I just completed an inground pool installation and now the pool is filled and running i can feel a small shock from a cut on my hand when touching the top of the water and nothing when i put it down deeper.The farthest point of the pool away from the house you can't feel any poke at all.The pool was bonded correctly and i checked all the aluminum coping with an ohm meter and get the same reading all around the pool, even the ladder and step railing give the same ohm reading so i know everything is bonded right.Is this something to worry about or not.Like i said the only part that get a small shock is an open cut on my finger.I searched the net and apparently its not uncommon to have a small amount of electricity in the pool water as long as its bonded right you shouldn't be able to feel it and i only can on a cut.Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Inground pool getting shocked
- Thread starter jjamesrb
- Start date
- Status
- Location
- Windsor, CO NEC: 2017
- Occupation
- Service Manager
When taking measurements, what is your other reference, when you say "same ohm reading"?
JohnJ0906
Senior Member
- Location
- Baltimore, MD
James, if you are an "Electrical assistant", what does the electrician you are assisting say?
When i say the same ohm reading, i'm taking the reading from the water to the aluminum coping, ladder and step railing and they all have the same reading.I did a search on here and someone had said that a difference of 1 ohm in N.J. would not be acceptable.The electrician that i work for part time doesn't know of the problem yet and i'm trying to resolve it without his help(maybe not a wise thing to do but i need to learn).I'm just wondering why you would get a shock from a cut but not from any other part of the body.
brian john
Senior Member
- Location
- Leesburg, VA
A standard ohm meter may not be sufficient for what your are attempting to do.
1. Check for neutral to ground issues.
2. Using an amp clamp measure the current at the service, if possible, measure L1, L2 and neutral simultaneously (all 3-in the jaws of the amp clamp) reading should be neutral.
3. Take current measurements at the grounding electrode, at the incoming water pipe if copper or steel.
4. Is there a common transformer feeding others houses in the neighborhood?
5. Try measuring voltage from a ladder or aluminum trim to a know ground (use an extension cord or scrape cable).
6. If you measure voltage try turning off one circuit at a time.
7. Check all equipment for proper grounding and connections.
8. Try a few other things I have not thought of yet....
1. Check for neutral to ground issues.
2. Using an amp clamp measure the current at the service, if possible, measure L1, L2 and neutral simultaneously (all 3-in the jaws of the amp clamp) reading should be neutral.
3. Take current measurements at the grounding electrode, at the incoming water pipe if copper or steel.
4. Is there a common transformer feeding others houses in the neighborhood?
5. Try measuring voltage from a ladder or aluminum trim to a know ground (use an extension cord or scrape cable).
6. If you measure voltage try turning off one circuit at a time.
7. Check all equipment for proper grounding and connections.
8. Try a few other things I have not thought of yet....
russ__20000
Member
Read voltage between the (2) points (whereever you feel a tingle). If you're feeling a tingle, it should be around 2.5 to 3V.
Turn the main breaker to the house off. If still show the same voltage. The utlity has the problem. You could ask them to isloate the primasy netrual bond. Chances are they want do it.
Try lefting the 8awg forming shell bond and the equipotential bonding ground. See if the voltage goes away. If it does, thats more proof its the utlity problem
You said the pool is bonded correctly. If it was then eveything 3' , including the concrete, around the pool and in the pool would be energized at the same voltage. Something is not bounded right.
Turn the main breaker to the house off. If still show the same voltage. The utlity has the problem. You could ask them to isloate the primasy netrual bond. Chances are they want do it.
Try lefting the 8awg forming shell bond and the equipotential bonding ground. See if the voltage goes away. If it does, thats more proof its the utlity problem
You said the pool is bonded correctly. If it was then eveything 3' , including the concrete, around the pool and in the pool would be energized at the same voltage. Something is not bounded right.
russ__20000
Member
sorry for all the typos. I didn't reread after i typed and i have fat fingers.
russ__20000
Member
jjamesrb said:
Cause your body follows ohms law. Just like everything else.
- Location
- Windsor, CO NEC: 2017
- Occupation
- Service Manager
Russ 20000 said:
That's what the
James, I agree with John. Be sure to have your supervisor on site as you work on this. You might change something unintentionally, and have an unexpected effect on the troubleshooting of the problem.
QES
Senior Member
- Location
- California
inground pool with built in electrical shock therapy:grin: :grin:
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Well we found the problem, neutral to ground issue, someone had put several neutrals on the ground bar on the panel inside the house and we didn't catch it.It must of been backfeeding a few volts through the ground which is grounded to the pump where the bonding wire runs to.We checked the water and it reads 300 millivolts which is from the chlorine and we checked and they say you should have around 650 millivolts to properly sanitize the pool.No more shocks and everything is good to go.Thanks for help.
brantmacga
Señor Member
- Location
- Georgia
- Occupation
- Former Child
We had this happen once, but it was a much stronger shock. it was a utility grounding issue and neighboring houses were grounding through the pool shell.
jjamesrb said:
I'm not sure why this would have occured, especially if it was not a sub panel, but if it worked I guess I'll just add it to the list of the many things I don't know.
My main reason for posting was to say that you should feel good about yourself... You went to the effort to fix it. you could have let it go thinking you were "imagining" it. It may have been a tragedy you won't be reading about in the paper this summer..... That's the kind of character that will do more good than all the regulation in the world. Good man!
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I also had a similar situation. When I put my digital volt meter between the ladder and the water I read about 30-40 volts. After a few hours and getting the utility involved it turned out to be the neighbours shed (about 30'away) that was causing the problem. We couldn't get into the shed to find the problem but I did disconnect the feed to it at their panel and the issue at the pool disappeared.
If it wasn't for a cut on my hand i wouldn't of felt the poke.It was light enough that you couldn't feel it on your hand until the water touched the cut.Its hard to believe how common voltage problems occur in inground pools and i am glad that we did fix it because i wouldn't of never let it go without it being fixed knowing that someone could of gotten electrocuted.
rpjhousing
New member
Were you able to resolve this? I am getting the exact same thing from our hot tub. When I stand barefoot outside of the tub on our brick patio and touch the water I get a stinging like tingle around a couple of fingernails that are knicked up. My wife cant feel a thing when she tries the same thing. When I get my feet up off of the ground, I don't feel a thing when touching the water. How dangerous is this? How do I track it down. Would any good experienced electrician understand how to track this down?
- Location
- Windsor, CO NEC: 2017
- Occupation
- Service Manager
Yes, he was:rpjhousing said:
jjamesrb said:
You don't track it down yourself, you hire a good electrician. Pools and hot tubs are not something to make a mistake on - a mistake is causing this problem at your house now.rpjhousing said:
A good electrician will be able to determine the source of the tingle, and is worth the investment.
Michael15956
Senior Member
- Location
- NE Ohio
jjamesrb said:
Because skin is somewhat of an insulator. Dry skin is more of an insulator than wet skin.
- Status