Wiring for Whirlpool Tub

I was at an electrical store looking for a timer for a whirlpool tub that I am installing. When speaking with one of the employees he made mention of a separate ground wire that needs to be run in addition to the grounding wire in the 14/2 line. I went to Kohler's website for the specs on the tub I am getting and it makes no reference of running a separate ground wire. It says that the tub comes with a cord and plug that gets plugged into a standard oulet that is on a 15 amp GFCI circuit. Am I missing something here? I see no reason to have a separate grounding wire when you already have one with a GFCI circuit breaker. My township uses the 'National Electric Code 2003' for approved codes.

Reply to
x071907
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I was at an electrical store looking for a timer for a whirlpool tub that I am installing. When speaking with one of the employees he made mention of a separate ground wire that needs to be run in addition to the grounding wire in the 14/2 line. I went to Kohler's website for the specs on the tub I am getting and it makes no reference of running a separate ground wire. It says that the tub comes with a cord and plug that gets plugged into a standard oulet that is on a 15 amp GFCI circuit. Am I missing something here? I see no reason to have a separate grounding wire when you already have one with a GFCI circuit breaker. My township uses the 'National Electric Code 2003' for approved codes.

Reply to
x071907

Kohler is correct. Assuming this is a bathtub with whirlpool jets, it just needs its own dedicated GFCI circuit. BTW, make sure the GFCI socket is located where you can get at it for reset...NOT under the tub somewhere. For example, put the GFCI socket on the opposite side of the wall from the bathroom (like an adjacent bedroom) then put a 2nd socket wired from the GFCI in the bathroom wall under the tub enclosure.

Reply to
Curmudgeon

Would be better to use a standard outlet and a gfci breaker in the panel. You could run into issues with cords through walls with some inspectors. This way the breaker is in an accessable area and you do not have to get under the tub except for a major failure. This circuit should not have any junctions in it. Strait from the panel to the tub location.

Reply to
SQLit

The separate ground wire is for bonding all of the metal components of pools and spas together. It is normally a #8 solid bare copper wire which does NOT get run all the way back to the panel or main ground.

I doubt if your unit needs to be bonded if it is a ready-to-go plug in type.

John Grabowski

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Reply to
John Grabowski

You may need a separate bonding wire -- check your instructions to see which type of tub you have:

NEC 680.74 Bonding. All metal piping systems, metal parts of electrical equipment, and pump motors associated with the hydromassage tub shall be bonded together using a copper bonding jumper, insulated, covered, or bare, not smaller than 8 AWG solid. Metal parts of listed equipment incorporating an approved system of double insulation and providing a means for grounding internal nonaccessible, noncurrent- carrying metal parts shall not be bonded.

Reply to
SueMarkP

Not sure about the Kohler, but the American Standard whirlpool tub that I installed a while back didn't require a separate ground for the basic pump operation, but _did_ require one for the optional heater. The Kohler tub in the same size didn't have the heater option, but it wouldn't surprise me if their add-on heater also required a separate ground.

JF

Reply to
Justin Ferguson

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