floating pond fountain GFCI protection

[Jeremiah Harvey]

I am installing control cabinets to supply power to 220 volt pond pump. the control cabinet has GFCI protection for both pump and lights. After completing the electrical I noticed a label on the box cover"To reduce the risk of electric shock,install on a circuit protected by GFCI." I am not seeing this clearly defined in the code.

 

[GoldDigger]

I am installing control cabinets to supply power to 220 volt pond pump. the control cabinet has GFCI protection for both pump and lights. After completing the electrical I noticed a label on the box cover"To reduce the risk of electric shock,install on a circuit protected by GFCI." I am not seeing this clearly defined in the code.

I doubt that the NEC requires it. What, if any, force it carries depends on whether it is interpreted to be an installation instruction or an installation recommendation.
If they had not stated "To reduce risk of electric shock,...." it would clearly be a manufacturer's instruction.
As it is written you could reply "but I don't want to reduce the risk of electric shock, since it is already low enough..." That will probably not look good for you if something goes wrong later.

The GFCIs in the cabinet will likely be all that is required to protect the fountain from becoming a shock hazard, or at least reduce the likelihood. But there is still the possibility of a ground fault from the incoming feeder to the control cabinet or something bonded to it. The downstream GFCIs will not detect any imbalance on line and neutral if the fault current is coming from upstream of the GFCI.

 

[Smart $]

RTFM... :rant:


^--- intended to be a tad humorous, but it does have serious connotations


Is this an NRTL (UL) listed control cabinet?

Ignoring the NEC "instructions clause" [110.3(b)] for the moment, a required GFCI-protected supply circuit could hinge on what article this pond falls under.

So is it a fountain or a pond?

Having a fountain seems to place it squarely under ARTICLE 680— SWIMMING POOLS, FOUNTAINS, AND SIMILAR INSTALLATIONS, which does not appear to require the supply to be GFCI protected.

If the pond was just a pond without a fountain, that would put it under ARTICLE 682— NATURAL AND ARTIFICIALLY MADE BODIES OF WATER. If not required to have an equipotential plane "All circuits rated not more than 60 amperes at 120 through 250 volts, single phase, shall have GFCI protection." [682.33(A) & (B)]