Question:
I'm in the process of having my pool renovated, and the equipment is back
in. There used to be a cover over the equipment, but it was taken down when
we bought the house because the supports were termite infested.
I'm in the process of building a new cover out of 3" PVC for supports. But
is all this necessary. Does it matter if the pumps get rained on?
Answer:
I'd think that it must depend on the equipment you have. My neighbor's pool
filter, pump, etc sit exposed to the sky and have done so for, at a guess,
20 years and everything still works fine. From that I'm fairly certain that
this particular equipment must be sealed for such use. Either that or they
are the luckiest people in the world and after their experiences with the
solar hot water and pool heaters I don't think that could be.
Most cities nowadays have an electrical inspector who goes out and
examines things like your pool pumps and lights to make sure they
conform to the National Electrical Code (NEC). Now, that doesn't mean
that yours does! Could be that the person who installed your equipment
was a jackleg electrician who didn't have a clue what the National
Electrical Code means. If if meets current NEC guidelines, the
equipment should operate just fine, and safely, exposed to the
elements.
I'd go so far as to say that not covering up the pool equipment is a
good idea. There will be some amount of leakage of chlorine around the
pool equipment. If it is allowed to dissipate there won't be much of a
problem. If the equipment is "boxed in" the concentration of these
fumes will be higher and will accelerate rusting and corrosion of some
pool equipment like motor cases, timers, etc. I have 30 years of
service from my equipment by operating this way and it's still quite
serviceable.
