Electrical installation Pentair Superflo Pump for an above ground pool

[Dan HH]

Sorry for this long post, but the distributor who sold me our 21' Doughboy Resin Pool led me to believe setting it up would be more straight forward than it is. I have water in the pool but the pump/filter situation is daunting. The pandemic has delayed for months the usual pump and filter for my pool so I ended up grabbing a Pentair Superflo single speed (I think usually used for inground pools) which they had lying around. This thing isn't "plug and play". The guy suggested I just strip a heavy duty extension cord and run it to the external outlet on our house. (Something I could do comfortably.) Its on a 20amp breaker though not sure if GFCI. The more I read the pump installation instructions and posts in this forum it appears this plan may not be safe. I'm pretty handy but haven't done a ton of electrical work and am just learning about bonding the pool. Do all above ground pools need to be bonded? I just watched a youtube video where the electrician ran a bonding wire the entire circumference of the pool and attached to 4 vertical posts of the pool (mine are resin ?!?). Is there a pool school entry about this sort of thing? Or am I wading in waters that should only have professionals in em? (Meanwhile the water in my pool will slowly grow something green, I presume) Thanks!

 

[toolerb50]

Bonding an above ground pool is a safety measure designed to prevent you from getting electrocuted or seriously injured. It is designated under NEC code and most local building codes require it. The circuit needs to be 20 amp GFCI protected. Not only will you have to run the bonding wire the entire circumference of the pool but you will also need to bond the water and pump. To bond the water, you'll need to run the bonding wire up to the skimmer and install a bonding lug which comes in contact with the water. Per NEC code, it's also very important to keep any receptacles at least 6' or more from the pool wall perimeter.

If you are handy it's something you can do yourself however it's tedious work digging a trench 4-6" around the pool but it can save you a lot of money. I'd recommend getting a permit through your city so they can verify your work was done correctly.

If you have a PRO do it, expect to spend around $1500.

 

[Teald024]

@toolerb50 you are confusing and intermixing bonding and grounding.


What is Bonding?
Bonding as required by code (NEC code Article 680.26) is intended to help reduce or eliminate voltage gradients in the pool area by forming a common bonding grid. Bonding is not required to provide a low-impedance ground-fault current path.

This is not the actual Code document itself, but excerpts from it. Info

There needs to be an 8 gauge copper wire run a loop around the pool in a trench about 12-24 inches away from the pool and 6" deep. It should be connected at 4 equally spaced places around the pool.

Also, take that same wire and connect to a bonding plate that will have contact with the water. Then a connection On your pump (it comes with a bonding connection lug already).
Do not connect the bonding loop to a ground rod.

Also any metal parts within 5 feet of the pool edge.

Inground pools have additional requirements

 

[Mdragger88]

@Teald024 has u pretty much covered here’s a helpful pic for understanding

Your exception is the 4 points around the pool - generally if its all resin uprights/bottom track you can bond at one point - a bolt that connects the walls at the service panel.
Or if your wall bolts together at two points (large pool) do it on each side
U can use a connector like this

as for the pump power u can just swap out the receptacle to a gfci - it doesn’t have to be a gfci breaker.

 

[Dan HH]

Thank you all for your extremely useful input!

@Teald024 has u pretty much covered here’s a helpful pic for understanding

Your exception is the 4 points around the pool - generally if its all resin uprights/bottom track you can bond at one point - a bolt that connects the walls at the service panel.
The uprights are resin, but the bottom track is steel--I imagine I can use one of those connectors to attach to the track, and then to the bonding plate in the skimmer.


as for the pump power u can just swap out the receptacle to a gfci - it doesn’t have to be a gfci breaker.

Great! This is a relief.

Thanks again to all of you. Going to get to work on this.