themerc
Member
- Location
- Jefferson, Georgia
I am working 'gratis' to maintain a community pool / pumproom to properly regulate chlorine / pH levels and oversee maintenance of the building and grounds. The facility has been without proper supervision for five years (since construction). Many items were broken that are or have required repairs, including: bathroom fixtures, lights, entrance gate, motion sensing security lighting, water cooler, fence repairs, and proper connection of external underground electric cabling to three outlets several hundred feet away from the building (used for three separate sprinkler systems).
The external underground wiring from the pool building, running to the three subdivision entrances was an "after-thought". The electrical cable is running 600 feet to the furthest outlet and splits to provide power to actuate three separate entrance sprinkler systems to water the "common grounds" areas. The underground electric cable originally was run into the building and plugged into a GFI outlet! It gets better - the cabling was simply taped to a 2 foot long extension cord - then plugged into the GFI outlet as if it was a cable to a standing lamp or other appliance!
I had an electrical contractor come in - he recommended (and I agreed) that the external wiring should be on its own separate circuit running back to the installed 200amp service breaker box and on it's own 15amp circuit breaker. He said the underground cabling was correct for the use (again, I checked and agreed), but the problems associated with underground cabling (grounds, insulation failure, etc.) required separate circuit breaker protection run off the main electrical panel. Well, to me it was just common sense (that's sometimes overkill though).
Now the rub - being thrifty with the community's money, a neighbor told the Association President that he would wire the whole thing up - for free. The neighbor knew how to wire the separate 15amp breaker (we went over it together - he agreed to it - and I told him I'd do final hookup with him), but instead he placed a hand disconnect or "pull" in line (like on a air conditioning compressor 220V system external to your house) and connected the 3 lead 115V 15amp external wiring to the pumproom GFI fixture itself. BTW: This 115V GFI outlet and several other outlets are tied back to a 15amp breaker.
Now what you have, running source to load, is a 15 amp breaker that supplies several GFI outlets - one of the GFI outlets runs wiring several hundred feet out of the building and splits to three outlets at three subdivision entrances. The three entrance plugs supply power to three individual sprinkler systems (more to possibly be added later).
I would like to cite whether this is acceptable wiring practice or not, but do not have a copy of the NEC. Any helpful hints and quotes would be appreciated. Bottom line for me is that I don't want to see electrical damage down the line because we didn't spend < $1K to have it done right. Plus, I want the install to meet code.
Does this install meet the NEC?
The external underground wiring from the pool building, running to the three subdivision entrances was an "after-thought". The electrical cable is running 600 feet to the furthest outlet and splits to provide power to actuate three separate entrance sprinkler systems to water the "common grounds" areas. The underground electric cable originally was run into the building and plugged into a GFI outlet! It gets better - the cabling was simply taped to a 2 foot long extension cord - then plugged into the GFI outlet as if it was a cable to a standing lamp or other appliance!
I had an electrical contractor come in - he recommended (and I agreed) that the external wiring should be on its own separate circuit running back to the installed 200amp service breaker box and on it's own 15amp circuit breaker. He said the underground cabling was correct for the use (again, I checked and agreed), but the problems associated with underground cabling (grounds, insulation failure, etc.) required separate circuit breaker protection run off the main electrical panel. Well, to me it was just common sense (that's sometimes overkill though).
Now the rub - being thrifty with the community's money, a neighbor told the Association President that he would wire the whole thing up - for free. The neighbor knew how to wire the separate 15amp breaker (we went over it together - he agreed to it - and I told him I'd do final hookup with him), but instead he placed a hand disconnect or "pull" in line (like on a air conditioning compressor 220V system external to your house) and connected the 3 lead 115V 15amp external wiring to the pumproom GFI fixture itself. BTW: This 115V GFI outlet and several other outlets are tied back to a 15amp breaker.
Now what you have, running source to load, is a 15 amp breaker that supplies several GFI outlets - one of the GFI outlets runs wiring several hundred feet out of the building and splits to three outlets at three subdivision entrances. The three entrance plugs supply power to three individual sprinkler systems (more to possibly be added later).
I would like to cite whether this is acceptable wiring practice or not, but do not have a copy of the NEC. Any helpful hints and quotes would be appreciated. Bottom line for me is that I don't want to see electrical damage down the line because we didn't spend < $1K to have it done right. Plus, I want the install to meet code.
Does this install meet the NEC?
