Hot Tub GFCI

laketime

laketime

Senior Member
We installed a GFCI disconnect and wired a hot tub in December. The customer says around April the GFCI started tripping daily. He called the spa company who over three days did their troubleshooting and said it wasn't the hot tub. We replaced the GFCI this morning and started it up everything worked fine. The customer called 3 hours later to say the GFCI tripped again. Thoughts on where to go next?
 
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HEYDOG

Senior Member
laketime said:
I feel similar. Hot tub company says the unit is A-ok.
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Try running it for a while with out the heating element. If everything runs fine then hook the heating element backup and run. If it trips then……if under warranty call Hot Tub Company back up and tell them what you found!
 
laketime

laketime

Senior Member
HEYDOG said:
Try running it for a while with out the heating element. If everything runs fine then hook the heating element backup and run. If it trips then……if under warranty call Hot Tub Company back up and tell them what you found!
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Good call thanks.
 
Jraef

Jraef

Moderator, OTD
Staff member
Location
San Francisco Bay Area, CA, USA
Occupation
Electrical Engineer
In a lot of hot tubs, when you open up the control panel, there are fuses on the heater element circuit. You can just pull those fuses then let it sit overnight to see if the GFCI trips. If not, it’s a leaking heater element.

And by the way, 99% of the time, it’s a leaking heater element… but DO NOT offer to replace it, that is a horrible horrible job. I did it once, never again! They are made almost integral to the control panel and removing them involves undoing all of the plumbing. It was a nightmare.
 
Mystic Pools

Mystic Pools

Senior Member
Location
Park Ridge, NJ
Occupation
Swimming Pool Contractor
Jraef said:
In a lot of hot tubs, when you open up the control panel, there are fuses on the heater element circuit. You can just pull those fuses then let it sit overnight to see if the GFCI trips. If not, it’s a leaking heater element.

And by the way, 99% of the time, it’s a leaking heater element… but DO NOT offer to replace it, that is a horrible horrible job. I did it once, never again! They are made almost integral to the control panel and removing them involves undoing all of the plumbing. It was a nightmare.
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Yup. Element fails because of poor water chemistry.
 
laketime

laketime

Senior Member
We disconnected our feed to the hot tub at the control panel; GFCI still tripped. We replaced the wire from the GFCI to the hot tub; GFCI still tripped. We changed the breaker first thing...I am losing ideas here.
 
laketime

laketime

Senior Member
ptonsparky said:
You have no wires attached to the breaker and it trips? Replace it.
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No ,wires were attached to the circuit breaker but not to the load of the hot tub; just capped off in the control box. We have replaced the breaker once and replaced the wire from GFCI to hot tub control panel in case of some micro cut in the wire causing an issue; it was a 20'run no big deal.
 
Sea Nile

Sea Nile

Senior Member
Location
Georgia
Occupation
Electrician
Maybe somewhere in the house there are neutrals of different circuits tied together with a wire nut?

Take the neutral from the hot tub off at the panel and see if you have continuity from the disconnected neutral to the the neutral bar in the panel?
 
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