Fibermesh Pool Decking Not Bonded

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gjubes

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Buffalo, NY 14127
I had a Viking fiberglass pool installed in May 2010, but my children are afraid to swim and would prefer to swim in my neighbors blow-up pool because of the mild shocks we feel in openings in the skin around the finger tips and feet which crack in the summer months. Everyday, when I place my hand or foot in the top surface of the pool I get a mild electrical shock which is measuring with my volt meter to be about 0.6 volts which is apparently enough to exceed my threshold potential for nerve transmission.

The pool was installed in May of 2010, and we did not experience this issue until May 2011 when the pool was opened for the season. I immediately called the installer who sent out the electrician who said the deck was not bonded properly.
He came out and dug a hole under my deck looking for wire mesh to connect a bonding wire to. After using a hammer drill for a couple hours he was unable to find a piece of metal and asked me to contact the concrete company to see what they poured. The concrete company told me they poured fiber mesh in the deck without any wire mesh or grid. I began researching the issue and was led to the bond safe 680 product to bond the water. The pool company came out right away to install a brass nipple on my filter line and this was followed with the installation of two bond safe 680 products in my pool behind the light and in the skimmer basket.
Needless to say, none of these products worked because the deck is not bonded at all and there is nothing to bond to. The electrician came over today to lay down a bonding wire around the outside few feet of the pool connected to each of the brass winter cover attachments. He also made some grids out of copper wire he placed on the deck and nothing worked. Next he is going to attempt to line the outside rim of the deck with steel edging to see if it can bond the deck.

I would appreciate any help with the following questions:

1. Would an epoxy resurfacing application to the deck insulate my family from the shocks? If you stand with your sneakers square on the deck and place your hand in the water you do not experience the shocks. I am thinking that a 3/8 '' epoxy covering might serve as an electrical insulator and would prevent the deck from being ripped up.

2. Is there a way to bond the deck without tearing it up?

3. My pool was installed in 2010 and I am fairly certain New York was following the 2005 NEC code. According to Frank Lambert from NEETRAC, the deck should have had wire mesh installed according to code. Does this part of the code correspond to a fiberglass pool as well because sometimes the code is misleading as it excludes fiberglass pools from the requirement of a bonding grid covering the entire contour of the pool?

4. Even if we do find a way to eliminate the shocks should I be concerned that my deck will not meet the code that was in place at the time of installation?

I am very concerned because the pool was a huge family financial commitment but it is useless if my children are afraid of the annoying shock. I am looking for solutions and any suggestions would be appreciated. The pool company does not even want to consider ripping out the deck because of the cost and fear of destroying the integrity of the fiberglass shell.

Thanks

Greg Jubulis
 
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I will approve this thread because I feel many people are in this boat. It does not seem like he is a DIY so I am letting it go.
 
You could have saw cuts made in the concrete deck and have bonding conductors put in the cuts and then patch the concrete or cover the saw cuts with some type of tile.
 
1. First, I'm wondering why you have the voltage potential available at your pool in the first place. This would be worth an electrician looking at your service, possibly also your Power Company (POCO) feeders to your house, and possibly to your neighbor(s)'s houses, too.

2. As to the your epoxy idea: It might work (I would say probably) but it only masks the problem whereas a properly installed bonding of an equipotential grid would eliminate the problem.

3. As to bonding the deck, Dennis' idea is great.

4. As to the code for fiberglas pools, nothing in the code provides any exception or lack of clarity regarding the need for the deck to be bonded. They do it for dairy cows in their barns; they can do it for us in our pools.

5. I understand family costs. I have a pool. I am an electrician. Your pool company failed. I'd go after someone to fix it. Get the concrete saws and start the project. You do need to bring that installation up to code, and you have the right to that minimum level of installation at your own home.
 
iMuse97 said:
1. First, I'm wondering why you have the voltage potential available at your pool in the first place. This would be worth an electrician looking at your service, possibly also your Power Company (POCO) feeders to your house, and possibly to your neighbor(s)'s houses, too. ...
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We have voltage because the code requires us to energize the pool water. We have to bond everything because there is almost always some small amount of voltage between the service grounded conductor and everything connected to it via the main bonding jumper as measured to remote earth. (earth outside the influence of any grounding electrode) Remember the OP is talking about less than a volt. This small amount of voltage is very often a normal condition and cannot be easily eliminated by any code compliant method. The code understands that once we energize the pool water and equipment we have to bond everything within reach to mask the effect of requiring the pool water and equipment to be energized.
 
Thank you

Thank you

I appreciate your responses. I am afraid the season is ending, and I hope to get in writing that it will be addressed once the spring approaches.
 
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