So I haven't gone the route of cutting on the concrete yet. I called my pool installer today and was talking with him about it again. He said that he has installed 3 polymer wall pools (me being the 3rd) and has recently been contacted by all 3 stating the exact same issue. None of the other customers have found an electrician that can resolve the issue. And he says that he has no complaints out of any of his concrete or steel wall pools. Could the polymer walls be causing some weird static issue? He said one of the customers connected a piece of copper to his hand rail and put it in the pool and it stopped. The other customer took his ground wire/bonding wire loose from his pump and his shock stopped. What the heck is going on??
A slight "shock"
- Thread starter TN94z
- Start date
Though it adds nothing to OP concern, I picked one of these bad boys up last week & man is it wicked!!
I don’t miss rolling around with gas cans & chlorine!!
I have mentioned it in other threads, safety cover hardware was excluded from bonding demands..
because like JamesW indicated, it never happens.
Is the liner extrusion metal?
CJadamec
TFP Expert
Though it adds nothing to OP concern, I picked one of these bad boys up last week & man is it wicked!!
I don’t miss rolling around with gas cans & chlorine!!
I generally have very little reason to cut concrete but man that looks like a heck of a nice tool.
borjis
LifeTime Supporter
The first one almost seems like his water is not bonded. If that hand rail is metallic I suspect somehow it's bonding connection was severed.
The second one...oofa! No way I would swim in a pool with a disconnected bonding wire to the pump. Even if the shock went away.
Stray voltage is definitely happening. Not safe.
Re: A slight "shock"
After talking with the second guy, he didn't remove the bonding from the pump. The installer I talked with was mistaken. He told me that he moved his ground rod about 6 feet further than the original location and added a second ground rod off of that and he hasn't felt the shock since. This was at the recommendation of a member of his family who used to be an electrician and is now an engineer. The guy came out and tested his bonding grid and said it was fine and suggested moving the grounding rod. Any thoughts on that?
I need to look back through this thread and buy the piece where I can bond the water. This is getting to be a pain. I really wish there was someone in my area that knew what they were doing with the electrical part of pool installs.
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That looks like a beast!
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Not sure what you're asking?
After talking with the second guy, he didn't remove the bonding from the pump. The installer I talked with was mistaken. He told me that he moved his ground rod about 6 feet further than the original location and added a second ground rod off of that and he hasn't felt the shock since. This was at the recommendation of a member of his family who used to be an electrician and is now an engineer. The guy came out and tested his bonding grid and said it was fine and suggested moving the grounding rod. Any thoughts on that?
I need to look back through this thread and buy the piece where I can bond the water. This is getting to be a pain. I really wish there was someone in my area that knew what they were doing with the electrical part of pool installs.
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Though it adds nothing to OP concern, I picked one of these bad boys up last week & man is it wicked!!
I don’t miss rolling around with gas cans & chlorine!!
That looks like a beast!
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Not sure what you're asking?
CJadamec
TFP Expert
You shouldn't need any grounding rods to go with a pool at all. Grounding rods are not part of the pools bonding system.
It's possible the grounding rods for your house are insufficient or corroded and no longer working. How old is your house and the utility wiring going to it? I'm referring to the grounding rods that ground the utility power coming from the street near your utility meter box.
It's possible the grounding rods for your house are insufficient or corroded and no longer working. How old is your house and the utility wiring going to it? I'm referring to the grounding rods that ground the utility power coming from the street near your utility meter box.
House was built in 2002 by me. That's when the power was installed as well.
Agreed, the bonding loop is independent of any electrical grounding, and should not be directly connected.
CJadamec
TFP Expert
That's fairly new for a utility grounding rod. If you know where the grounding rods for your utility are you can try soaking the ground around them with a garden hose then see if your pool still has a tingle. That would suggest that your utility ground is insufficient and your house is trying to ground itself thru the pool.
That could be your source issue or not. It still sounds like you don't have a good water or deck bond. A properly bonded pool should prevent the shock you are feeling in the first place even if you have an issue elsewhere like a poor utility ground.
That could be your source issue or not. It still sounds like you don't have a good water or deck bond. A properly bonded pool should prevent the shock you are feeling in the first place even if you have an issue elsewhere like a poor utility ground.
Okay, so I just ordered the water bonding stainless steel coil that installs under the pump basket. I will update results once I install.
Just got the water bonding piece installed per the instructions and the shock is still there.
So one thing I was just thinking about. In the past, I have noticed that when our AC comes on, the lights in the house will dim slightly and you could hear the electrical panel buzz. We thought it was a breaker issue, but an electrician friend came out and tightened everything and even replaced one breaker. I have had some people tell me that it sounds like a bad ground. This was before the pool install as well. Maybe I should have an electrician come back out and test the house ground just to rule that out. Does that sound like my next step maybe? Or should I move straight to cutting a trench in the concrete because regardless of a bad house ground, a correct bonding grid would still prevent the shock??
A qualified electrician is the only play.. hard to find, but they are out there.. I’m rather fortunate to have a few specializing in pools spas & fountains. I actually cultivated their skill sets, by encouraging them to seek relevant elective education.
Lights dimming on AC startup is pretty common and not usually indicative of a problem.
CJadamec
TFP Expert
- May 31, 2018
- 90
- Pool Size
- 20000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Your pool is probably properly bonded. It's basically a big ground rod, designed to direct stray electricity to the ground. But it goes both ways, if stray electricity is leaking to ground, either from your house or a neighbor's house if they're close enough. Unfortunately, if this is what's going on, more ground rods won't solve it.
I would start with having an electrician check your panel with everything running. Pool pump, air conditioner, lights, TV... Everything. Have them check for any stray voltage shedding to ground. If they find something, turn things off one at a time until there is no more voltage on the ground. If that's not the problem, do the opposite. Find voltage at the pool where you're getting a shock, then drop the main to your house. If it's still there, it's not your house that's the problem. Could be neighbors, could be utilities.
I believe in Texas, a sump pump or some other appliance a mile away was energizing a total strangers pool
http://www.poolspanews.com/how-to/codes/preventing-shock-in-swimming-pools_o
Good read Bill Hamilton & Mike Holt contributed to the above..
Good read Bill Hamilton & Mike Holt contributed to the above..
No but that coupled with a buzzing panel is. Usually it's a loose breaker or bad breaker but neither of those were the case with my panel.
Main off at the house, still have slight voltage at the pool. I verified this some time ago.