SWG before or after filter?

[Drockfresh]

OK, so I hired a company to install my SWG. They plumbed it in after the pump before the filter.

My pool cleaner says the SWG should have been installed after the filter. :grrrr:

Who is correct?

Thanks

David

 

[JasonLion]

AFTER the filter. Putting the SWG before the filter can lead to an explosion.

 

[Drockfresh]

OMG :grrrr: :grrrr: :grrrr: Why are pool builders the sketchiest people on the planet?

Here is a picture of the installation:

 

[bobodaclown]

Even in the manual it shows after the filter.
http://www.inyopools.com/manuals/664/20 ... l_-_V1.pdf
http://www.compupoolproducts.com/pdf/CP ... merica.pdf

Also I DON"T SEE BONDING WIRE!!!!!

 

[PJ]

Well that has to be frustrating. I would have put it right there where your feeder is now, that would have been perfect.

 

[Christian]

A salt system should always be the last item in line before the water returns to the pool. I'd call your builder and ask them to come out and install it properly.

 

[Drockfresh]

Almost two weeks later and they have not fixed it yet. I can't do the PVC work so I am going to hire the local pool cleaning guy fix this. That pool building company just got a couple hundred bucks to create a mess, and I have not been able to run my filter for weeks (good thing it is winter).

I have to vent. I have done some big repairs to do on this pool recently - it's about 20 years old - and dealing with the pool industry has been :grrrr: :grrrr: :grrrr: :grrrr: :grrrr: :grrrr: :grrrr:

The pool has to be resurfaced and the decking re-done at some point, but I am so burnt out from the sketchiness of pool people - the thought of doing a project like that is scary.

As a new pool owner, people have asked me the hardest part of owning a pool has been - and I answer "the pool service industry"

You'd think it would be easy to find good pool people in Texas.

I am lucky to have you guys and this forum and I did not blow up my pool equipment by running that SWG :

 

[Drockfresh]

*Update*

Just got a call - the pool builders can be here on Friday afternoon.

I am debating whether to use them or to just have the local cleaning company fix the mistake.

It's the same guy who did the install - so I have zero confidence he knows what he is doing

 

[Drockfresh]

*Update*

I decided to have my brilliant plumber do the PVC work.

I am not waiting until Friday to turn my pump on, and of course, the second pool cleaning/install guy did not call me back today.

I am happy to give business to the plumber, who shows up on time and promptly returns phone calls.

Now, I just have to figure out how to connect that Bonding wire.

 

[bobodaclown]

Bonding wire (8 AWG bare solid copper wire) will run from the bonding screw on the SWCG to the bonding screw on the pump, and the pump bonding wire should go to the external bonding lug. (Bonding is different than grounding.)

http://www.ehow.com/how_7682927_ground- ... pumps.html

As a side note, take before/after pictures and give the bill to the original install guy.

 

[DBfan187]

um that SWG before the tab feeder can be dangerous

 

[Drockfresh]

um that SWG before the tab feeder can be dangerous

I'm replacing the tab feeder. That's where I am putting the swg. But thanks for pointing that out.

 

[Drockfresh]

All done!

SWG moved and bonded :

 

[RobbieH]

I would have pulled all that PVC coming out of the pump going to the valve and done it all new. PVC is cheap.

 

[Drockfresh]

I would have pulled all that PVC coming out of the pump going to the valve and done it all new. PVC is cheap.

I know, it's ugly. The pool guy didn't want to crack the PVC where it was glued into the pump (or just did the easiest job possible).
At some point I might re-do it, but it works for now.

 

[davelinde]

Bonding wire (8 AWG bare solid copper wire) will run from the bonding screw on the SWCG to the bonding screw on the pump, and the pump bonding wire should go to the external bonding lug. (Bonding is different than grounding.)

My SWG is roughed in and my pump bonded. I cannot find any place on the SWG to bond it? It is entirely plastic with no exposed metal anywhere? Is this a optional thing?

 

[Drockfresh]

Bonding wire (8 AWG bare solid copper wire) will run from the bonding screw on the SWCG to the bonding screw on the pump, and the pump bonding wire should go to the external bonding lug. (Bonding is different than grounding.)

My SWG is roughed in and my pump bonded. I cannot find any place on the SWG to bond it? It is entirely plastic with no exposed metal anywhere? Is this a optional thing?

There was a screw hole for bonding on the SWG, but we couldn't find the bonding screw, and that part was plastic (there was probably metal inside the casing that the screw touched), so the electrician attached to a random metal part of the SWG casing for the bonding wire. He also said that the equipment was already grounded, and that bonding was just a second level of protection, and that code had not always required it, and he didn't seem to think it was that important, but that was just his opinion.

 

[davelinde]

(Bonding is different than grounding.)

Is this a optional thing?

...code had not always required it, and he didn't seem to think it was that important, but that was just his opinion.

I'll let the electrician and code enforcement guys work it out then (I'm new build, not repair and subject to inspections). There is a similar confusion about the LED lit bubbler - it is all plastic and the niche is already set in concrete, not bonded - while the pool light niche (also all plastic) IS bonded...

 

[JasonLion]

Bonding has been required on all permanently installed pools in all areas with electrical code requirements for quite some time. The details have changed, ie gotten more complicated, but the basic requirement has been around for quite a while. I suppose your area might have started to require electrical code compliance relatively recently, in which case bonding might be new in that specific location.

 

[Drockfresh]

My electrician is an older guy, so when he said the code changed "recently" it could be 10 or 20 years. The pool is in Austin, Texas, and they are extremely strict about code enforcement here. My pool pump was not bonded, but I have no way of knowing when it was installed, but it had been operated that way for years. That being said, the previous owners also had the main electric panel for the house next to the pool (you could put your foot in the pool and easily touch the electric panel and get fried), and the pool was WAY out of code. It was insane that they had the electric box next to the pool. We had to get everything to code. Even though the electrician felt bonding was not a huge deal, I still had him bond the pump and the SWG. It was not a big project, took him less than an hour, and money well spent. Better to be as safe as possible, and bring everything up to code.