Safety Ground for Rolling Brew Rig

[Mike123]

My brew rig is on wheels, therefore isolated even further from Mother Earth. I am about to add a circuit to control (manual on/off) my recirculation pump and chiller water pump. As you can see in the circuit diagram, it is a simple switched outlet pair. The recirculation pump is bolted directly to the frame. The other pump is a submersible pool pump that is grounded via it's power cord, and when in use is in the swimming pool. The switch and outlet boxes are plastic. Right now I do not have any other electrical components on this brew rig. So - I plan to tie the rig input power cord ground directly to the rig frame with a metal to metal connection. Here is a picture of my brew rig, without the pump switches and outlets installed yet. Any suggestions or issues that you guys see with this? Thanks in advance, and cheers!

 

[doug293cz]

Should work fine.

Brew on

 

[passedpawn]

Sounds fine to me. I also brew next to my pool, and I also have a submersible pump in the pool connected to my brewing panel.

If you're getting power from an outlet near your pool, it's probably on a GFCI breaker already - that's good.

 

[Mike123]

Sounds fine to me. I also brew next to my pool, and I also have a submersible pump in the pool connected to my brewing panel.

If you're getting power from an outlet near your pool, it's probably on a GFCI breaker already - that's good.

Thanks passedpawn. Does your setup have a ground wire directly connected to your frame or control panel, which is common with your power cord ground? (And....yes the outlet I get power from is on a GFCI breaker.)

 

[passedpawn]

Thanks passedpawn. Does your setup have a ground wire directly connected to your frame or control panel, which is common with your power cord ground? (And....yes the outlet I get power from is on a GFCI breaker.)

Yes, my panel internally has a connection to earth ground wire. Exposed metal should be grounded if it contains live wires (i.e., 120V).

 

[Mike123]

OK the pump power control part of my build is done. Works great...........I have two "switched" outlets one for the recirculation pump and the other for the chiller pump. The toggle switches and the outlets are behind weatherproof covers with water tight connections so I can spray the whole rig down with a garden hose if I need to, without power applied of course. I grounded to the frame directly as shown in the picture. The rig power cord is orange, and about 25' long.

 

[passedpawn]

Looking great (wanna build one for me )

I'd do a quick continuity / ground bond test with a multimeter.

 

[Deadalus]

Looking great (wanna build one for me )

I'd do a quick continuity / ground bond test with a multimeter.

Good suggestion.

It looks like you scuffed the paint/coating under the ground screw. I had a bad ground on a utility trailer due to the paint once.

 

[Mike123]

OK the pump power control part of my build is done. Works great...........I have two "switched" outlets one for the recirculation pump and the other for the chiller pump. The toggle switches and the outlets are behind weatherproof covers with water tight connections so I can spray the whole rig down with a garden hose if I need to, without power applied of course. I grounded to the frame directly as shown in the picture. The rig power cord is orange, and about 25' long. View attachment 667370

Looking great (wanna build one for me )

I'd do a quick continuity / ground bond test with a multimeter.

I did do continuity testing before I applied any power. I'd rather find out that way versus arcs and sparks and blown breakers haha.

 

[Mike123]

Good suggestion.

It looks like you scuffed the paint/coating under the ground screw. I had a bad ground on a utility trailer due to the paint once.

Yes I sanded down to bare metal for the ground connection, and I'm going to put a coat of something over this ground point to prevent rust or moisture from compromising what is now a good electrical connection to the frame.