Spa GFCI Breaker Tripping

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Ravenvalor

Ravenvalor

Senior Member
Location
Piedmont region of NC
Hello,

I have got an interesting one.

I have a GFCI breaker in a service panel feeding a SPA that keeps tripping on occasion.

I replaced the breaker but to no positive result, with the exception that It was tripping instantaneously and now the new one trips on occasion.

The SPA tech support rep believes the problem may be an appliance in the home that is leaking current. He has requested that I look for continuity between

my neutrals and my grounds, and also the hots and the grounds. Could he be correct? I have found that Central HVAC Systems will show continuity between

the hots and the grounds. Why do not these appliances ever trip GFCIs?

Thanks for the help with this one.
 
Dennis Alwon

Dennis Alwon

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Chapel Hill, NC
Occupation
Retired Electrical Contractor
I had a spa guy say that the problem with the spa is that the electrician wired it with stranded wire and the entire run needed to be replaced. The guy was an idiot. I finally spoke with his boss and he diagnosed it on the phone when I explained it to him. It was exactly what I told the technician. I refused to rewire the tub because it was done correctly-- no I did not do the initial install.
 
Ponchik

Ponchik

Senior Member
Location
CA
Occupation
Electronologist
Dennis Alwon said:
I had a spa guy say that the problem with the spa is that the electrician wired it with stranded wire and the entire run needed to be replaced. The guy was an idiot. I finally spoke with his boss and he diagnosed it on the phone when I explained it to him. It was exactly what I told the technician. I refused to rewire the tub because it was done correctly-- no I did not do the initial install.
Click to expand...

if solid wires were in the instructions that came with the unit? :huh:
 
Dennis Alwon

Dennis Alwon

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Chapel Hill, NC
Occupation
Retired Electrical Contractor
edward said:
if solid wires were in the instructions that came with the unit? :huh:
Click to expand...
That wasn't the point. The problem had nothing to do with the solid vs stranded wire. We could have pigtailed the solid but he said the entire run had to be stranded-- that has nothing to do with the problem on hand. The wire is still stranded and there are no issues.
 
Joethemechanic

Joethemechanic

Senior Member
Location
Hazleton Pa
Occupation
Electro-Mechanical Technician. Industrial machinery
Ravenvalor said:
Hello,

I have got an interesting one.

I have a GFCI breaker in a service panel feeding a SPA that keeps tripping on occasion.

I replaced the breaker but to no positive result, with the exception that It was tripping instantaneously and now the new one trips on occasion.

The SPA tech support rep believes the problem may be an appliance in the home that is leaking current. He has requested that I look for continuity between

my neutrals and my grounds, and also the hots and the grounds. Could he be correct? I have found that Central HVAC Systems will show continuity between

the hots and the grounds. Why do not these appliances ever trip GFCIs?

Thanks for the help with this one.
Click to expand...

Tech support for consumer produts is almost totally useless today. My bet would be the heating element too. Groundfaults upstream of your gfci aren't causing the tripping. Do you have a megger? I would disconnect the heating element and meg it to ground, or even stick an electrode in the water and meg to that.

Tech support people like that are part of the reason I am planning an exodus to "Galt's Gulch" :lol:
 
H

Hv&Lv

Senior Member
Location
-
Occupation
Engineer/Technician
Ravenvalor said:
Hello,

I have got an interesting one.

I have a GFCI breaker in a service panel feeding a SPA that keeps tripping on occasion.

I replaced the breaker but to no positive result, with the exception that It was tripping instantaneously and now the new one trips on occasion.

The SPA tech support rep believes the problem may be an appliance in the home that is leaking current. He has requested that I look for continuity between

my neutrals and my grounds, and also the hots and the grounds. Could he be correct? I have found that Central HVAC Systems will show continuity between

the hots and the grounds. Why do not these appliances ever trip GFCIs?

Thanks for the help with this one.
Click to expand...

I kinda agree with the others, does it trip only when the heaters are on? or when the air is turned on? Could also be a bad check valve letting water leak back into the air blower motor.
 
Sierrasparky

Sierrasparky

Senior Member
Location
USA
Occupation
Electrician ,contractor
Joethemechanic said:
Tech support for consumer produts is almost totally useless today. My bet would be the heating element too. Groundfaults upstream of your gfci aren't causing the tripping. Do you have a megger? I would disconnect the heating element and meg it to ground, or even stick an electrode in the water and meg to that.

Tech support people like that are part of the reason I am planning an exodus to "Galt's Gulch" :lol:
Click to expand...

Just keep your hands out of the water when you do that! :p
 
Jraef

Jraef

Moderator, OTD
Staff member
Location
San Francisco Bay Area, CA, USA
Occupation
Electrical Engineer
I just went through this myself. I did a "cheater" test; I opened the control box, disconnected the leads going to the heater, turned on the GFI breaker and it held in, proving (to me) that it was the heater elements. There is a non-conductive sheath over the NiChrome wire, if it corrodes, it leaks current. That's why you have a GFI breaker!

I am glad I'm not a Spa Tech though. I did it myself... never again! I was thinking it was an electrical problem and the heater element was cheap on-line, so why would I hire someone else? Total PITA when you mix plumbing and electrical. It was the plumbing stuff that really set me off. A lot of the parts were assembled and glued in place, no way to dismantle them without cutting the PVC pipe. Then in some areas they didn't leave you enough to glue a coupling back in afterward. Other fittings were obviously assembled with the tub on a bench upside down, so were nearly impossible to access with it installed. The NEXT time I have to change the heater element, I'm either going to pay some numbnuts to do it or I'm going to buy a new spa.
 
ptonsparky

ptonsparky

Tom
Location
NE (9.06 miles @5.9 Degrees from Winged Horses)
Occupation
EC - retired
One older hot tub I worked on had controls external to the tub. The pump, heater and control were under a step built for access to hot tub. During cool weather the vapor from the heated water would condense just above it and drip down onto the electrical connections. Another was a sealed relay that had cracked and would allow moisture, condensation, to enter once the water got hot.

I do not change heaters. They could buy a new tub before I figured out how to do it and completed the task.
 
T

T.M.Haja Sahib

Guest
Could the sensitivity of the GFCI be reduced to stop tripping?
 
T

T.M.Haja Sahib

Guest
ptonsparky said:
No. There are no adjustments that can be made by field engineers.

They are designed to save lives and they work.
Click to expand...

The GFCI may be replaced with one of lower sensitivity,with due care not to compromise safety.
 
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