Jaguzzi tripping gfci breaker.

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djtazjr

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I recently had a discussion with a friend of mine and he is having problems with his gfci breaker tripping for his jaguzzi.

He told me that he emptied the tub and cleaned everthing up and then filled it back up. When he turned to breaker back on it tripped. He then said he drained it again and let it all "dry" for a day or so and the breaker still tripped.

My question to the forum is does anyone have any passed experience with a situation like this, and if so what did you do to resolve it?

He didnt tell me what kind it was but its 50 amps, if that is correct.
 
Re: Jaguzzi tripping gfci breaker.

How old is the installation?

There were some 2-pole GFCI recalls about five years ago. Also, some assemblies that contain GFCI's have been recalled more recently.

Do you know what kind of assembly this GFCI is contained in? Maybe you can find a brand and model.

Or, the GFCI might have become defective under normal wear and tear-- or during some electrical anomaly.

Finally, there can be a wiring error, but that should of shown up by now if the GFCI was working for a period of time.
 
Re: Jaguzzi tripping gfci breaker.

Further, the installation is about 7 months old.

My friend told me that the electrician that installed it hasnt really finished so I would suppose that it is a wiring error.

Anything further?
 
Re: Jaguzzi tripping gfci breaker.

I'll bet he turned on the breaker while the tub was empty and most hot tubs will default to heat on when the power goes out. I'll bet he lost the heater element. Have an electrican check the heater element for a hot to ground continuty. I just had this happen and the home owner was trying to say we didn't wire the unit correctly. but after a few questions I found out that he drained the tub and for some reason turned on the power to run the lights so he could see to clean it.
 
Re: Jaguzzi tripping gfci breaker.

I came across this once a few years ago as a service call. In order to determine where the problem was, I ran a simlpe test of the GFCI breaker to see if it was doing its job or nuisance tripping with too little current. I used a resistor substitution box and a VOM with a milliampmeter and determined that it was tripping right on at its rated trip current setting. That left the heater element in the tub and it turned out that it was indeed corroded/damaged in some way and when it was replaced, the problem went away.
 
Re: Jaguzzi tripping gfci breaker.

Stop guessing and start a systematic trouble-shoot.
One way is to disconnect various elements (pump, heater, aerator, tv/vcr, etc) one at a time untill you have identified just where the fault lies.
If it trips with everything disconnected, check the installation of the breaker. Is the neutral routed correctly? Then, use (first) a continuity tester, then a megger to test your wires. IF everything tests OK, then try another GFI.

In short, start by assuming that the GFI is acting properly- rather than the opposite.
 
Re: Jaguzzi tripping gfci breaker.

I would agree that there is a problem. It may lie with a ground fault, or it may lie with a faulty ground fault interrupter. A tripping GFCI is not to be ignored any more than a tripping circuit breaker is to be ignored.
 
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