Marty Lustig
Member
- Location
- Prairie Village, KS
This is somewhat similar to a Thread about need for grounding a stainless steel enclosure in which at hairdryer would be installed using MC.
This is an event space with concrete floor. Nearby (50 feet) is a large community swimming pool. The event space has a snack bar. Hanging over the snack bar are two pendant style luminaires with large (18" for context) metal shades (purpose is to reflect light downward onto bar surface of bar.) The luminaires did not come with a grounding wire for the shade nor in the cable going upward to the Junction Box from which the luminaire is hung. The shade is mounted to the bulb holder with a conventional large round plastic-material mounting nut which screws onto the bulb holder assembly...which also a plastic-material. The entire bulb holder and shade mounted assembly is pretty heavy duty (looking) plastic-like material.
IF a fault were to occur in the bulb holder such that the hot lead somehow came in contact with the metal shade (not easy to see how that could happen), and someone who was wet (that's the significance of the pool 50 feet away), that would be bad.
One solution to this would be to protect the pendant light supply line with a GFCI, but that would be difficult (but not impossible) to do.
2 QUESTIONS:
1. Should i run a small gauge (16-18) braided copper wire from the top of the metal shade, alongside the vertical cable (going to junction box) and connect to ground in the J-box? (This would be similar to the braided copper wire that typically comes with any luminaire to connect the "body" of the luminaire to ground. I would drill a hole in top of shade and use 8 or 10-32 bolt thru a #8 or #10 lug crimpted to one end of the wire braid.
2. Am I correct, in your opinion, a GFCI before the pendant lights, would be a solution?
This is an event space with concrete floor. Nearby (50 feet) is a large community swimming pool. The event space has a snack bar. Hanging over the snack bar are two pendant style luminaires with large (18" for context) metal shades (purpose is to reflect light downward onto bar surface of bar.) The luminaires did not come with a grounding wire for the shade nor in the cable going upward to the Junction Box from which the luminaire is hung. The shade is mounted to the bulb holder with a conventional large round plastic-material mounting nut which screws onto the bulb holder assembly...which also a plastic-material. The entire bulb holder and shade mounted assembly is pretty heavy duty (looking) plastic-like material.
IF a fault were to occur in the bulb holder such that the hot lead somehow came in contact with the metal shade (not easy to see how that could happen), and someone who was wet (that's the significance of the pool 50 feet away), that would be bad.
One solution to this would be to protect the pendant light supply line with a GFCI, but that would be difficult (but not impossible) to do.
2 QUESTIONS:
1. Should i run a small gauge (16-18) braided copper wire from the top of the metal shade, alongside the vertical cable (going to junction box) and connect to ground in the J-box? (This would be similar to the braided copper wire that typically comes with any luminaire to connect the "body" of the luminaire to ground. I would drill a hole in top of shade and use 8 or 10-32 bolt thru a #8 or #10 lug crimpted to one end of the wire braid.
2. Am I correct, in your opinion, a GFCI before the pendant lights, would be a solution?
