Hello I have read some of the advice on this group about spa's and electrical conections but could not find an answer for this question.
Does the subpanel containing the CGFI that is placed near the spa have to be grounded with a 10 foot copper pole or is the 6 guage bare ground wire that is part of the 3 wire romex (white red black ground) that is connected to house's electrical panel's ground enough? p.s I live in Ontario Canada for code purposes Thanks for any info
I'm not familiar with the Canadian electric code, but here in the USA, you would not add a ground rod. In my installation, I had to use an insulated ground wire. That is required by the NEC if the hot tub has a light. My spa (Sundance) has a 220 volt system, and does not need a 120 volt leg. Therefore, my wires were two 6 gauge copper THWN wires (hots- any color but green, white or grey, mine were both black), and a 6 gauge green insulated THWN wire for ground. The ground wire runs all the way from the main panel (in my case a sub panel I installed in my basement), to the disconnect box, and from the disconnect box to the spa, where it connects to a ground terminal. The NEC does not allow romex to be used at all anywhere in a spa circuit if there is a light in the spa. All wiring from the source to the spa must be in approved conduit for the entire run also. Again, this is the NEC. I'm not sure how things are done in Canada. Try this website: Homewiringandmore.com. They have an excellent bulletin board, moderated by a master electrician. This is where I got all my spa wiring questions answered. I believe that they are also familiar with the Canadian electric code. HTH. DaveG
In the US a spa requires a GFCI breaker, and normally you'd have two hot and a ground to the spa itself (depends on the spa as well). Romex isn't allowed for spas with a light, and conduit is required. You would not normally use a grounding rod, the ground would be continuous from the main service entrance through the spa cutoff switch to the spa itself. Locally, spa and pool grounds cannot be bare copper.
But, Canadian codes may differ, and there may be local restrictions as well. Plus you may have a special situation you didn't mention and we can't see. Why not simply check with your local code authority and find out?
Jeff
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