# hot tub trips GFI breaker after 15 min



## J. V. (Jun 1, 2007)

Do you have a meter? Megger? Open the junction box at the pump and make sure no water has entered. Open all electrical enclosures and look for moisture. Make sure you turn off the power first. You might need professional help with a tub. This is serous business.


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## Drew63 (Nov 10, 2011)

How many jet pumps are running concurrently? The tub I just installed had either a 40A, 50A or 60A installation option. The delivery guys for my hot tub had to move a jumper on the control board to indicate it was being operated on a 60A circuit, does Cal Spas require anything along those lines? Is it possible your tub may be setup for a 60A install?

It's possible you may be overloading the circuit once you get in the tub by running all the jet pumps and the heater at the same time. I can run 2 jet pumps, the heater and the blower on a 60A circuit. With a 50A circuit, no heater with both jets running.

If you haven't done it already, make sure the tub is set up to operate on a 50A circuit.


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## scotzilla (Mar 1, 2011)

Ok pulled the motor cover off and checked out the manual. It's got the correct breaker and everything is wired correctly. No water anywhere, nothing obvious. I pulled the cover off tonight after borrowing and amperage tester. Magically fixed. It's been on for the last two hours with all three stages of jets running full bore with the heater and lights on. I'm thinking it's a weak breaker. I've got a spare if it pops again, I'll change it out


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## k_buz (Mar 22, 2012)

If this is a new hot tub, call for a warranty repair.


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## tribe_fan (May 18, 2006)

k_buz said:


> If this is a new hot tub, call for a warranty repair.


Agree - and if its not - replace the heating element.


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## andrew79 (Mar 25, 2010)

tribe_fan said:


> Agree - and if its not - replace the heating element.


Why would he change out the element. Pretty costly fix if that's not the issue.


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## scotzilla (Mar 1, 2011)

its a new tub with a warranty- im betting on a breaker issue as it ran all night with no issues


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## k_buz (Mar 22, 2012)

scotzilla said:


> its a new tub with a warranty- im betting on a breaker issue as it ran all night with no issues


How old is the breaker? Why would you assume it is the breaker that is bad instead of some water that got in somewhere and now its dry causing the breaker to stay on?


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## scotzilla (Mar 1, 2011)

the breaker is new but the test button on the breaker took a little jiggling to get it to pop out all the way when i tested it. Its dry inside the motor wiring box, the gasket is intact and there doesnt seem to be any sign or water marks from water ever being in there.


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## scotzilla (Mar 1, 2011)

Got home today and it was tripped, right after I gave back the tester:laughing:


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## scotzilla (Mar 1, 2011)

ok got the tester back, still tripped after it warmed up to 97 degrees. Reset it and it pops after 5 or so minuites every time. It happens so fast i cant read what the amperage its getting to is. While its running its using between 37-40 amps while everything is on. I called the hot tub place i bought it from. They send out the repair guy (also the owner) and he wants to just start replacing parts. I ask him questions about why would you change this or that, and what is this supposed to test like and he cant answer a thing. He wants to just start replacing parts. Over the 30 min he was there he told me it was the board, then the heater, then the stereo. Moral to the story he has no clue and im not about to let a guy who has no clue start working on my new tub. I did some google searching and found you can unplug just about everything from the control board minus the stage one jets that run water past the heater. So last night I set it on kill 104 degrees and unplugged the radio from the main board. It heated up to 102 and worked all night. Was at 104 this morning and working perfectly. I plan on giving it a few days to see if that's the issue.

just wanted to bounce an idea off you guys. My buddy who is letting me borrow the amp meter thinks its a ground issue. The 6 gauge wires are 80 ft from the panel to the tub and he thinks the gfi breaker needs to be tie into a ground rod in the actual ground??? I ran that by the know nothing spa repair man/ spa company owner and he said no way hes never run into that before. What say you?


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## jbfan (Jul 1, 2004)

Even if the spa guy has no clue what he is doing, he is right about the ground wire(no 
Way)

Tell your buddy not to offer electrical advice anymore also.


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## k_buz (Mar 22, 2012)

I would let the spa people work on it, so if they screw it up, they can get you a new one. If you screw it up, you voided the warranty.


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## scotzilla (Mar 1, 2011)

yea i dont plan on working on it- Im just trying to diagnose it before he goes tearing into new components. thanks jbfan- didnt sound right just thought i would ask


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## carmusic (Oct 11, 2011)

probably the heating element or radio that does trip the gfi breaker. Ok put the breaker to off, measure resistance between ground and between one of the heater wire, metre should read over few megaohm. If it reads for example 30kohm there is a ground fault. Another way to do it is to measure current on the ground wire while tub is running, it should be below 5 mA. You need a very sensible tester to read few mA current, regular clamp on wont be able to read that.


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## Drew63 (Nov 10, 2011)

Dude, I feel bad for you, being a new hot tub and all. We got ours installed a month ago and have had zero issues with it (fingers crossed).

I voted against the stereo system, jets make it a bit of a moot point due to noise and I already have an iPod player and boombox I can use if needed.

Good luck.


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## scotzilla (Mar 1, 2011)

yea- its not the stereo or the 2 stage pump. That leaves the main board, or the heater. Ill do those test tonight, thanks for the info. I put in a wireless outdoor radio system that i can control from my phone so I wasnt planing on getting a tub with a stereo either. When we checked them out he had this tub with some damage to the side panels from shipping. The spa company was sending him the parts to fix it so he took the price of the stereo option off and gave us the parts and i fixed it myself. I paid $4000 which was far cheaper than everyone else I checked out. That being said the first couple nights I used the hot tub stereo and you can hear it really well since the speakers are on the corners. When I unplugged the stereo to diagnose the problem I tried to listen to my outdoor speakers. I couldnt hear them unless they were so loud the neighbors could hear them as well. That and the waterproof remote is nice0 especially since pandora is so random with some stations.


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## scotzilla (Mar 1, 2011)

PROBLEM DIAGNOSED! we replaced the main board and heater friday night. 12 hours later she tripped the breaker. I tried to do the test carmusic suggested but i couldnt figure out which settings on the fancy multi meter. That left the main pump or the uv light thingermajig (i dont know the real name) I unplugged the uv thingy from the main board and it hasnt tripped the breaker since sat around noon. The spa guy is coming out to swap it out. Thanks for everyones help and suggestions


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