Electric shock when SWG is on

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The gfci won't do anything about lost current on the low voltage side of the transformer.

I would still use a gfci to protect from current lost from the high voltage side even if it's not required.

At this point, it's just speculation that the SWG has anything to do with the stray current.

A thorough investigation needs to be done by a qualified professional.
 
For less than the cost of what a typical "Pool Maintenance Guy" charges per month, which TFP saves me every month, I can swap out two breakers for new GFCIs and put this behind me. Which is exactly what I'm going to do! Thanks all, and sorry again for the hijack...
 
Hijack all you want, doesn't bother me. So I really really didn't want to but I threw my toys out of the crib and PB is expected out this afternoon. I am quite honestly sick to my stomach that I had to do that but electric in the water is no pun intended deadly serious. Will keep you up to date on what they find. One thing I am wondering about, is if this leak has been going on for a long time (6 or so months), is it possible the sacrificial zinc anode is shot and that is why I am now feeling it? Only way to know is take it out and inspect, but it's really hard to get to.
 
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I just deleted what I wrote, realizing that every time I think I have a handle on bonding, I learn something else about it. So I'm not qualified. Too bad that anode is hard to get to, as they are designed to dissolve, and should be located for easy replacement. If I had to guess, there must be a bolt and lug from the zinc to the the air, for connection to the bonding wire. Even if the zinc is gone, wouldn't the bolt still be there, in contact with the water, maintaining the bond? It'll be interesting to find out what the dealio is. Keep up the investigation...
 
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This should be the final update. A rep from Jandy and the owner of the electrical company who did the install converged on my pool today and ended up replacing (and upgrading) the SWG and double checked the bonding. No more electric shock. Not 100% sure where the voltage was leaking from but there is a chance it was because the cable to the salt cell was routed too close to the pump motor, but they never got a chance to verify that unfortunately, and no one including me wanted to swap the old SWG back to find out. Another thing that was discussed is that fiberglass and vinyl pools have a disadvantage to concrete when it comes to bonding because of all the rebar in the concrete shell that is bonded. They really took care of the issue and I am very pleased with the outcome.
 
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So glad you got this straightened out. And what a great tip for getting a brand new SWG... just claim it's causing shocks in a pool, to the manufacturer, boom... replaced!! :devilish: Oh, shoot, did I say that out loud!?!
 
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markayash said:
Good customer service.
Click to expand...
Or good litigation protection... without any of the real facts, I still call red flag. For a rep to come out, instead of sending out a local pool guy, for what must be only a couple hundred dollars (or less) worth of product (their cost), I smell a rat.
 
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markayash said:
You suspect a known issue? Very possible
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Not necessarily. Could have been some sort of manufacturing glitch, even a one off. But just replacing the SWG and the problem goes away? That's not definitive, but that sure points to the SWG, and that would have been a massive lawsuit and public relations nightmare if the worst had happened. Better to throw a new upgrade at the problem and hope for the best...
 
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In my opinion, the shock cannot be definitely attributed to the SWG.

Just because something seems to be correlated, does not establish cause and effect.

Hopefully, the problem is solved, but be alert to anyone who reports any sort of shock.
 
You can bet that rep would not be pleased to find this thread, what with the model called out in Flapjack's sig... that's for sure! The pool industry may not be ready to adopt TFP's methods, but they know about this forum, for sure. Some of these threads get read by 1000s of pool owners (at least in my fantasy world they do!)!! 🌈🦄✨
 
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Let me ask a SWG electronics for dummies question. I don't know how a plate is charged
I am assuming it has a negative and positive or hot and Grd..Would it be possible if the grd side was open for stray voltage to leak??

Asking for my knowledge not to point to a fix
 
There is no ground, because they run off a transformer, which has a primary and secondary set of coils that don't touch, so there is no physical connection between the plates and the earth (your system's ground). The cell plates do have voltage between them, and the salt water carries current between the plates. That's about my extent. I'm guessing the voltage and current are not hazardous because of that transformer, since there is no electrical circuit that would connect you and the SWG and the earth, or because the voltage isn't very high, or both. And the transformer is not inside the SWG, so even if water got inside the SWG, it wouldn't short out the transformer and connect you to ground somehow. Something like that. Gotta defer that to the experts. It's not clear to me how the SWG could be felt by someone in the pool. Which is why both James and I said it is not definitive that the SWG was the problem...

It does seem crazy though, to put two electrified pieces of metal into a pool, right?
 
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