is grounded or secured with CFCI (most likely not)

3. I then plug an extender into that with 3-4 outlets. One for my pump, One for my Saltwater system and one for my Intex Pool light.

That particular adapter doesn't have a ground plug. Make sure the outlet has a ground plug, make sure it's wired (buy a cheap outlet tester), and get a GFCI adapter with a ground plug.

1. Would the above be considered safe???? Could I have everything running and still swim with that GFCI plug attached?

I don't see why not. I'm not sure how it is in Thailand, but here in the USA Intex pools/spas come with a GFCI on the end of the cord. They are made to be swam in while still plugged in.

2. If not, I can for safety pull the main plug and then go swimming. But how does Intex equipment with timers react after taking away the power?. Do I have to reset the timers again each time?

With GFCI I wouldn't see why that would be needed.

3. According to Intex the Pool Lights generate low voltage. Does that mean it is safe to have that connected (without . GFCI or with the above CFCI plug Connected first.

It's probably best to have this on a GFCI still. I would. Everything I install on my Intex this summer will be on a GFCI.

 

[Perdk]

That particular adapter doesn't have a ground plug. Make sure the outlet has a ground plug, make sure it's wired (buy a cheap outlet tester), and get a GFCI adapter with a ground plug.


I don't see why not. I'm not sure how it is in Thailand, but here in the USA Intex pools/spas come with a GFCI on the end of the cord. They are made to be swam in while still plugged in.

Here in Thailand there is no GFCI on the cord, so I have to find some solution, therefore the idea of adding the adaptor.


With GFCI I wouldn't see why that would be needed.


It's probably best to have this on a GFCI still. I would. Everything I install on my Intex this summer will be on a GFCI.

Great thanks. I will give the GFCI plug a try and hope it works.

 

[Jimrahbe]

P,

I don't believe that you need a ground to have good working GFCI.. The adapter you show should work fine.

Basically the GFCI , just compares the current going to the equipment on the hot line with the current returning on the neutral wire.. As long as they are the same, everything is good. If you were touching the hot wire, then some of that current would go through you instead of going back to the GFCI.. This would cause the GFCI to pop (open) before the current could shock you.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Perdk]

P,

I don't believe that you need a ground to have good working GFCI.. The adapter you show should work fine.

Basically the GFCI , just compares the current going to the equipment on the hot line with the current returning on the neutral wire.. As long as they are the same, everything is good. If you were touching the hot wire, then some of that current would go through you instead of going back to the GFCI.. This would cause the GFCI to pop (open) before the current could shock you.

Thanks,

Jim R.

Thanks so much for your feedback. I have no idea how GFCI works, so great to hear you think it will be safe to use that plug.

 

[jseyfert3]

I don't believe that you need a ground to have good working GFCI.. The adapter you show should work fine.

That's true, but in the USA the Intex stuff comes with grounded plugs. I was assuming they would in Thailand too. If they come with grounded plugs, then you need a GFCI with a ground connector so you maintain the ground connection.

If all the Intex stuff comes with ungrounded (two prong) connectors, then using a GFCI adapter like pictured without ground is perfectly fine.

 

[Perdk]

That's true, but in the USA the Intex stuff comes with grounded plugs. I was assuming they would in Thailand too. If they come with grounded plugs, then you need a GFCI with a ground connector so you maintain the ground connection.

If all the Intex stuff comes with ungrounded (two prong) connectors, then using a GFCI adapter like pictured without ground is perfectly fine.

No Intex stuff here has the CFCI on the cords. Unfortunately :-(

 

[jseyfert3]

No Intex stuff here has the CFCI on the cords. Unfortunately :-(

Grounded plugs and GCFI are two different things. Grounded plugs have three prongs, ungrounded plugs only have two prongs. If any of the Intex stuff has three prong plugs, it is grounded and you need a three prong GFCI adapter.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Here are a few of my thoughts.

1) That GFCI adapter should work fine. The only issue you're likely to have is the summed leakage current when plugging several items into it at the same time. If you have an issue with it tripping, and it's not an equipment failure, you may need to buy more than one of them.

2) One of the reasons it's recommended to unplug the equipment is because there's no bonding grid on those pools so it's a precaution not to have any electrically energized equipment running when in the pool. However, with the GFCI it'll cut the power if there's any leakage into the water, so as far as I'm concerned, it will be safe to leave it running.

3) The pool lights operate on 12 volts so they're safe to use. It's the transformer that's the issue. If it fails can it supply the primary voltage to the light and thusly the water. If the transformer is pool rated then it's safe to use. I'd still power it through a GFCI as an added precaution.

P.S. Non-grounded circuits are allowed in the US if you use a GFCI and label all the GFCI protected (daisy chained) receptacles as GFCI protected and Non-Grounded. If you've ever bought a GFCI receptacle there is a sheet of labels for both GFCI protected and Non-Grounded.

 

[jseyfert3]

P.S. Non-grounded circuits are allowed in the US if you use a GFCI and label all the GFCI protected (daisy chained) receptacles as GFCI protected and Non-Grounded. If you've ever bought a GFCI receptacle there is a sheet of labels for both GFCI protected and Non-Grounded.

That's allowed so you can put a three prong outlet into a house that's got ungrounded wiring, as an ungrounded GFCI is safer than using an "adapter" or cutting off the ground pin. It's only allowed for retrofitting into existing wiring that's not grounded though. All new wiring has to be ran with a ground, GFCI or not, as a grounded GFCI is safer than an ungrounded GFCI (if the device has a ground pin).

What I was getting at is if the OP's outlet is grounded, and any of the equipment is grounded, then the OP needs an adapter that has a ground pin. If the existing outlet is already ungrounded, or none of the equipment has ground pins, that's a different matter.

The preference is always to have a wired ground if plugging anything in that has a ground pin, GFCI or not, as the purpose of the ground pin is allow an equipment failure to short to ground (such as if a wire came loose and touched something metal in the device) causing an overcurrent and tripping the circuit breaker, and making the equipment denergized before it could be touched.

Without a ground (if it's supposed to have a ground), a loose wire in the same example as above could energize a metal component you could touch and not trip the circuit breaker. Then if you touched it and shorted current to ground through you, the GFCI would trip. Assuming it is functional (has been regularly tested, as GFCI's do seem to eventually fail), it'll keep you from having a heart attack but had the ground been connected, you may not have gotten shocked in the first place as the breaker would have long ago tripped (depending on the specific fault, of course).

 

[Jimrahbe]

jseyfert3,

Keep in mind the OP is in Thailand. If you have not been there, they still use water buffalo to plow the fields, and anyone outside of a big city is just lucky to have a single electrical outlet, if they even have electrical power at all. I doubt grounded or ungrounded outlets is on the top of their problem list.

Jim R.