ECN Forum Forums Code Related Discussion NEC & other Code issues Another 08,Pool issue

I remove my ladders untill we have the guests over.
My biggest issue is the..beverages and egos!:)

Harold "Stray voltage" is just another name for bad bonding/grounding and an all plastic pool is just asking for it. That is why the 2005-2008 is trying to find other things to bond like the deck and now the water.
Personally I would like the metal bonded pipe nipple on the pool end of the plumbing but the pump end is sufficient to meet code. You usually have a #8 brought to the pump location since they probably haven't bought the pump at pool electric rough but I am still not sure what all gets bonded if you had a plastic, above ground pool with a wood deck, PVC ladder and a double insulated pump.

Greg,

I have seen "stray voltage" problems with pools and the problems have all been with plastic pools. Not metal or concrete pools. The last pool problem with "stray" voltage seemed to come from the neighbors house. The EC was hooking up a pool light and got a shock It was around 30-50 volts (I believe). He knew there was no voltage because he was the only EC on the job. So the EC started to drive 8' ground rods every 10-15' around the pool and thermo weld the ground wires. Once he was on the neighbors side the voltage dropped to 2-5 volts. He didn't go next door to see what was causing the problem though because there were 3-4 houses on that side of the yard.

Where was the 30v delta, between what and what?

I still think you can't have too much bonding and the more you get bonded together the safer you are.
The big issue I see with a plastic pool is you have no electrical ground reference (like the huge Ufer you get with a concrete pool) so the best ground electrode is wet feet

Greg,

The EC felt the voltage and told me about it. I didn't see or test anything about stray voltage around this pool. I am just going on what the EC told me. In the 30 years of being in this industry, I still haven't seen any problem with stray voltage around pools that are rebar or metal sides. The last 3-4 times I heard about stray voltage was because the pool was plastic or fiberglass. In the last 4 years I have inspected around 10 plastic pools and about 4 of them had stray voltage problems. I am not sure about 2 or 3 of them because some of them have never called for final inspection. I am not sure if the job is done or not.

Greg in case you missed it a short drive from St. Petersburg into Clearwater along US-19 will take you past three different retail establishments selling "plastic" inground pools. They range from true plastic to fiberglass shells...but I suppose the point here is that they have no concrete shell or grounding reference.

Although they might not have existed here in the past they certainly do now, and they need to be grounded. We have to attempt to protect these people... http://failblog.wordpress.com/2008/01/31/not-long-now/ from themselves somehow.

We currently have two pool companies installing "pre-manufactured, in-ground, plastic" pools. I like them. They look very nice when they are completed.

There used to be a guy up at the end of my street selling those glass pools. (He does concrete now). The sun was tough on the finish and he had a lot of warranty work.
I suspect the "3 foot" deck rule is really aimed at these types of pools, simply to give the user a safe zone around the water.
Again, the key to safety is bonding. The more you can include in your equipotential plane, the safer you are.