Buried Pool Power

When I applied for a permit for the pool the requirement was to have a separate 20 amp GFCI line for it. The electricians installed that back in 2016. I have been using a long extension cord for the pool pump but wanted to install an outside box for the system. I tapped into the line that feeds an outside electric outlet on this breaker.

The box that I tapped into was an exterior power connection box. I turned off the breaker and clipped the wires. One set of wires continues to the outlet and the other is routed to an outdoor switch.

Outdoor switch
Outdoor switch

But before this wiring step I had to pull 100 ft of wire through the conduit.

Pulling power cable
Pulling power cable

I used the wire puller to start the wire through the pipe doing one section at a time. There is a 90 degree corner from the junction to the pool and that had to be threaded through in the right order with that first pipe cut to the correct length.

Each section got progressively easier since there was less wire to pull. But my hands got sore tugging on the wire and the leader metal. For the last pipe I was able to cut the wire to fit the rest of the way and that took off about 20 ft. of wire so it was even easier to pull the last piece of conduit and the elbows.

I used water tight connectors at the junction box and the switch box. These screw on the pipe to tighten them. I drilled a hole in the cover of the junction box for the fitting. But the conduit first had to be glued together at the joints.

Each piece of conduit was cleaned and pipe cement was applied. The wire had to be pulled taut to get the pipes close enough together to pull the joint tight. It was really hot while I was working on glueing the joints. I took a break and came back to it later in the afternoon when most of the line was shaded.

Glued conduit in trench
Glued conduit in trench

At the end of the line I used a piece of 3/4″ rebar to hold the waterproof outlet box. Inside the box I wired two outlets. I wired them so that if one failed the other would still be hot. I used this example from the internet.

Double outlet wiring example
Double outlet wiring example

Once the wiring was completed and screwed together I tested turning on the switch and getting power. But the first time I tested the outlet had no power. I took it apart and found a loose white connection and reassembled the box. It took quite a bit of delicate holding of the outlets and the box to line up the outlet screws and the box face plate. The outlets were used and I could not locate the bag of electrical screws that I have saved so the middle screws are missing.

Pump GFCI plugged in
Pump GFCI plugged in

I finally got the box connected and power at the switch in the waterproof case. I meant to install the box higher on the rebar but when I was glueing I didn’t have that last piece and I forgot to add it. So the box is a bit lower than I planned which should not make much difference since it won’t be live in the winter. The pump was plugged in and automatically turned on to boost mode. I turned off the solar so that the pump can run all night to make up for not running today.

Pool power box
Pool power box

Looking pretty good so it was time to clean up my tools and call it a day.

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