Brass skimmer lids

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Nursenini

Nursenini

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Sep 22, 2015
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Bixby, Ok
I bought some pretty brass skimmer lids to replace the almond/yellow plastic ones that came with the skimmers. When I received them, there were grounding wires included. I have zero idea how to ground these and am planning to send them back. The company, Pool Zoom, is trying to encourage me to use them anyway and say that the vast majority of their customers do not ground them and that there is only 1-3 volts charge.

Thoughts???
 
Why not just make the covers from travertine? My builder did two; one for the autofill and one to cover the skimmer. Just standard 6 x 12 travertine tiles with the bottom edges beveled and finger slots in the sides. You just need your skimmer barrel cut down flush with the gunite.
 
Yup. I totally spaced on that one . . . :)

I took a look back at your pool picts again and you are still the only one that has been able to capture in a photo what added shells look like in person. Your pool is spectacular!
 
Brass skimmer covers are metal and brass is a great conductor. So yes they have to be connected to the bonding grid. If you didn't take this into account when you constructed the deck there is a problem.

Some possible solutions (though maybe not for you) are that IF you water is bonded by a waterbug in the skimmer then you just attach to that. That is only a half solution to the problem if you have two skimmers. depending on how much work you want to go to and how yor deck is set up, drill under the deck and fish a wire through. This is heca amount of work and can be very frustrating.

As to its only 1 or 2 volts. Yea that is generally correct if we are talking about normal stray voltage. The problem with that is that who feels and is effected the most by low voltage? Children. The smaller the better. They are great low voltage detectors. So if you want your three year old yelping when they step on the brass skimmer cover on a wet deck- this will do it.

But what if its not just 1 or 2 volts? Watch this video: Surveillance Video Shows Children Shocked in Swimming Pool - YouTube

Ok so the TV guys do not know what they are talking about. But note its the kid who is most affected, she could not break off from the current. I'm not even sure the adult felt anything.

So greater voltages are possible and bonding will protect against them by ensuring that all conductive surfaces around the pool have the same electrical potential.
 
Denise, I have brass skimmer lids. Even though they look really nice, they will burn your fingers in the summer trying to get them off. I have to use a paper towel or rag to protect my fingers. I don't know if I would get them again.

I don't know if mine are bonded or not, though.
 
I like the plastic skimmer lids I have from Amazon. They don't fit perfectly, but good enough. I like the look so much better than the lids that came with the skimmers. In looking for the link, I see they've now added a new size which didn't exist when I purchased. There's a 9.1 and 9.9 inch. Be sure to measure first. They have a stone-look plastic and a brass-look plastic. (and real brass, also). I have the stone look which works well with neutral color decks. I've seen in person the brass look plastic lids which I thought were gorgeous - just too dark for the look I wanted.

Amazon.com : CASA NEWPORT 20-01023 Bronze Plastic Skimmer Lid, 9.9-Inch : Patio, Lawn Garden
 
gwegan said:
Brass skimmer covers are metal and brass is a great conductor. So yes they have to be connected to the bonding grid. If you didn't take this into account when you constructed the deck there is a problem.

Some possible solutions (though maybe not for you) are that IF you water is bonded by a waterbug in the skimmer then you just attach to that. That is only a half solution to the problem if you have two skimmers. depending on how much work you want to go to and how yor deck is set up, drill under the deck and fish a wire through. This is heca amount of work and can be very frustrating.

As to its only 1 or 2 volts. Yea that is generally correct if we are talking about normal stray voltage. The problem with that is that who feels and is effected the most by low voltage? Children. The smaller the better. They are great low voltage detectors. So if you want your three year old yelping when they step on the brass skimmer cover on a wet deck- this will do it.

But what if its not just 1 or 2 volts? Watch this video: Surveillance Video Shows Children Shocked in Swimming Pool - YouTube

Ok so the TV guys do not know what they are talking about. But note its the kid who is most affected, she could not break off from the current. I'm not even sure the adult felt anything.

So greater voltages are possible and bonding will protect against them by ensuring that all conductive surfaces around the pool have the same electrical potential.
Click to expand...

If the skimmer housing is plastic where could the covers get the voltage from?
 

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bobby1017 said:
If the skimmer housing is plastic where could the covers get the voltage from?
Click to expand...

Anyplace. Somebody could drag a defective electrical cord for something over them, a pool toy could be pulled in or they could contact the concrete deck. The NEC requires them to be bonded.
 
You don't see it so much in residential applications but in industrial applications you occasionally come across situations where you find stray or faulted current situations where it seems impossible there could be current. Or current from a remote source that makes no sense. So while I agree that the brass skimmer cover may be isolated, in my experience current will find a conductor and will energize whatever it finds even if it makes no sense. If there is a conductive path, the current will find it. That is why bonding is so important, if everything is the same potential then even though there is a conductive path the current will not travel.
 
JohnT said:
Anyplace. Somebody could drag a defective electrical cord for something over them, a pool toy could be pulled in or they could contact the concrete deck. The NEC requires them to be bonded.
Click to expand...

There are stray voltages all over the place. They can come from equipment in your house or even from your local utility. They are especially dangerous around pools because with your whole body submerged you're especially sensitive to them. In water voltages as small as 500mV (that's half a volt or a full volt less than a AA battery puts out) can cause immediate panic which given that you're in water can be very dangerous. See this video for some more technical information but suffice it to say the NEC requirement that any metal within 60" of the water be bonded to the pool is the bare minimum.

Swimming Pool Equipotential Bonding [Part 3 of 3, Testing], (28min:39sec) - YouTube



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