Finding my equipment pad bonding wire

[thelonegazebo]

Hello all! Long time lurker - we bought a house with a pool in 2019 - pool was built in the early 90s, not sure by whom or to what standard. In any case, the pump gave out and I had to have a new one installed this month. The pool installer noted that he couldn’t find the bonding wire near the equipment pad - after research and digging down around the pad, I found a narrow pvc pipe sticking up near the equipment (see picture). There’s no visible wire in the part I can see prior to a 90 degree elbow bend - is it possible the wire is in this pipe and/or that it has slipped down into the tube proper?
If that isn’t the bond, any idea where it might be?

If there isn’t one, any suggestions on how to make my equipment more safe (aside from the painful “bust up concrete around pool and bond”)?

Thanks all!
Gazebo

 

[thelonegazebo]

I’ll follow up by noting that the installer placed a gauge of wire into the bonding nut on the pump and looped it into the wires on the brick wall - that’s the wire you can see behind the heater/pump in the picture.

 

[ajw22]

The bonding wire will not be in a conduit. It will be on the ground or just below the ground and be 8 gauge, likely bare, copper wire.

Unfortunately bonding the equipment by your pool pad does nothing to protect people in your pool or on the deck from stray electrical currents in the area.

What type of pool lights do you have? In older pools the metal light niche or metal light conduit was used as the water bond to the pool.

 

[thelonegazebo]

We have a single light in the deep end- I can’t photograph it right now as the pool cover is still on, a substantial distance away and opposite from the deep end where the pool light is. When we moved in the pool liner was detached so we had the walls reinforced and checked before a new liner was installed. Supposedly it was up to code, according to the installer?

Inside the pool, there is nothing metal except for the light cover and screws holding the facia plates on the skimmers. I removed the metal ladder in the deep end when we moved in and the step rails don’t go into the pool.

We’ve never had issues with equipotential (we have two kids so I’ve always been vigilant about testing this) - do you think it’s much ado about nothing to try and find a bonding wire by the pad, if there even is one? Would there be any benefit to installing a grounding rod by the pool equipment and attaching the heater and pump to that?

Thanks!

 

[ajw22]

We have a single light in the deep end- I can’t photograph it right now as the pool cover is still on, a substantial distance away and opposite from the deep end where the pool light is. When we moved in the pool liner was detached so we had the walls reinforced and checked before a new liner was installed. Supposedly it was up to code, according to the installer?

What the installer said is meaningless. He was not asked to evaluate the light as the pool water bond .

Inside the pool, there is nothing metal except for the light cover and screws holding the facia plates on the skimmers. I removed the metal ladder in the deep end when we moved in and the step rails don’t go into the pool.

I am not sure your point on that.

We’ve never had issues with equipotential (we have two kids so I’ve always been vigilant about testing this) - do you think it’s much ado about nothing to try and find a bonding wire by the pad, if there even is one?

You never know what stray currents can pop up. Bonding is what keeps people safe.

Most people may just feel a tingle. To someone using your pool who has a pacemaker it can be fatal.

Would there be any benefit to installing a grounding rod by the pool equipment and attaching the heater and pump to that?

None at all. In fact it would negate the bonding. Asking that says you do not understand how equipotential bonding works to keep people safe around the pool and deck.

Taking the Mystery Out of Equipotential Bonding Requirements for Swimming Pools is a good primer to understand equipotential bonding in pools.

 

[thelonegazebo]

What the installer said is meaningless. He was not asked to evaluate the light as the pool water bond .

Yes, and that's the rub, as I have no idea who originally constructed the pool.

I am not sure your point on that.

My limited knowledge of bonding issues with pools led me to the conclusion that improper bonding can lead to rapid damage of metal parts in the pool due to galvanic corrosion - none of the metal pool parts are showing signs of this issue, which might indicate proper bonding? 'Might' is carrying a lot of weight there though!

You never know what stray currents can pop up. Bonding is what keeps people safe.

Most people may just feel a tingle. To someone using your pool who has a pacemaker it can be fatal.

Absolutely - thus my concern.

None at all. In fact it would negate the bonding. Asking that says you do not understand how equipotential bonding works to keep people safe around the pool and deck.

Taking the Mystery Out of Equipotential Bonding Requirements for Swimming Pools is a good primer to understand equipotential bonding in pools.

Yes, admittedly a novice when it comes to this. I know the basic differences between the two, but I was hopeful that grounded equipment at an extended distance would be a mitigating factor against equipotential, but I see that it was wishful thinking.

Ultimately, I know what I need to do (contact a pool electrician) - your response was the push I needed. Thanks!

G

 

[ajw22]

Yes, and that's the rub, as I have no idea who originally constructed the pool.

It takes some investigation to determine what type of light, light niche, and conduit is installed and how the light is wired.

My limited knowledge of bonding issues with pools led me to the conclusion that improper bonding can lead to rapid damage of metal parts in the pool due to galvanic corrosion - none of the metal pool parts are showing signs of this issue, which might indicate proper bonding? 'Might' is carrying a lot of weight there though!

That is not true and are old wives tales. Equipotential bonding does not prevent galvanic corrosion. That is a totally different issue with different causes and prevention.

Equipotential bonding is to prevent people from being shocked and injured by stray electrical currents.

Ever wonder how a bird can sit on an electrical wire and not get electrocuted? That is because the bird is at equipotential with the wire. That same theory can keep people from being electrocuted around a properly bonded pool with electric currents around it.

Ultimately, I know what I need to do (contact a pool electrician) - your response was the push I needed.

Good luck finding such a unicorn.

You need someone who understands equipotential bonding, how it works, and techniques for implementing it in pools.

Find someone who knows who Mike Holt is...

Pool bonding

We have been installing the electric for many pools this summer. For all the above ground pools we have been running the bonding ring around and attaching it in 4 even spaced locations on the posts, or where designated. However, a lot of pools that we have done are made like this: they're all...

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[ajw22]

 

[1poolman1]

I’ll follow up by noting that the installer placed a gauge of wire into the bonding nut on the pump and looped it into the wires on the brick wall - that’s the wire you can see behind the heater/pump in the picture.

Is that a wire to the right of the filter? If so it could be the bond wire. Is there a bond wire in the light junction box? If so, and the pool light is in a metal niche of is metal itself, it will act as a water bond.
The screws in the face plate of the skimmer, light niche, and any other ones in the pool are in contact with the water and the steel walls. Steel walls are in contact with the Earth where stray currents can flow at times, making bonding necessary.