Pool light install - Ground wire?

[rcm21]

Thank you all for the information, I appreciate it.

We drained the pool a bit more and was able to get better pictures. I am wondering if that black material is the epoxy and the ground nut is there.

Based off what everyone has said, I think I might be okay.

 

[JamesW]

It looks like they connected it and covered it with potting compound.

Unless you have some reason to question the work, I would assume that it was done correctly.

 

[TKpoolOH]

Looks correct. I just installed the same Pentair IntelliBrite 5G Colored LEDs using Pentair QuickNiche's for my new pool build and we did it the same way.

When a new light is installed, if it requires grounding/bonding at the face ring they usually come with two screws, a bronze one that is preferred in the instructions and was called the "bond" screw, now the ground screw. Never sure why they included a stainless screw.

Agreed, didn't understand why the stainless one was included with my lights when the bronze is what was supposed to be used

 

[oldprophet]

Is there a junction box?

Did he install a new # 8 ground wire to the niche and cover with a listed potting compound?

Do you have pictures where the light cord is connected to power?

That's a bond wire, not a ground wire. The ground wire is connected internally to the light. The bond wire is not connected to the light at all and has no electricity running through it. It's not connected to a GFI
.
.

 

[JamesW]

That's a bond wire, not a ground wire. The ground wire is connected internally to the light. The bond wire is not connected to the light at all and has no electricity running through it. It's not connected to a GFI
.
.

The committee that writes the NEC feels like the ground wire in the light cord is too small and they had proposed to require manufacturers to increase the size of the ground wire, but the manufacturers objected.

The compromise was to require a supplemental ground wire to be installed if the conduit was non-metallic and if the light was 120 volts.

So, it is not a bond wire, it is a ground wire.

The bond wire is connected to the outside of the niche.

 

[TKpoolOH]

Pentair does us no favors in their IntelliBrite manual by calling it a "No. 8 AWG bonding/grounding wire." Go figure.

 

[JamesW]

Why a low impedance bond from a wet-niche luminaire to its forming shell and pool bonding grid reduces the risk of electric shock.

The equipment grounding conductor in the flexible cord of the wet-niche luminaire may be relatively small (as little as 16 AWG in accordance with the NEC), and may have a length of one hundred feet or more.

The relatively small AWG and long length will result in increased impedance through the flexible cord equipment grounding conductor.

If the electrical bond between the luminaire and the forming shell is poor or absent, in an electrical fault condition within the luminaire this increased flexible cord impedance causes a relatively greater voltage potential between the dead metal of the luminaire and other dead metal connected to the premises’ equipment grounding conductor.

The supplemental equipment grounding conductor in the form of corrosion resistant metallic conduit connected to the forming shell or the 8 AWG copper conductor routed with the flexible cord in nonmetallic conduit provides a second, more conductive, path for fault current originating in the luminaire.

https://www.ul.com/global/documents...ators/electrical/newsletters/swimpool0803.pdf

The insulated copper equipment grounding conductor required with rigid nonmetallic conduit is terminated at an approved grounding terminal in the junction box (or transformer enclosure) and at the inside terminal of the grounding/bonding terminal on the fixture's forming shell.

This conductor has an equipment grounding function, not a bonding function.

It's in addition to, and of a completely different function than, the No. 8 bonding conductor usually connected to the external bonding lug.

The bonding conductor, which must be solid, connects the forming shell to the common bonding grid, as required by Sec. 680-22(a) and (b).

The No. 8 insulated copper equipment grounding conductor must be stranded, however. (Sec. 310-3 requires all No. 8 and larger conductors in raceway to be stranded.)

The two exceptions given do not apply here.

And it's important to also remember that Sec. 310-12(b) will normally require that the insulation be colored green.

Wiring wet-niche fixtures at the 1996 OLympics Aquatic Center. | Electrical Construction & Maintenance (EC&M) Magazine

Also note that low voltage lights not requiring a ground do not require the supplemental ground wire.

If it was a bond wire, there would be no exception for low voltage lights that do not require a ground.

 

[JamesW]

Mismatching Wet-niche Swimming Pool Luminaires with Forming Shells Can Be a Shocking Combination - IAEI Magazine

Installing an incompatible wet-niche swimming pool luminaire (lighting fixture) into the forming shell in the wall of a swimming pool or spa can increase the risk of electric shock or injury to the users. The luminaire may physically fit into the forming shell, but the combination may not meet...

iaeimagazine.org