And for the liner if you have cantilever bricks you would need to change the liner track to use aluminum coping track combo, which would require dropping the liner.
A slight "shock"
- Thread starter TN94z
- Start date
My last dealings ( not pool related, Canada ) with the electrical inspector was he wanted just one ground rod. All ground rod surface contact is not crated even and will cause issues.
I agree with it not supposed to be attached to a ground rod. That's why I brought that up. I just discovered that this past weekend. I had thought about cutting it loose from the ground rod to see if the shock went away. I wanted to ask you guys first though. Thoughts?
If this were to be the case, would that still mean that the bonding grid was bad and should be replaced?
If this were to be the case, would that still mean that the bonding grid was bad and should be replaced?
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Electricians have no clue about pool bonding in this area. I know more about it than they do.
I can do the frequency test tonight
True on electricians BUT between them, the power company and inspector should they not be able to track to where this shock is coming from while they are on location ?
I have a friend on standby that works at the power company that can come out any time. He knows more than the electricians around here. BUT I don't want to resolve the stray voltage issue until I'm certain the bonding grid is correct. The stray voltage is the best test I have to see if the grid is doing what it is supposed to. My buddy at the power company said he would come out and disconnect our service one afternoon if I want him to.
- Jul 21, 2013
- 65,181
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
You are assuming that a bonding grid works perfectly in practice as theory says it should. Electricity is funny and follows its own paths of least resistance. Hard to say any bonding grid is perfect as it ages. Your bonding grid may be ok and is keeping you from getting more shocks then what you feel.
I would look for the source of the shocks. Once you understand where they are coming from you may have a better idea if your bonding grid should have prevented the shocks.
Most people’s bonding grids are theoretical and have never been tested. I am sure many don’t work adequately.
I would look for the source of the shocks. Once you understand where they are coming from you may have a better idea if your bonding grid should have prevented the shocks.
Most people’s bonding grids are theoretical and have never been tested. I am sure many don’t work adequately.
Very good point. Well, my next step is to go home today and remove this ground rod and see what happens. Then I will work with my power company buddy and see of the voltage is coming from the service. If not, I guess I'll have to get an electrician out to see if it's coming from my house somewhere
Not trying to be mean lol, but sense May of 2014 i think it is about time to get that guy out lol. You can test your bond like this. You are sitting on , standing on, touching an object. You touch another object. You feel a buzz. THOSE 2 items are then NOT bonded. ( bonded = objects tied together via a wire ) The connections have to be clean and welded / soldered to stand up over time. If not they will trickle small amount of voltage to flow. The trick is all about being on and staying on the same potential. To do this the objects have to be wired together. Just a side note and not your problem. If you are insulated from ground you can touch the hot side of the power in your house, you can then touch the hot side again somewhere else. Touch the ground side and your going to jump lol. Touch something that does not have a good ground and you will feel a slight buzz. Doing this you are connecting yourself between two potentials. Staying on the same and no issues.
Sooooo, where you get your buzz, get those 2 items tied together, if you say they are, sorry , wrong answer, they are not.
Sooooo, where you get your buzz, get those 2 items tied together, if you say they are, sorry , wrong answer, they are not.
Yes, it has been going on for years. Main reason why that is, is because I didn't feel the shock until years after the install. My wife would say that she felt it but always had cuts on her cuticles and what not when she felt it. It wasn't until my little girl was born that I realized there was a bigger issue. Early on, we just chalked it up to chemicals and broken skin. That was before I was more educated on the issue. At that point I started having electricians come over. I would obviously have to wait until they had time to come look. Then I would get the answer "it's not enough voltage to hurt you" so I would send him on his way and move on to another. As you can see, this process takes a long time. Especially trying to weed through electricians that have no clue, and that was even citing the info from this board. So while it looks like I have twiddled my thumbs for years, it just takes time to schedule people, realize they have no clue, then schedule more people. The guy I am referencing earlier and I have talked over the years. He states that he is 100% sure he can remove any service that I want, and it's not going to resolve the issue. Not to mention that one reason I haven't had him come remove the service to date is because the users that have replied to this very thread default back to (and they are correct) the fact that it doesn't matter where the stray voltage is coming from, the main issue is the bonding grid is faulty. I didn't want the stray voltage removed until I could safely say the bonding grid was correct.
I can touch anything on an around my pool with no shock....until you are standing specifically on wet concrete while touching the pool water. So "IF" removing the ground rod removes the shock, I am 100% certain I can touch anything you mentioned with no shock. Does that then mean my grid is good?
And I have read and looked at many, many, many install pics of pools that have been installed in and around my area and not one of them has the bonding welded or soldered. Not saying that isn't the best way, because obviously it would be. I'm just saying that I've never seen it done around here.
No offense taken to your post at all. I just wanted to explain why this has been going on so long...
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borjis
LifeTime Supporter
Possibly, but I watched step by step installs and this was never part of them. Regardless. I still need to get mine resolved.
I have never seen a welded or soldered joint on a bonding grid. I've ripped out many pool decks and prepped a few including my own. If rebar is used and wire tied then bond lugged it will hold up. The rebar rusts inside the concrete but fuses together and so does the bond lugs. I am not a fan of rebar in a pool deck. Fiber mesh does a much better job and the prep is key to the base. I haven't looked back in this thread but has the obvious taken place line disconnect pool light and the feed to pool equipment? And yes you should unhook the ground rod you may have current down the house ground thats backfeeding into the bond grid. The obvious stuff is a quick easy set of elimination steps and should be done in one fell swoop then a pull of the meter which is also simple. Basically process of elimination.
So where does the bond wire go after the pump assuming the pump is the last thing in the chain?
I have disconnected light, pulled the ladder, and even shut the main to the house off and still got the shock. I just got back in from removing the bond wire from the ground rod I found. Now after doing this, my wife no longer feels the shock. But if I stick one lead of my meter in the dirt outside the pad and the other lead in the water, I get a voltage reading of 1.1. If I turn the meter to ohms (digital meter) and stick one probe in the water and one on a ladder leg, I get a reading of 10-12. Am I just not doing the readings right? I ask this because I just went next door to my neighbor’s pool and they have wire mesh, rebar, and no shock, and all of the readings I did in my pool are the same in their pool. So now I’m confused..
Did you try testing the frequency?
Are you testing voltage on ac and dc?
Did you try testing ac and dc current?
Check all of these things with one lead on the bond wire and the other lead on the ground rod.
Are you testing voltage on ac and dc?
Did you try testing ac and dc current?
Check all of these things with one lead on the bond wire and the other lead on the ground rod.
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- Jul 21, 2013
- 65,181
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
That is big progress because its says your pool area is all on the same potential as it should be.
That confirms there are stray voltages around your grounds. Where they come from is the power companies job to determine.
If you now get no shock and your neighbor gets no shock then your bonding grids are doing their job.
Well, my son is saying he still feels the shock. So i called our local inspector (I haven't don't this until now because the original inspector didn't have a clue and they just hired a new one that is supposed to be really good) and he told me to buy a permit and that would allow him to come out and work on it until it gets resolved. BUT (and this confuses me because it goes against what little I know about a correct bonding grid) he told me that it wouldn't matter if your bonding grid were 100% correct, you could still feel stray voltage because that voltage is trying to get to your equipment ground. Does that make sense? Is he correct? I told him "well, if that's the case, then how could your pool ever be completely safe to swim in?" He said that it will never be 100% all of the time...