pool

[jcole]

Hello guys and gals.

I was just wondering why the code want us to use an insulated egc for pools and why that it has to be ran back to the service equipment.

Thanks.

 

[Dennis Alwon]

I could only guess that the insulation may protect the wire from the chemicals around the pool.
Your second question I don't understand... where does it require the egc to go to the main service and which egc are you talking about.

 

[eprice]

jcole,

I assume you are talking about the statement in 680.25 that the feeder requirements, including the insulated ground, apply to all feeders between the service and the pool panel?

If so, I'll hazard a guess that it may have something to do with trying to confine fault current within the equipment grounding conductor so as to lessen the chance that someone in the pool or near it could become part of a parallel fault current path... but that is just a wild guess.

 

[eprice]

Thinking about it further, the fact that these feeders are allowed to be ran in metal raceways shoots down my theory. The fact that the requirement is applied to EGC's in upstream feeders, no matter how remote they are from the pool shoots down Dennis' theory. So, unless someone comes up with a better one, I'll propose another theory, and that is that the code proposal for this requirement was made my a manufacturer of wire insulating materials

 

[ivsenroute]

It does not have to be run back to the service equipment, only from the branch circuit OCPD. So if you have an OCPD as a disconnect mounted outside, it only has to run from there.

 

[curt swartz]

It does not have to be run back to the service equipment, only from the branch circuit OCPD. So if you have an OCPD as a disconnect mounted outside, it only has to run from there.

If a new feeder is installed it does. See 680.25(B)