I have a Chinese solar powered pool pump that arrived with leads to the motor with labels U, V, and W. Any idea with would be positive, negative and ground?
Electrical – labels U, V, and W. Which positive, negative and ground
electrical
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Assuming you mean this 6-30R:
After you wire the green (ground, not neutral), it doesn't matter which of the two ungrounded (hot) wires are placed on the 2 'flat' blades. 240VAC (in the North American split single phase) is not polarized with respect to ground, because the neutral is not being used.
This connector can also be used with 2 hot connectors in a 3 phase system, which would then provide 208 VAC. This is not common for residential use.
A Wikipedia article on NEMA connectors in general and NEMA 6 in particular may be helpful.
This gets seemingly odd because of the Article 680 rules specific to pools and other water features.
First off, pool feeders are not allowed to be direct buried as per 680.25 and the Exception thereto which AFAICT doesn't apply to outdoor cabling, so unless your AHJ disagrees with me and applies the exception, you'll have to dig up the existing UF and re-run it in conduit (either red brass RMC or IMC, or Schedule 80 PVC or RTRC-XW IF you protect the aboveground portions from physical damage).
Second, your pool will have an equipotential grid of some type associated with it (at least for the pool surround, if not under the pool itself) -- this is a Code requirement to avoid hazardous step potentials in the pool area. All conductive things directly associated with the pool (i.e. within 5' of it or part of the water circulating system) must be bonded to this grid as per 680.26 -- this includes the pool pump motor. From there, the pool equipotential grid is connected to the regular bonding system by the pool pump motor's EGC. While the AHJ can't make you put a direct link between the equipotential grid and the subpanel ground bus in, it's a good idea to do so, using the same 8AWG that's used for the equipotential grid.
Last but not least, your 8/2 should have a 10AWG ground -- 12AWG copper ground wires are only good for 20A circuits, max.
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Best Answer
U, V, and W =/= positive, negative, and ground. It's not even line, neutral, and ground (which would be more likely in AC - there is no positive and negative in AC). Instead it's more like line, line, and line. They refer to three phases which have a potential voltage difference from phase to phase. You get your power by connecting the load between the phases. It sounds like you cannot run your motor unless you have a 3-phase power source.