bobrosen
New User
- Location
- United States
3 phase 208 volt swimming pool pumps
do they require gfi protection?
do they require gfi protection?
swim pool pumps 3phase
- Thread starter bobrosen
- Start date
- Status
- Location
- Chapel Hill, NC
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Contractor
No they do not
- Location
- Chapel Hill, NC
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Contractor
Where are you going to get a 3 phase breaker that is gfci? I don't believe one is available however since there is this product http://207.56.194.41/LG100_GFCI.pdf perhaps it may change in the code one day but I doubt it. The 2014 does not require gfci either.
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
I have never used one but Square does have 3 pole QO series GFCI's in the catalog for 15, 20, 30, 40 and 50 amp trip settings.
texie
Senior Member
- Location
- Fort Collins, Colorado
- Occupation
- Electrician, Contractor, Inspector
3 phase pool pump motors are not required to be GFCI protected under the 2011 or 2014 NEC.
In the 2011 code it only required GFCI for single phase 15 or 20 amp protected motors. If you had, say, a 1.5 HP motor with a 25 amp breaker, GFCI was not required, even if single phase.
In the 2014 code any size single phase pump will need GFCI (the 15 or 20 amp limit has been removed). But all 3 phase are still not required to be GFCI.
- Location
- Illinois
- Occupation
- retired electrician
So what the code is telling us is that only single phase pool pumps operating at a voltage between 120 and 240 volts can fail in a manner that can cause harm to people using the pool.
- Location
- Placerville, CA, USA
- Occupation
- Retired PV System Designer
Or that at the time that section was written, GFCI devices were only available in that limited range?
Tapatalk!
Tapatalk!
AdrianWint
Senior Member
- Location
- Midlands, UK
I can't really comment on the availability of 3 phase GFCI in the US but here in the UK all the major players offer 3 phase RCDs (our terminology equivalent of your GFCI) and they are readily available in a whole range of ratings.
- Location
- Chapel Hill, NC
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Contractor
Don I think the reason is because home owner's tend to do wild and stupid things around pools such as bringing in radios etc. as in this classic shot-- probably faked but you get the picture.
BTW- the 2014 has changed a bit to include any single phase pumps-- no longer limited to 20 amps
- Occupation
- Licensed Electrician
Was there any evidence that pool pumps were a safety issue or was it simply someone's notion that it would be good thing to do?
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
That never stopped them in the past from introducing AFCI requirements involving devices that were not all that readily available at the time, and they even published an effective date in the code to give time to make products available:roll:
- Status