Interpretation of NFPA 70, 2014 680.26 Pool Equipotential Bonding

[Richard Savage]

I was recently viewing Mike Holt's video on Stray Voltage. About halfway through the video Mike seemed to imply that only items close to a swimming pool need to be bonded. This statement seems to contradict 680.26 B 6 which states that "metal parts of electrical equipment associated with pool water circulating system, including pump motors .... shall be bonded". My question is if the pool water circulating system components (e.g. pumps and heaters) are located more than 20ft away from the pool do they need to be bonded to the pool?

 

[GoldDigger]

I think that because the water provides a direct (although high resistance) current path to the pool the pump and heaters need to be bonded, and this section provides for that.
I would interpret the 20' limitation to apply to "incidental" metal surfaces not necessarily directly related to the pool.
BTW, If you had a 30 foot long metal handrail along a path to the pool, with a 1" gap in the rail every 10 feet, I would still bond the most distant segment too, even if the letter of the code did not require it.

Tapatalk!

 

[Richard Savage]

I agree with what you say and appreciate the quick response.

Thanks,

Rich

 

[texie]

I was recently viewing Mike Holt's video on Stray Voltage. About halfway through the video Mike seemed to imply that only items close to a swimming pool need to be bonded. This statement seems to contradict 680.26 B 6 which states that "metal parts of electrical equipment associated with pool water circulating system, including pump motors .... shall be bonded". My question is if the pool water circulating system components (e.g. pumps and heaters) are located more than 20ft away from the pool do they need to be bonded to the pool?

Yes, the pool pump has to be bonded per the Article you cite-no matter how far away it is.