Pentair Whisperflo wiring for 115V

[OhTom]

I am replacing my old pump with a Pentair Whisperflo pump Model WFDS-24 that is set up for 115V. It is a 1 HP pump with a 2 stage selection(Hi-Low) switch on the back of the pump. The wiring diagram on the pump is illegible. Can anyone tell me how to wire it to the appropriate terminals?

Additional info:
My wiring coming from the breaker is 115V Black, White, and ground and tests at 115V. It is connected to a 20 amp breaker that I am changing out to a GFCI breaker. I will also be adding a new copper grounding rod since our pool sidewalls, pump and heater never had an additional ground but relied on only on the house supplied wiring ground. Our pool was installed in 1994, inground 16X32 sport pool, concrete floor, steel sidewalls and vinyl liner( new 2 years ago). 5 years ago I replaced all plumbing lines to the pool, that was old 1" vinyl tubing leaking everywhere. The GFCI outlet that the pump was plugged into did'nt disconnect when pushing the test button the other day, which has precipitated adding the grounding rod and GFCI breaker.

I will include 2 photos to hopefully make things easier.
The top spade terminal (with nothing attached) is marked 1.
The next terminal where the yellow wire is attached is marked 2.
The last terminal where the white wire is attached is marked 3 and 4.

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

Pretty sure you connect your Black LINE wire to the black wire on the center of the switch.
And then White neutral wire to Terminal 1.
And your ground to the green screw.
And your bonding wire to the exterior bonding lug.

 

[gwegan]

Do not install a ground rod near a pool. Your ground wires should all be insulated and installed so they return to the grounding buss in the subpanel then to the neutral buss in the main panel. You do not want a ground rod. They increase the chance of stray voltage near a pool which increases the chance of voltage gradients in the ground resulting in persons using the pool being shocked.

While it does not violate the NEC to have a ground rod, they should never be installed near a pool.

You should also make sure you connect the bonding lug to the pool bonding system. The lug is in the bottom left of your first picture.

 

[OhTom]

Welcome to TFP!!!

Pretty sure you connect your Black LINE wire to the black wire on the center of the switch.
And then White neutral wire to Terminal 1.
And your ground to the green screw.
And your bonding wire to the exterior bonding lug.

Thank you jblizzle. I started to look at the black wire after your suggestion, gave it a little tug and it pops out with a removable connecter on the other end. Oh sheesh, the light bulb finally goes on above me !
Wired just like you suggested and the pump runs on low speed, flip the switch on the back of the pump and it goes to high speed. Problem solved ! Thank you PROFUSELY for your help and taking the time to answer my query.

 

[OhTom]

Do not install a ground rod near a pool. Your ground wires should all be insulated and installed so they return to the grounding buss in the subpanel then to the neutral buss in the main panel. You do not want a ground rod. They increase the chance of stray voltage near a pool which increases the chance of voltage gradients in the ground resulting in persons using the pool being shocked.

While it does not violate the NEC to have a ground rod, they should never be installed near a pool.

You should also make sure you connect the bonding lug to the pool bonding system. The lug is in the bottom left of your first picture.

Thank you gwegan for your enlightenment. When I saw the separate grounding connection on the outside of the new pump, I incorrectly assumed it was to run a #8awg ground wire to a rod for an additional grounding source. I had read about equipotential grounding to pools (Which I am certain my pool doesn't have). The pool was installed in 1994 by the previous home owner and I don't think it was a proper installation, just by what I ran into with the piping. As near as I can tell equipotential grounding was not code until 2005 ? So, my question now is, how can I improve the electrical safety around my pool ?

BTW- I did call 5 different electricians to get this work done. 4 never returned my call and the one that did, said 6 weeks min. before he can get here. I had read something about testing your GFCI outlets every month and I don't think they have been tested since new. One was bad and the other is wired beyond a switch which is also no good. That is what got me to install the GFI breaker. Any suggestions are appreciated. And thank you for taking the effort to share your knowledge with me.

 

[danpik]

Thank you gwegan for your enlightenment. When I saw the separate grounding connection on the outside of the new pump, I incorrectly assumed it was to run a #8awg ground wire to a rod for an additional grounding source. I had read about equipotential grounding to pools (Which I am certain my pool doesn't have). The pool was installed in 1994 by the previous home owner and I don't think it was a proper installation, just by what I ran into with the piping. As near as I can tell equipotential grounding was not code until 2005 ? So, my question now is, how can I improve the electrical safety around my pool ?

BTW- I did call 5 different electricians to get this work done. 4 never returned my call and the one that did, said 6 weeks min. before he can get here. I had read something about testing your GFCI outlets every month and I don't think they have been tested since new. One was bad and the other is wired beyond a switch which is also no good. That is what got me to install the GFI breaker. Any suggestions are appreciated. And thank you for taking the effort to share your knowledge with me.

Being an inground pool, setting up a correct bonding grid if one does not exist will be difficult... Not impossible but difficult. The fact that you have a vinyl liner makes it a bit easier as the pool structure itself is isolated from the water by the liner. It would be good to be able to bond to the pool structure but since there is no touch potential to it it may not be a problem. The bigger problem will be the possible voltage potential difference between the water and the (concrete???) deck around the pool. These two are isolated from each other and if there is a voltage differential you become the conductor between them if a bond is not present. If you can get a bond wire attached to the reinforcing structure in the (and again I am assuming a concrete) deck and to a water bond in the plumbing or skimmer it would help. At that point then you could connect the pump and other equipment to the grid as well. As Gwegan said, a ground rod is useless at a pool. In fact, ground rods are only connected to electrical services to control high voltage events such as lightning strikes. They will not provide a low impedance path to clear a fault in a standard voltage circuit.


Dan

 

[OhTom]

Thank you Dan. I will have to print this out. I do have two openings in the concrete where I sawed to replace the piping and should be able to connect a bonding grid there. I have been needing to replace this concrete anyhow since it has dropped due to my not drilling into the existing concrete and tying in rebar. I thought (incorrectly !) at the time that tamping would be enough, but 5 years later the concrete has dropped almost an inch. So, if I remove those pieces and drill in openings for rebar and attach to both the new and old rebar, run a coated grd wire through conduit to my pump area and attach to the bonding attachment on the back of my new pump, I should be good ? I am returning the ground rod to Home Depot today.

 

[jblizzle]

You are mixing up grounding and bonding. The bonding must be done with a bare copper 8 AWG wire and never in conduit.

 

[OhTom]

You are mixing up grounding and bonding. The bonding must be done with a bare copper 8 AWG wire and never in conduit.

You're right jbizzle, I really don't get this whole bonding thing. But no conduit certainly makes it cheaper and easier. I was thinking conduit with regard to hitting the wire with a shovel.
Tom

 

[jblizzle]

Bonding basically means that everything around the pool that is a conductor is attached to each other with a bare 8 AWG copper wire ... and not attached to the electrical ground.

If it is bare in the dirt / cement, then it is "attached" to the wet dirt and concrete (although it still needs attached to the rebar which is a better conductor).