Feeling a little electricity in the pool

[mirogers1]

I can feel a slight amount of electricity when one hand is in the water and the other is on the concrete. It gets worse when it rains. This even happens when I shut off the main breaker on my house. I've heard it's because of underground utilities. Anyone else had this problem?

[aylad]

There have been others on the forum with similar problems. I can't answer for you, but until those who can stop by, you can use the Google search link in my sig to look for other similar posts.

Welcome to the forum!!

[AnnaK]

A friend of ours in Virginia had that happen several years after her pool had been installed. She discovered it when her dog avoided a particular area of the the pool. They called the PB who did every conceivable check of the system and couldn't find anything wrong but was able to show some electric leakage in the water. I'm not saying this right, it's been a few years. They finally called the electric company which discovered an issue with some ground wires in lines they had installed recently. You might want to contact your utility company.

[PoolDoc]

Electricity and pools mix . . . fatally.

At a minimum, what you are experiencing means you have a bonding failure. Read this post on bonding:
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthr...4986#post64986
and ideally, the whole electrical safety thread.

To check out the problem, you're going to need a digital multimeter, like one of those below. You may already have one; if not, all of these are 4+ star rated.

Fluke 87-5 Digital Multimeter @ Amazon (~$310)
Fluke 115 Compact True-RMS Digital Multimeter @ Amazon (~$125)
Mastech MS8268 Digital AC/DC Auto/Manual Range Digital Multimeter Meter @ Amazon (~$40)
Extech MN35 Digital Mini MultiMeter @ Amazon (~$20)

If you're on a tight budget, get the Extech. It is just an import, but Extech screens the quality, and it will probably do the job. If you aren't so tight, and don't have a good meter, you'll never regret the Fluke 115. The Fluke 87 is a pro-tool, probably more than you need. But Fluke is a great tool -- I had one for 25+ years, till it got too close to a pool and that was the end of my Fluke.

I do so little electrical work that I've gotten by with a cheapy from Northern Tool . . . and it sort works -- roughly like test strips compared to a K-2006. But these are better prices for better meters than I'd seen locally. If I have a good month, I believe I'll get a new meter, too.

Anyhow, you need to get a meter, AND you need to find the power disconnects for all your pool equipment AND for the power service to the pool panel.

You might also want to see if you can get the electrical inspection report on your pool. But, be careful -- if there was supposed to be an inspection, but it was never done, you do NOT want to have an inspector come out and 'shut you down' till 'rectify the deficiencies' by digging up your deck, so he can inspect!

[AnnaK]

Bonding. Yes, that's the word my friend mentioned.

[msumoose]

Ahh, the pleasure of stray current. Had a friend that installed a pool, inspected, all good until he swam and got 6 volts every time he touched the stainless rail at the steps. Pool was WELL bonded and there was no current leak from the house or pumpworks...called out the utilities, and while they were helpful, nothing was found. He could not enjoy his pool and after much back and forth, the phone company finally found an abandoned line that was cut 15 years prior leaking ring voltage into the ground. The moral of the story is bonding works both ways...