GE 230 GFI Breaker

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jmd445

Senior Member
Location
Hamilton Twp., NJ
This isn't an NEC matter but a troubleshooting question.

My friend has a hot tub supplied from his service with a 50A 4-wire sub panel. The sub panel contains a GE 220 GFI serving the pumps and a GE230 GFI serving the heaters.

The heater gfi was tripping last year, the heater elements were replaced then and all has been fine.

The heater gfi started tripping again this year and will not reset. He purchased a new GE 230 gfi and it still tripps.

Here's the interesting part...............................

Without any load conductors connected the gfi tripps when the sub-panel is powered. I had him isolate the ground and neutral conductors in the sub panel, the neutral buss is isolated from ground in the sub panel and the resistance from the grounded conductor to the ground in the sub panel is .01 ohms (reading through the bond in the main panel).

If the neutral pigtail from the GFI is removed from the neutral buss the gfi does not trip (remember, no load is connected), if the pigtail is touched to the neutral buss the gfi tripps immediatly.

By the way, The GE 220 gfi serving the pumps is fine.

My conclusion is that it is a new and defective 230 gfi circuit breaker.

Now, try to prove it to the supply house.....................

Your thoughts are appreciated..................................

Jim
 
480sparky

480sparky

Senior Member
Location
Iowegia
Disconnect the two hots and neutral from the breaker, and take the white pigtail off the neutral bar and cap it off. Turn the breaker on. If it never trips, then your problem is not the breaker.

Reinstall all the wiring in the box. Take the cover off the spa and disconnect all the wires feeding it and cap them off. If the breaker trips, then the problem is in the wiring. If it doesn't, call the spa repairman.
 
W

winnie

Senior Member
Location
Springfield, MA, USA
Occupation
Electric motor research
This is a double pole GFCI. I _believe_ that the GFCI circuitry is powered by 120V, from line to neutral.

If the neutral pigtail is not connected to the neutral bus, then you don't have a valid test of the breaker.

If the breaker trips with only supply connections (including the neutral) but no load connections, then I agree: defective breaker or problem internal to the breaker.

If the breaker does not trip with the supply neutral disconnected, (and if I am correct that the supply neutral is needed to power the GFCI component), then this simply means that the defective part is the GFCI component of the breaker.

Another possibility is that the test button is defective, and that the neutral is required for the test to operate.

-Jon
 
W

wireguru

Senior Member
jmd445 said:
This isn't an NEC matter but a troubleshooting question.

My friend has a hot tub supplied from his service with a 50A 4-wire sub panel. The sub panel contains a GE 220 GFI serving the pumps and a GE230 GFI serving the heaters.

The heater gfi was tripping last year, the heater elements were replaced then and all has been fine.

The heater gfi started tripping again this year and will not reset. He purchased a new GE 230 gfi and it still tripps.

Here's the interesting part...............................

Without any load conductors connected the gfi tripps when the sub-panel is powered. I had him isolate the ground and neutral conductors in the sub panel, the neutral buss is isolated from ground in the sub panel and the resistance from the grounded conductor to the ground in the sub panel is .01 ohms (reading through the bond in the main panel).

If the neutral pigtail from the GFI is removed from the neutral buss the gfi does not trip (remember, no load is connected), if the pigtail is touched to the neutral buss the gfi tripps immediatly.

By the way, The GE 220 gfi serving the pumps is fine.

My conclusion is that it is a new and defective 230 gfi circuit breaker.

Now, try to prove it to the supply house.....................

Your thoughts are appreciated..................................

Jim
Click to expand...

where does the load side neutral from the breaker go? Any chance its got current on it from another source, or is shorted to ground somewhere?
 
jxofaltrds

jxofaltrds

Inspector Mike®
Location
Mike P. Columbus Ohio
Occupation
ESI, PI, RBO
I had a case where a ground rod was installed at the disconnect and connected to the disconnect. After rains it, the jumper that was installed, would cause the GFCI to trip.
 
J

jap

Senior Member
Occupation
Electrician
I dont belive a 2p GFI Breaker is dependant on the Neutral Connection to activate the trip mechanism.
 
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