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Electrical Wiring

Wiring: Converting Pool light from 110 to 12V

14 years ago

I am converting my pool light from its original 110 volt to 12 volt system. I bought a Pentair/Amerilite 12 volt light and fixture and an Intermatic PX300 transformer. 2 general questions: 1) It appears that NEC doesn't require a ground for the pool niche anymore because it's low voltage-- true? Does that mean I can remove the previous 8 AWG conductor used in the original installation? Or should I run that to the Ground on the new transformer?

Question 2) Do I attach the ground lead from the light fixture (it is a 50 ft sheathed cable with black, white and green insulators on copper conductors) to the ground within the transfomer? The diagram from Intermatic does NOT show the GRND connected, only the two 12 V leads from the transformer are connected. Interestingly enough, the French (Canadian) diagram of the same wiring does show the GRND connected to the 12 V light.

Thank you!

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Comments (4)

kensnh
14 years ago
I would ground it, regardless of code, why not.

Every time my family and I are in a pool, at a hotel, or a friend's house, etc, I'm always looking around finding potentially dangerous stuff nearby. My wife thinks I'm crazy. Probably would never be a problem, but why not ground it? A one-in-a-million primary to secondary fault on the transformer may go unnoticed, or burn out a bulb, then some poor guy (you) goes in to change the bulb, and.......

Yeah, why not.

KEN
christophersprks
14 years ago
680.23 (B)(2)(B)Wet-Niche Luminaires (Fixtures)
Nonmetallic Conduit. Where a nonmetallic conduit is used, an 8 AWG insulated solid or stranded copper equipment grounding conductor shall be installed in this conduit unless a listed low-voltage lighting system not requiring grounding is used. The equipment grounding conductor shall be terminated in the forming shell, junction box or transformer enclosure, or ground-fault circuit-interrupter enclosure. The termination of the 8 AWG equipment grounding conductor in the forming shell shall be covered with, or encapsulated in, a listed potting compound to protect the connection from the possible deteriorating effect of pool water.
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petey_racer
14 years ago
Senior, the #8 is a BOND, not a ground.

Also, the link you added is blatant advertising.
kensnh
14 years ago
Who said non-metallic?

When in doubt, go safe. Not just to meet code.

And to add to my earlier post, any number of faults could cause problems, just err on the side of safety. It's better than the other way.

And , yes a listed low voltage device is Ok, but you already have the ground, why not use it?

And the bond/ground is a good point. But a bond or ground is dependant on the original install...

KEN

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