Eaton 50A GFCI Tripping Intermittently

M

MisterMoSparky

Member
Location
WV
Occupation
Residential Service Electrician
I went to the homeowners house that needed a 50A 120/240v circuit ran for his hot tub. The Meter Disconnect Combo was located near the hot tub so the hot tub company agreed that I could just run the circuit straight from the meter combo. I ran Black, Red, White 6AWG THHN and 10AWG Green equipment ground to the hot tub and placed on 50A Eaton GFCI Breaker. The pigtail for the breaker is connected to the neutral bar/ground bar since this is the first main disconnect and they’re bonded. The Hot Tub came wired up 120V, hot tub company removed cord and plug and also the jumper inside the control board. When I go to turn on the breaker at first it was instantly tripping the GFCI, then one time it held for several minutes no problem. I went to put the meter cover back on and accidentally pressed the test button. Went to reset the breaker and instant GFCI trip again. I disconnected the wiring from the hot tub and discovered no issues when resetting the breaker. I left it off and put all the covers on and told homeowner to have hot tub people trouble shoot the tub. I tested continuity on my wiring and it was open on all combinations (except ground to neutral obviously) but I tested neutral and ground separately and discovered no resistance either (open circuit). Hot tub guy comes out with me standing there and flips breaker on no problem, tests the GFCI and resets no problem. I put the cover on thinking everything is fine when the breaker trips again. Mind you no arcs or anything during any of the trip events except for when I put a GE GFCI breaker in. This arc happened inside of the meter. I also tested resistance on the actual lugs of the hot tub with the wiring disconnected and found 38 OHMS from L1-Ground and L2-Neutral? I installed the Eaton GFCI again and I found out that barely pushing the wires back in the cabinet would cause it to trip. Eventually I zip tied the wires back in the cabinet and put the cover on made sure no wires were touching and there was no damage on any of the insulation anywhere. Reset breaker and everything is fine now. I even moved the liquid tight conduit coming out of the meter some to see if I could get it to trip again and I couldn’t. I’m at a loss of words with this one, I reassured the homeowner that the GFCI is doing it’s job hence the tripping and I gave him my personal number to call me if he has any more issues. Me and the hot tub guy quadruple checked every possible situation that might cause an issue and checked to make sure the GFCI would trip by touching the neutral and ground together in the hot tub. Overall everything is working now but any thoughts as to what happened?
 
Pictures of Meter Combo and Hot Tub Panel
 

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Late to the party here. Actually created an account to reply here. Ran into something similar. New hot tub install. Brand new hot tub. Brand new circuit ran and brand new Eaton gfci spa disconnect. Tripping intermittently. After talking to supply houses, spa manufacturers and Eaton, there is a known issue with hot tubs and Eaton gfci disconnects. Eaton is aware of it, the supply houses I use have heard the same stories. Not sure what Eaton is doing about it but I’m steering clear of Eaton disconnects now. Put in a square d one and customer hasn’t had any trips at all.
 
There's no telling how many Eaton Spa disconnects w/GFCI I have put in. I've had zero trips from any of them. I haven't put it one in a while so they may have changed something.
 
MisterMoSparky said:
.... /no arcs or anything during any of the trip events except for when I put a GE GFCI breaker in. This arc happened inside of the meter. I also tested resistance on the actual lugs of the hot tub with the wiring disconnected and found 38 OHMS from L1-Ground and L2-Neutral? I installed the Eaton GFCI again and I found out that barely pushing the wires back in the cabinet would cause it to trip. Eventually I zip tied the wires back in the cabinet and put the cover on made sure no wires were touching and there was no damage on any of the insulation anywhere.
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I suspect in the OP's case there is a slight manufacturing defect on the circuit board, such as a loose solder joint or moisture in the titanium sheathed magnesium oxide (MgO) heater element. Magnesium oxide is hygroscopic, meaning that it likes water, and if moisture is present current will leak thru it to the sheath, this is often the case with a new electric range tripping a GFCI.
With older spa's that are tripping GFCI's 99% of the time its the heating element. Typically I disconnect the heater element from the board and check it with a megger, element lead to equipment frame ground. Megohms should be in the range of ~500 megohms. A low reading means the element might be leaking current to the frame and into the water.
 
Megger or ohm out the heater first. I have had a hot tub here for since 1988 ( on the 3rd one (dont ask about the second one)). Cant tell you how many bad heaters I have had . I did have 1 bad circuit board and yes, it was the heater relay that burned up the board.

I would still start with the heater .

Just my 2 cents worth.


Howard
 
I have a HotSpot Rythym hot tub that was in stalled in 2014. During my ownership I have had to replace the heater once, two speed pump once, and the control panel on top of the hot tub once. The original GFCI was an Eaton 50-amp 2-pole hot tub disconnect. This was fed from a 50-amp breaker in the main panel. This summer I had a shop built that required a 100-amp service. The electrician replaced the 50-amp breaker in the main panel with a 100-amp breaker and replaced the conductors to feed the hot tub and the new building. The 50-amp GFCI disconnect panel at the hot tub was replaced with an Eaton BR 125-amp 12 space panel with a new Eaton 50-amp BR GFCI and a 100-amp BR breaker to feed the shop. The GFCI breaker would trip intermittently, so I asked the electrician to check out the installation and make sure there were no issues. I also asked the hot tub service company to check out the hot tub. Both were deemed ok. I contacted Eaton and they said they were having trouble with the electronic GFCI breakers and send me a replacement. Had the replacement installed and it worked fine for about a week and I thought the issue was resolved, but then the same process started again with intermittent trips. The code on the breaker indicated an overvoltage. Since the trip point for overvoltage on the breaker is 135 volts hot to neutral, I ruled that out since I had no other issues in the house. Since the ambient temperature will soon start to drop to near zero in Northern NM, I need a system that I could trust and I had lost confidence in the Eaton GFCI, I contacted Eaton again and they said take it pack and get a refund. I had the panel replaced with a SQ D Homeline 100-amp panel and breakers. Been a month with no issues.
 
talon38 said:
I have a HotSpot Rythym hot tub that was in stalled in 2014. During my ownership I have had to replace the heater once, two speed pump once, and the control panel on top of the hot tub once. The original GFCI was an Eaton 50-amp 2-pole hot tub disconnect. This was fed from a 50-amp breaker in the main panel. This summer I had a shop built that required a 100-amp service. The electrician replaced the 50-amp breaker in the main panel with a 100-amp breaker and replaced the conductors to feed the hot tub and the new building. The 50-amp GFCI disconnect panel at the hot tub was replaced with an Eaton BR 125-amp 12 space panel with a new Eaton 50-amp BR GFCI and a 100-amp BR breaker to feed the shop. The GFCI breaker would trip intermittently, so I asked the electrician to check out the installation and make sure there were no issues. I also asked the hot tub service company to check out the hot tub. Both were deemed ok. I contacted Eaton and they said they were having trouble with the electronic GFCI breakers and send me a replacement. Had the replacement installed and it worked fine for about a week and I thought the issue was resolved, but then the same process started again with intermittent trips. The code on the breaker indicated an overvoltage. Since the trip point for overvoltage on the breaker is 135 volts hot to neutral, I ruled that out since I had no other issues in the house. Since the ambient temperature will soon start to drop to near zero in Northern NM, I need a system that I could trust and I had lost confidence in the Eaton GFCI, I contacted Eaton again and they said take it pack and get a refund. I had the panel replaced with a SQ D Homeline 100-amp panel and breakers. Been a month with no issues.
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We had a stint about 2 years ago with Eaton GFCI Receptacles that were going bad after a month or so and we were told it was the same type of manufacturer issue with the electronics. Granted the issue has been resolved since then. Other than that I’ve reliably installed Eaton CH Dual Function Breakers 20A and 15A in majority of our clients homes with new panels. Overall they’ve been very good to us as a manufacturer but anything having to do with 30-50A GFCI Breakers specifically hot tubs I won’t use them. I’ve only installed Square D Homeline Spa Panels.
 
“..so the hot tub company agreed I could just run the circuit straight from the meter combo.”
........HUH? That was nice of them, but what about the poco, code, or meter combo folks, or inspector?
Is this meter combo thingy rated for that? Conductor fills?
So assuming all if the above was also just fine and good, from the descriptions it sounds like something broke in that small enclosure that’s now home to the 50a GFCI breaker...possibly when it got stuffed in there.
 
newservice said:
“..so the hot tub company agreed I could just run the circuit straight from the meter combo.”
........HUH? That was nice of them, but what about the poco, code, or meter combo folks, or inspector?
Is this meter combo thingy rated for that? Conductor fills?
So assuming all if the above was also just fine and good, from the descriptions it sounds like something broke in that small enclosure that’s now home to the 50a GFCI breaker...possibly when it got stuffed in there.
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Based off the pictures I have above there’s plenty space in the meter combo for a 50A circuit. As far as code goes I don’t know what code I would’ve broken in order to run this circuit also. The POCO has nothing to do with the bottom side of a Meter Combo. I asked the Hot Tub company if it was okay to make the 50A breaker my spa disconnect because it’s on the backside wall of the hot tub . I should’ve put a disconnect regardless because technically it’s not within sight considering you have to walk around the corner to get to it however it’s been working fine for close to 8 months now.
 
MisterMoSparky said:
it’s not within sight considering you have to walk around the corner to get to it
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Had to check fault codes of an Eaton hot tub disconnect last week.

“Not Within sight of hot tub,” is not one of the GFCI trip codes yet, but probably is included in the AFCI versions,
 
I spent a summer as a service tech for a spa company running service calls. Had a good amount of heaters that would eventually get built up with the chemicals circulating in the water, and trip out the GFI. Solution was replace the heater. Doesn’t sound at all like the problem here, Assuming....it was a new tub and the OP now says it’s working ok. I too would think somehow the enclosure might be damaged, or maybe the breaker was a little flaky the first couple turn ons. Occasionally on older pools and spas the seal on the pump would leak ever so little water, being mounted on the motor it finds its way into it and trips out.
 
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