230 volt pool pump motor wiring 3

[farrellaa]

First, I am Mechanical not elecrical so i need some help with wiring a 230 volt pool pump motor. This is an AO Smith motor and the connections show L1, L2 and a ground. My panel has a 15amp dual breaker (for 230volt), which has two terminals. I asumed they would take a red and black wire to the motor, L1 and L2, plus the green ground wire. Would this be correct? There is no place on the motor for a white neutral line. Also, I was told by an electrician that I don't want to use a GFIC breaker for the motor. On the motor plate with the diagram, it says to use GFI protection. What would be the correct choice here?

Any help is appreciated.

 

[rbulsara]

230V is 230V between any two wires.

If your voltage is 230V between a line and neutral, you connect those two wires. L1 to Line and L2 to neutral or vice versa. In this case you will only need a sigle pole breaker or a single fuse in the line.

If you have a system, such as in the USA, where you have 230V (or 240V) between two lines, you connect them to L1 and L2 and no neutral is required. In this case you will need a 2-pole breakers or fuses in both lines.

Ground (green) wire is always there.

 

[rbulsara]

If the motor instructions says so, you must use GFCI protection. You should be able to get a 2P GFCI breaker. It has nothing to do with whether or not there is a neutral. For a pool motor I would think it may be a code requirement.

 

[dpc]

Is this a swimming pool or hot tub? If this is a pool that people are going to be getting into, **please** call in a licensed electrician and get it done right and in compliance with applicable codes. The life you save may be yours or someone you care about.

And don't use the electrician who told you to not use a GFCI.

The NEC has a big chapter on swimming pools, etc and there is no way we can walk you through this in this forum. This is serious stuff from a safety perspective.

 

[rbulsara]

Can't agree more with dpc.

 

[farrellaa]

Just to clarify some points on this: 1- this is an inground swimming pool. 2 -The electrician I called is the one that a local pool dealer uses for all of their pool installations and is also the instructor at a local high school in electrical wiring to the NEC. 3 - I may have misunderstood him when he said I didn't need the GFIC breaker or any exceptions to the requirement in the NEC Section 680, swimming pools and spas. I will review all of this with him when we meet this week. I really appreciate ALL comments from the forum and realize I need to leave this in his hands.

 

[jraef]

You may be getting caught up in sematics here, which is all the more reason to leave this to a professional. GFCI stands for Ground Fault Circuit Interruptor, a device that looks similar to a duplex receptacle as you might find in a bathroom or kitchen. They are NOT a "circuit breaker" in that they only trip on ground fault, not over current and they are typically rated for only 15 amps max. In the case of a pool or spa circuit they require a GFI Circuit Breaker which is a full circuit breaker that also includes the Ground Fault Interruptor circuit so that it operates the trip mechanism of the breaker to iterrupt the circuit. Because it is using the circuit breaker current carrying ability, you can get a GFI breaker in whatever size you need to the entire pool circuit.

JRaef.com
Eng-Tips: Help for your job, not for your homework Read faq731-376

 

[waross]

Please ask the electrician for a clarification of his remarks.
It may be a misunderstanding, or the pump may be exempt from the GFCI requirement due to distance seperation from the pool.
In the Canadian code, rule 68-202 (1) (b) gives the conditions under which the GFCI is not required.
Can someone check the NEC, please?
respectfully

 

[dpc]

The NEC chapter on swimming pools, etc is long and complicated and was extensively revised for 2005. I'm not comfortable with trying to determine code compliance when we don't know much about the installation. Certainly any receptacle and any motor that is powered via a receptacle must have GFCI. If the motor nameplate says GFCI protection is required, it's hard to see how any exception in any code that would trump that, especially if the motor is UL labeled.

If it were me, I'd err on the side of caution and use a GFCI.