Bond... Dirk Bond!

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Dirk

Dirk

Gold Supporter
TFP Guide
Nov 12, 2017
12,693
Central California
Pool Size
12300
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
So after reading many posts about bonding, and those pertaining to stray voltage due to a particular SWG, I thought I'd go check. Sure enough, the transformer to my Pentair IC40 was not bonded. And then I noticed that my VS pump's bond was barely connected, completely loose.

So I ran to Lowe's, bought 2' of #8 copper wire and a copper split bolt. Came home, took some of the bonding apart, polished up all the copper with steel wool and/or a file, and connected everything up tight. Yay! Then I glanced up and saw that my EasyTouch is not bonded! So back to Lowe's tomorrow for more wire.

I suspect that the "electrician" who connected all that up figured that there was enough ground wires running around to cover those two components.* But maybe that's not true, and they wouldn't be #8 wire even if it were. Taking no chances.

* For those that have been following along... this "electrician" is the very same barbarian that performed the acid wash that destroyed my plaster. Apparently I wronged this guy in some past life... Sorry, dude. Are we even yet?

Point was...

At least once a year, starting right now, check your bonding. See that everything that is supposed to be bonded is actually connected properly to your bond wire. And check that the components that are connected have a good solid connection.

Report back your findings! Use this forum, the radio in your Aston Martin DB5, or the phone in your Monte Carlo suite.

1.jpg
 
OK, got the bonding fixed. It's easy to do. I just looked for every component on my pad that had a bond lug, and connected it to the main bond wire with a length of #8 copper wire and a copper split bolt. Turns out two items were unprotected (controller and SWG transformer), and my pump motor's connection was loose. This is what a copper split bolt looks like. Be careful when you tighten them. They are copper, so soft, and easy to strip.

copper split bolt.png
 
Not beyond being able to see the bond wire run into the same ditch as the pool's plumbing! ;)

The bonding I was restoring, or adding actually, was to components that were installed by a contractor other than the original PB (last year). The pad was bonded correctly originally, so I've only been able to assume at this point that the pool was, too. All the inspection reports and blueprints, etc, were destroyed by the local planning dept (they expired past their "keep date"). I looked for those before buying the house, but that didn't pan out.

Would love to hear about how one qualifies the below ground bonding after everything's poured...
 

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Dirk said:
Thanks! Straight forward and easy, but I was hoping for insight for testing deck, water, rebar, etc. And the only metal in or near my pool is the light niche, which can't be tested with water in the pool. :(

So I'll test, secure and maintain what I can and hope the original PB and the city inspector did what they were supposed to do...
Click to expand...

Out of everything you don’t trust a pool contractor to do .. this is the one you take on faith?????????
 
PoolguyinCT said:
Out of everything you don’t trust a pool contractor to do .. this is the one you take on faith?????????
Click to expand...

I don't trust that he did it correctly, I'm hoping that he did it correctly. Two different things. The link to Testing a Swimming Pool Bonding Grid was very helpful, thank you, just what I was looking for. But that article was missing how to test some of the other components of a pool that also should be bonded (water, deck, rebar, etc), if I'm understanding it all correctly. Do you have anything to add along those lines?
 
What are "rail good fixtures?"

I have one junction box to the light. It is PVC/plastic. One of the PVC "legs" to that box has a second junction box, which is metal. That houses a 120V outlet. All of that, and all of my low-voltage light fixtures are farther than 5' from the pool.

I have no rails or ladders, if that's what you were asking. There is a metal ring around the light. There is a plug in the skimmer that has some metal on it, sealing up the now-unused pipe between the skimmer and drain. There is a metal handle on my skimmer basket (weighing it down, I presume). And there is a metal set screw and spring in the safety flap of the suction port. The set screw, spring, handle and metal plug do not connect to anything electrically. There may or may not be metal in my Rebel cleaner, which is connected to the suction port via a non-conductive hose. That's the entire inventory of metal in or near my pool, with the exception of aluminum chairs and lounges sitting on the concrete deck. I believe the "toilet valve" in my auto fill housing is all plastic.

There are three ground wires in the light's junction box. One to the light, one to the power source, and a third, large-gauge stranded wire (in a green jacket) that runs to the niche. Could be 8 gauge. I was half-expecting to see a bare #8 copper wire in there, but no. You wouldn't run a bare copper wire through conduit. If I had to guess, I'd say the copper bond wire from my pad is connected to the niche, and the stranded wire runs from there to the ground bar in the junction box, to bond that. I suppose I could partially confirm that with the ohm test.

I'll look through the NEETRAC doc and see if I can make head's or tails out of it. Thanks for that.
 
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