Dave,hope I'm in time to help. When using non-metallic conduit to the light niche forming shell, you must run a #8 insulated conductor(stranded pulls easier)to the forming shell and connect it to the ground connector within the shell. This connection must then be potted in an approved potting compound (3M or Aquabond are the 2 most common, Aquabond being a repackaged 3M product). This is all in addition to the prewired light fixture cord that comes with your pool light(do not disassemble the cord within the fixture.The other most common way of installing conduit is to run brass conduit to the forming shell, usually a metal forming shell, thereby eliminating the need for an additional ground wire. In either case the conduit must connect to a junction box or enclosure listed for making the light niche connection(s). Most pool subpanels are NOT listed for direct connection to the light niche conduit, so the conduit is run to a special junction box with integral terminals. Although not required, most contractors will seal the conduit from the light niches at this point to prevent pool water condensation or gases from entering j-box and causing corrosion, silicone is usually used. Enclosure(s) must be listed if to be used instead of the j-boxes, and Article 680 describes the requirements, including seal-off(s) to prevent pool water gases from entering the enclosure. The #8 is required only within the run from j-box to forming shell, so often the typical size conductor used is either #12 or #14 from j-box to pool subpanel, depending on your lighting load. When wiring the GFCI, be sure to isolate the GFCI unit so that GFCI-protected conductors are not sharing conduit, enclosures, or raceways with non-GFCI protected conductors. Finally, always use a GFCI tester to make sure that the GFCI is tripping properly, DO NOT DEPEND ON JUST PUSHING THE TEST BUTTON ON THE GFCI UNIT, TOO MANY TIMES I HAVE FOUND POOL CONTRACTORS REVERSE WIRING THE GFCI UNITS(TO LOAD INSTEAD OF LINE), THUS RENDERING THE GFCI UNIT USELESS. If you have any additional questions feel free to email me @ SPEX2000@aol.com
[This message has been edited by Spex2000 (edited 06-18-2001).]
