Pool bonding

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You could control the light with a switch, home automation, whatever. My light is controlled by my Jandy Aqualink. Power runs from the sub panel to the GFCI line in through the GFCI load side to a relay in my Jandy Aqualink box. From the load side of the relay it travels through conduit all of one foot to a junction box where it is spliced to the two cords running to the lights. That's one way to do it. Instead of the Jandy box you could have a simple light switch or some other home automation switch or relay.

A pool light (other than low voltage) must have a cord that runs to a listed junction box installed no less than 4 feet from the pool and 8 inches above the ground and 8 inches above the water. The number of grounding lugs must exceed the number of connections in the junction box. The cable must be terminated in the junction box and run through conduit to panel. The circuit (or at least the light) must be protected by a GFCI.

Look at NEC 680.23 and 680.24

This PDF Document explains it well: www.mikeholt.com/download.php?file=PDF/08_Article_680_Pools_and_Similar_Installations_PART_1.pdf
 
Thanks for the mike holt link. This is exactly what I was looking for.:D
I was actually looking at some stuff from mike but without all the helpful pictures. This makes perfect sense. My mind was just not wrapping around what was being said.
Again, sorry for the confusion.
 
Thanks for all of your advice, but i have more questions now. I like the idea of not having to buy a GFCI breaker, since the GFCI outlet is cheaper. But, if I connected to the back of the outlet (inside the Jbox), I would still need to run the wire to the breaker. So, I would think I could just use the breaker as the light switch. Or, I could run a switch between the breaker and the outlet. Is that correct? And does a GFCI outlet have input and output connectors (so I wouldn't have to connect a male plug to the outlet). Then, I saw that JohnT said the ground wire needs to be continuous from the panel to the junction box. So, does that rule out the switch between the jbox and the panel? If so, how would I connect the switch between the jbox and the light?
 
Personally I would discourage using a breaker as a switch. They weren't designed to be energized and de-energized like a switch. It will wear it out over time.

The GFCI outlet has Line and load terminals which equates to in and out. The receptacle part is internally connected to the load side.

Having the ground be continuous between the panel and j-box doesn't preclude installing a switch. You can let the ground wire pass through the switch box and just lug the switch ground wire onto it with a tiny split bolt connector, etc..
 
Thanks for all of your help. So, I think I am going to run the light's 3 wires (all wrapped in the rubber cord casing) from the light to a GFCI receptacle in the Jbox. Then connect individual wires and run them through a switch (outside of the Jbox) and then to the panel. I think that is what you-all are saying that I need to do, but want to make sure. I have a couple more questions that I am not sure had been answered. I have no metal in my light niche. It is just a concrete cut out. I had to use JBweld to attach my metal light to the niche concrete. I just put some of the JBweld around the back side of the rim and stuck it to the concrete. So, the back of the light is in the niche, and the rim is "glued" to the concrete. SO it fits in the niche like it is supposed to. However, I am needing to bond it to the metal ladder and pump. Do I connect a bonding wire directly to the metal on the light (I would have to wrap it around a metal ring on the back of the light)? And then would I just run it to the ladder? And then from the ladder to the pump? I also have no lugs anywhere to bond the 3 items, so I was just going to connect the bonding wires to each other. But, my main question is if I just connect the bonding wire directly to the light, since I have no lugs and no metal in my light niche.
 
KSUBrian said:
Thanks for all of your help. So, I think I am going to run the light's 3 wires (all wrapped in the rubber cord casing) from the light to a GFCI receptacle in the Jbox. Then connect individual wires and run them through a switch (outside of the Jbox) and then to the panel. I think that is what you-all are saying that I need to do, but want to make sure. I have a couple more questions that I am not sure had been answered. I have no metal in my light niche. It is just a concrete cut out. I had to use JBweld to attach my metal light to the niche concrete. I just put some of the JBweld around the back side of the rim and stuck it to the concrete. So, the back of the light is in the niche, and the rim is "glued" to the concrete. SO it fits in the niche like it is supposed to. However, I am needing to bond it to the metal ladder and pump. Do I connect a bonding wire directly to the metal on the light (I would have to wrap it around a metal ring on the back of the light)? And then would I just run it to the ladder? And then from the ladder to the pump? I also have no lugs anywhere to bond the 3 items, so I was just going to connect the bonding wires to each other. But, my main question is if I just connect the bonding wire directly to the light, since I have no lugs and no metal in my light niche.
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if it would fit, you could use a pool water bonding kit inside the light niche. Depends on how much room you have behind the light. If there is no room you can use this in the skimmer to bond the water.
 
I think that would fit inside the niche. Is that basically to just provide for a lug to connect the other metal components to? If it does fit, would I still need to run a bonding wire from the light to the lug, or would the light be bonded because it is in the water? I assume that I would also run the bonding wire from the ladder and pump, to the lug.. Also, if I bond the ladder, wouldn't the water be bonded because the ladder is in the water? Please explain exactly if and how I would bond each metal component to the lug (because I am not sure I would need to bond the light and ladder since they are both in the water).... Thank you.
 

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Got it. So I am going to bond my pump, ladder and light. Do I actually need a lug to connect all of them to, or can I just run #8 from the light to the ladder, to the pump? Since the light is in the water, and I would be just wrapping the #8 around the back of the light, I imagine that will bond the water too, is that correct?
 
Since the bonding system is meant to drain current at low voltage, it won't function properly with poor electrical connections. Connections need to be bolted (or pressure crimped using correct toolings). Sorry, but if you literally mean wrapping, that's not appropriate. Any connection you make like that will deteriorate in very short order; you will have wasted all you work and returned to to the same unsafe condition you started with.
 
Thank you Gtemkin and Bama. I think I almost have gathered all of the knowledge I need to get this done.. But, a couple last things --- There is a metal ring on the back of the light. I was going to find something to secure the bonding wire to that ring. I will make sure that wire is secure. I hope that will suffice. Since the light is in the water, does that mean the water will be bonded also? If not, I could run the bonding wire from the ladder to the pump and then to the niche, where I could use a lug that connects the light's bonding wire to the pump's bonding wire. Would that bond the water since the lug is in the water and the ends of the bonding wires are exposed to the water?
 
KSUBrian said:
Thank you Gtemkin and Bama. I think I almost have gathered all of the knowledge I need to get this done.. But, a couple last things --- There is a metal ring on the back of the light. I was going to find something to secure the bonding wire to that ring. I will make sure that wire is secure. I hope that will suffice. Since the light is in the water, does that mean the water will be bonded also? If not, I could run the bonding wire from the ladder to the pump and then to the niche, where I could use a lug that connects the light's bonding wire to the pump's bonding wire. Would that bond the water since the lug is in the water and the ends of the bonding wires are exposed to the water?
Click to expand...

I believe that any metal item that is in continuous contact with the water and has at least 9 sq-in of surface area is all you need for water bonding.
 
What I did was put a 4x4 post at the end of the pool out of the way, right off the concrete walkway out from the light niche. Right in front of that post I brought up my pipe from the light with the cord (into the j box) and a ground wire to the wet niche (don't forget the potting compound over the connection in the niche). I go out of the j box to an outdoor switch and then into the transformer for my light. The box for the switch and the transformer are attached to the 4 x 4. My light is a 12v light so the transformer would not be necessary for a 120v light. I used a gfci breaker in the panel. Don't see the point on skimping on $20 when you are spending $30k on a pool build. Especially when it relates the the combination of electricity and water.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
You have to have the GFCI before the J Box. You can't have it in the J Box. The box you use must be listed as a pool junction box.

You may want to check the breaker on the circuit. Its probably a 20 amp breaker. Then check the wire is it 14 or 12 gauge? If installed by a PB its probably a 20 amp circuit with 12 gauge wire. In that case you want to use a 20 amp GFCI device. Not because your light needs it. It probably is fine on 15 amps. but because you don't want the components breaking down before the fuse trips.
 
Thank you everyone. I think I have all the information I was looking for and appreciate everyone sharing their knowledge with me. I understand what bdex is saying about skimping on a few bucks, so I am going to go with a 20A breaker in the sub-panel.. Please let me know if you see anything wrong with this setup. Run the light's wire cable (in conduit) from the light to the j-box (where i will join the 3 wires individually to 12 gauge single wires) and then run those to an outdoor switch and then to the panel with a 20A GFCI breaker. I'm also going to run a bonding wire from the light to somewhere next to the pump. Then run bonding wire from the ladder and from the pump to the light's bonding wire and use a a bonding lug to attach the 3 wires. The bonding wire will not be in the conduit. It will just be burried in the ground. Do you see any problems with any of this?
 

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