Help! Water in pool electrical box and pool pump circuit board

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eileeninok

Member
Jun 14, 2021
10
Tulsa OK
Bought a house and paid a pool builder to remodel our 1980s pool in Dec 2021. They installed the pool pump (Jandy VS Flopro 1.65) and pool filter (Jandy SFTM24-2.0) in Feb 2022 before they closed their remodeling part of the business. (They did not resurface our gunite pool. Just cleaned it.) We then paid a licensed electrician to connect the electrical to the pool pump and filter in Oct 2022. We finally got the pool resurfaced and open our pool this year. Pool pump stopped working, and we found water in the electrical box and the pool pump control board housing. The circuit board within the pool pump exploded from all the water. It seems like water got into the new gray junction box and used the conduit as a path straight into the control board housing. Will anyone be able to tell me what went wrong, so I will know how to proceed?

First photo was after the installation of the pool pump and filter before the electrician came. Second photo was after the electrician wired in the new pump.

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eileeninok said:
It seems like water got into the new gray junction box
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Hard to tell from the photo. You should be able to see close-up if everything is watertight at that box. The electrician rerouted more than one conduit into that new J-box, but those are usually quite weather resistant. What about that steel conduit line than drops down from above? Where does that come from?

Have you called the electrician to come back out and inspect?
 
Jandy used the V-Green165 motor on those pumps. If the circuitry is fried, there is no fix. Your best option would be to replace the motor with a Nidec Neptune NPTQ165. It will give you similar control to the motor on the pump now.

Best guess is that water entered the junction box through the metal conduit's compression fitting. They're not considered water tight. Sealing it with silicone sealant around the top of the fitting and where it enters the box should be done. You can use it around the plastic fitting as well.
 
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Texas Splash said:
Hard to tell from the photo. You should be able to see close-up if everything is watertight at that box. The electrician rerouted more than one conduit into that new J-box, but those are usually quite weather resistant. What about that steel conduit line than drops down from above? Where does that come from?

Have you called the electrician to come back out and inspect?
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Electrican came yesterday. He said the water probably came from the existing steel conduit. He put a lot of plumbing putty into the exterior junction box, and caulk the joint in the existing conduit.

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1poolman1 said:
Jandy used the V-Green165 motor on those pumps. If the circuitry is fried, there is no fix. Your best option would be to replace the motor with a Nidec Neptune NPTQ165. It will give you similar control to the motor on the pump now.

Best guess is that water entered the junction box through the metal conduit's compression fitting. They're not considered water tight. Sealing it with silicone sealant around the top of the fitting and where it enters the box should be done. You can use it around the plastic fitting as well.
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The junction box was filled with water. Do electricians usually use the existing wire, or rerun a new wire from the breaker? Do electricians usually add the silicone sealant around the metal fitting?
 
I'm just your average weekend warrior DIY'er and jack of all trades kind of guy, but I have to say not only was that electrician's first attempt a fail, but this second attempt just seems like a sloppy mess. I don't have a good feeling about that work at all. What do you think @1poolman1?
 
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eileeninok said:
The junction box was filled with water. Do electricians usually use the existing wire, or rerun a new wire from the breaker? Do electricians usually add the silicone sealant around the metal fitting?
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If the wire is good it is often reused, doesn't hurt anything. It would take a very knowledgeable electrician to anticipate water intrusion. Because I have seen the results of bad installs, I tend to seal everything that could even possibly allow water into an electrical part, but I work exclusively on pools, your electrician may not. I also know that those compression fittings are not water tight, though they are very good.

I also see Romex being used in conduit, a big NO-NO. There should be separate individual hot wires (2 and neither of them white) and a green ground wire. This looks like a home electrician used whatever was on the truck. Will it work, yes. Is it safe or meet code, no.

It doesn't look like water actually got into the junction box. Though I've never seen it in the many of those motors I've installed (I've actually never had a call-back on that motor for any reason), I tend to agree with JamesW about the water entering through the screw on top. If it wasn't tightened properly it would absolutely allow water to leak in. Given the wrong wiring I would go with sloppy work.
 
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You can see a very clear line where there is a big difference.

In my opinion, water filled to this line and then spilled into the conduits.

You should have an electrician determine where water is getting in.

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JamesW said:
You can see a very clear line where there is a big difference.

In my opinion, water filled to this line and then spilled into the conduits.

You should have an electrician determine where water is getting in.

View attachment 490914
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That was what me and my husband concluded. The electrician came back and gave us a vague possibility of where the water intrusion may be wrong (the old conduit) and placed some plumber's putty in the junction box. Guess he doesn't plan on fixing the issue for us, so I am looking for a different electrician now. Do I have to summarize my expectation and request for each contractor in an email from now on, so they can't just shrug when things go bad? Is it too much of me to assume the electrician would look at the old wiring before connecting it to the pool equipment, especially since the pool and pool equipment has not been used in 8 years. We would have paid to have everything rewired.


The pool contractor is charging $187.50 for a service call to determine if it will be covered under warranty.
 
Last edited:
Thanks @Texas Splash @1poolman1 @JamesW

We plan to replace the existing conduit. Water got into the pool light transformer too. 🫠 Is there anything else I need to tell the new electrician since the pool was built in the 80s? I don't know what I don't know.. and I don't know how I can verify that an electrician is familiar with the codes for a proper installation for pool equipment.

Is it safe to use poly/vinyl conduit for the electrical lines from the breaker to the pool equipment? Should we put on GFCI breaker for the pool pump and pool light? (Both electricians did not mention that GFCI breaker..)

I am going to try to call a few pool builders tomorrow, and see if they would recommend me a pool electrician.
 
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eileeninok said:
Thanks @Texas Splash @1poolman1 @JamesW

We plan to replace the existing conduit. Water got into the pool light transformer too. 🫠 Is there anything else I need to tell the new electrician since the pool was built in the 80s? I don't know what I don't know.. and I don't know how I can verify that an electrician is familiar with the codes for a proper installation for pool equipment.

Is it safe to use poly/vinyl conduit for the electrical lines from the breaker to the pool equipment? Should we put on GFCI breaker for the pool pump and pool light? (Both electricians did not mention that GFCI breaker..)

I am going to try to call a few pool builders tomorrow, and see if they would recommend me a pool electrician.
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Non-metallic flex (LFNC) is used regularly as a connection to pool equipment. Most codes call for a length of no more than 6' unless the authority having jurisdiction (basically the inspector) allows it. Once saw a run of nearly 40' on an inspected project.
 
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