Extra ground wire for pool lights

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G

Georgia_Pool

Active member
Jun 15, 2019
35
Georgia
Will someone please tell me the difference between the bare copper wire that runs outside of the conduit from the lighting niche to bonding loop and the separate/extra insulated #8 AWG ground wire that connects to the screw on the inside of the niche and runs inside the conduit back to the panel? And why are both needed? Thanks!
 
Thanks Jim. So, the insulated wire (contains a white, black, and green within) that delivers power to the light has a green ground wire within it. Why is an additional insulated green wire needed to connect to the screw inside the niche under water? Are the ground within the light’s power cable and the bare bonding wire not enough? Thanks again!
 
The extra wire BONDS, not grounds, the junction box to the pool bonding grid when non metallic conduit is used to ensure everything mettalic around the pool is at equipotential. When metallic conduit is used it is not necessary as the conduit performs the bonding connection.

Rigid, non-metalic conduit - A #8 solid or standard insulated copper wire will be required to run in the conduit connected at one end to the bonding lug inside the niche and to the junction box at the other. If non-metalic conduit is used, completely encapsulate the inside bonding lug with an approved material by the National Electric Code or the Canadian Electrical Code.
 
ajw22 said:
The extra wire BONDS, not grounds, the junction box to the pool bonding grid when non metallic conduit is used to ensure everything mettalic around the pool is at equipotential. When metallic conduit is used it is not necessary as the conduit performs the bonding connection.

Rigid, non-metalic conduit - A #8 solid or standard insulated copper wire will be required to run in the conduit connected at one end to the bonding lug inside the niche and to the junction box at the other. If non-metalic conduit is used, completely encapsulate the inside bonding lug with an approved material by the National Electric Code or the Canadian Electrical Code.
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Makes sense. What if you go all the way to the outdoor electrical panel with the conduit and do not use a junction box? Is it still needed in that case? I assume the bare #8 copper wire connected to the rear outside area of niche that connects to bonding grid completely takes care of bonding the niche itself, right?
 
Pool light junction boxes are required by code to prevent pool water following the conduit into an electrical panel.
 
ajw22 said:
Pool light junction boxes are required by code to prevent pool water following the conduit into an electrical panel.
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Apparently not where we are located so long as your conduit rises above water level. A friend of mine just passed inspection with no j-boxes. They failed him 3 other times for other items, so the inspector was very picky, but the j-boxes were not required. They did however require that he stuffed electrical putty inside conduit to keep water back. So, that being the case, is the insulated #8 copper (that connects to the screw inside niche and runs inside conduit) still needed even if no j-boxes are used? The friend I mentioned passing inspection DID run that extra insulated wire in his conduit, but he took it from the niche screw all the way back to the electrical panel ground bus. Not sure what purpose that serves though since the power to the light is already grounded in panel, and the niche is connected to bonding loop with the bare copper wire...?
 

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In my case I have a fiberglass pool with a plastic niche. The ground wire in the black fixture wire grounds the light. The large 8 gauge grounding wire in the same conduit grounds the outside of the metal light fixture to the junction box or system ground. That same ground is connected to the inside of the niche to the same lug the bonding wire is connected to on the outside of the niche. They just happen to overlap functions in the light niche. There is a lot going on in there.
I just installed new light last week.
 
avspin said:
In my case I have a fiberglass pool with a plastic niche. The ground wire in the black fixture wire grounds the light. The large 8 gauge grounding wire in the same conduit grounds the outside of the metal light fixture to the junction box or system ground. That same ground is connected to the inside of the niche to the same lug the bonding wire is connected to on the outside of the niche. They just happen to overlap functions in the light niche. There is a lot going on in there.
I just installed new light last week.
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avspin,
By saying the functions overlap, do you think only one of the two (bare copper bonding or the green insulated inside conduit) are technically needed?
 
The outside bare copper wire is the bond wire.

The insulated, green #8 wire inside the conduit from the inside of the niche to the junction box is a supplemental ground wire.

Someone who was on the NEC committee felt that the ground wire inside the light cord was not sufficient. So, they decided to require an additional ground wire.

The wire is sometimes referred to as a bonding jumper, but it's function is grounding.
 
I'm not an electrician and not qualified to answer that question. I only installed a new light and noticed the ground was not connected in my niche. I corrected it to code.
You can read it here.

New pool light and Color LED install

Just wanted to write this up for anyone doing a light replacement on their own. I had a SAm Light (Spectrum Amerlite) installed when I built the pool 17 years ago. Last year the light stopped rotating color and was stuck on an awful shade of green. I don’t use the light very much so I just...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
ajw22 said:
I suggest you ask the inspector in your area what is allowed.
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Why does the junction box need to be bonded if it's a plastic j-box? The light niche & light fixture should already bonded via the lug on the back of the light niche and to the structural rebar. Does this still apply if its a 12-volt LED vs 120 V? Seems like running another bonding wire through the conduit for extra bonding is overkill...?
 
The internal, green wire is for grounding. It's intended as a supplemental ground in addition to the ground wire in the pool light cord.

If a low voltage light is exempt from needing a ground, the supplemental ground is not required.
 
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