Bonding and plumbing question

[moze229]

Ok all, I FINALLY got my filter setup. LOL. It's been over a month since ordering (backorder), but was worth it since we didn't plan on swimming in the pool this year anyway. Ended up saving a few hundred by waiting extra long.

Anyway, I'm going to be doing the plumbing and such this week and had a question about the bonding wire. I'm going to run a #8 wire from the pump to the pool. My setup puts the pump approximately 25 ft. from the pool. (I don't have a "convenience" outlet and don't want/need one.) Can I just lay the bonding wire in the ground inside the same trench that I'm throwing the plumbing lines into? Also, I was planning on using one of the nuts of the wall connectors on the pool for the wire connection. What's going to happen when I have to remove two top rails to get behind my upright? For those that don't know, the Sharkline Matrix pool top rails connect in such a way that they hook into each upright on each side. So, in order to get behind the upright I have to remove two top rails. Is this going to be possible?

Plumbing - this is going to be the dumb question. I've purchased most of the plumbing supplies that I will be using except for the connection fittings (the threaded male/female connectors.) Both my pump and filter have threads on the inside and outside of the inlets/outlets. So, do I buy PVC that connects to the inside threads on the pump and filter (1 1/2" male NPT Shed. 40 Slip) or the outside threads (not sure what size those are - I would have to assume 2" female.) I bought all 1 1/2 " stuff because everyone is always raving about 1 1/2" stuff when talking about pool plumbing. What about the connections?

 

[Bama Rambler]

You can just run the bonding wire in the trench with the plumbing. The only downside to doing that is if you ever have to dig up the plumbing you're most likely going to damage the bonding wire and will need to repair it.

The pool should have came with a bonding lug that should have gotten installed when the wall was put together. If it didn't, then you'll need to buy one. You can get them at your local big box store or electrical supply house.

Theoretically you should be able to take all the top rails off the pool with it full fo water and it not collapse, so a couple aren't going to matter. Read the manual that came with the pool and there should be some verbiage about the bonding. Some pools (ours for example) have an external location for the bonding lug so you don't have to bond it behind an upright.

 

[moze229]

Thanks for the info. I'll have to pick up a bonding lug tomorrow. The pool does not have a spot specifically for a bond connection.

I have one more question about plumbing. I'll be picking up all of the final fittings and such that I need tomorrow morning. I was thinking - when you winterize a pool I always hear to drain below the skimmer. But what about the return? The return is even lower than the skimmer. Wouldn't one want to drain to below the return? I suppose you could put a ball valve or something at the return at the pool, but if you didn't you'd have water draining back into your lines. What am I missing here?

 

[Bama Rambler]

I don't lower the water below the skimmer. I just blow out the lines and use a gizmo in the skimmer and a winterizing plug in the return. I install the plug and gizmo while the air is still blowing. That way any little bit of water left in them is going to be below the frost line.

 

[moze229]

I don't lower the water below the skimmer. I just blow out the lines and use a gizmo in the skimmer and a winterizing plug in the return. I install the plug and gizmo while the air is still blowing. That way any little bit of water left in them is going to be below the frost line.

Thanks for the ideas! That eliminates the need for me to use ball valves altogether then! (Unless anyone knows any other reason why they would be needed.) I see ball valves being used all of the time but I can't place a scenario where I would need one in my situation. Am I not thinking about something?

I was going to use two ball valves (for the intake and return) at the low points in the plumbing to allow the water to drain from the lines. (The plumbing sort of goes down hill towards the pool.) Right at the pool, I would have two t's with ball valves that would allow the lines to drain. This idea, while it sounds great, introduces all sorts of other problems in my particular setup. (The plumbing will be buried so if I went this route, I'd have to leave a "hole" in the ground next to the pool so the valves would be exposed and would have somewhere to drain). If I can just hook up a shop vac at the unions that I have and blow the lines out that will make everything a lot easier. I'm actually planning to put my unions close to where the plumbing enters the ground next to the equipment rather than having them right at the filter and pump connections. That way, if I ever want to move anything I'll only have to plumb back to those same two lines in the ground. I was thinking that putting the unions at the equipment would pretty much force the equipment to always be exactly where it was. (Unless I wanted to cut lines which would defeat the purpose of the unions.) Does that make sense?

I bought the lug but couldn't find #8 solid core anywhere. Everyone seems to have #6 though. Would this be OK to use?

 

[Bama Rambler]

The unions near the ground sounds fine. They're usually only used to remove a piece of equipment.
#6 wire will be fine it's bigger than required.
I use my shop vac that's a convertable leaf blower, and have no problems with it blowing the lines.