Should booster pump also be grounded?

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C

CannonBallz

0
May 24, 2014
4
Ohio
Hello, on my inground pool, my main pump has a large bare copper wire attached to the ground lug, that then is run into the ground (and presumably a grounding rod). I also have a booster pump a couple feet away from the main pump, which is used to make the polaris pool cleaner run. I noticed on the booster pump, it also has a ground lug on it, but there is no wire attached to it. Is this safe? The man who built my pool is now retired and moved to Florida, so I'm not sure how to get ahold of him, but I do know he was very experienced and professional and built great pools for over 30 years.

Thanks for any advice.

-CannonBallz
 
Welcome to TFP!

I believe you are mixing up grounding and bonding. Most likely both pumps are grounded internally to the green ground wire that comes in the power conduit.

The external connector is for bonding. Both pumps should be bonded to the wire coming out of the ground (which does not go to a ground rod). You want to use a piece of #8 solid bare copper wire to connect the booster pump to the existing wire on the other pump. You will also need a split bolt rated for bonding connections to make the connection between the two wires.
 
Jason, thank you so much for the reply. As it happens, I am on my way to Lowe's today, so I could go ahead and get the #8 solid bare copper wire and the split bolt today. Is this an ok project for a non-electrician such as myself to do, or should an electrician be doing this?

If I may ask, what are the potential consequences or risks of not having this booster pump bonded?

Thank you!

-CannonBallz
 
That video on CNN is actually what prompted me to look over my equipment and notice the missing bond wire. Absolutely terrifying.

Shouldn't my natural gas pool heater also be bonded then? I do not see any bond wire to it. I also didn't notice a bond lug on it but will look again more thoroughly.

Thanks for all your replies. TFP rocks!
 
Hi Canonballz,
anything metal around the pool and equipment is required to be Bonded. You can do this yourself with bare #8 solid copper and split bolts. Just do a good ajob nd make sure all the bolts and screws a nice and tight and you will be fine.

If your heater doesnt have a bond lug on it, you can buy one of those at lowes too.

EDIT: By the way, if you need to add a lug to the heater, be sure to remove the paint wherever you put the lug so that it makes good metal to metal contact.
 
The guys^^^^^^pretty much got you on the right track. bonding is required to bring all large capacitance items into the same potential. Everything will hold a certain amount of electrical potential. The bonding wire helps keep all of those items at the same electrical potential so you do not become the conductor between two different levels. Think static shock on a doorknob.
 
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