[MSP]

I'm having a weird problem with my hot tub. Four times in the last 2 months my hot tub breaker (50 amp) has tripped. It's more of a nuisance than anything, but in the winter it basically forces me to check the breaker daily as if left off for more than 24 hours there would be a risk of freeze damage.

I have two theories:

1) The breaker has gone bad, or a connection gotten loose, or moisture, etc.

2) Now that it's cold outside the tub heater is on more and pulling more amps, and when the correct combination of devices (furnace, watching machine, hot tub, etc) all kick on at the same time it overpowers my 150 amp service.

Any ideas?

[Miller]

do you have anything else wired to the breaker? its a 208-230v 2 pole i assume. they should have installed the correct amp breaker according to the directions. check the directions and see what they call for? running more often/drawing more amps shouldnt matter because that should have been compionstaed for when it was installed. i dont think your overdrawing your 150amp because then that would be popping and everything would be going out. goto the home deopt and get a 60amp

[Miller]

it also could be grounding out somewhere which would be popping the breaker. for example it ckicks on causes vibration, and thats enough to ground a lose wire out somewhere. call the people that installed it and tell them to come fix they're shit

[MSP]

Originally Posted by Miller

do you have anything else wired to the breaker? its a 208-230v 2 pole i assume. they should have installed the correct amp breaker according to the directions. check the directions and see what they call for? running more often/drawing more amps shouldnt matter because that should have been compionstaed for when it was installed. i dont think your overdrawing your 150amp because then that would be popping and everything would be going out. goto the home deopt and get a 60amp

Yeah, when I get a chance I'm going to check all of the connections. I just looked for moisture and wrapped the breaker box in plastic, just to eliminate that as a possibility. I don't recall the environmental conditions before, but last night it was raining...

EDIT: The breaker is mounted to the house about 5 feet away, so no way vibrations from the hub are wiggling it. And it ran flawlessly for six months...

[Miller]

that might be the problem but to be honest i've seen condensers with the electrical disconect exposed to the elements and not have any problems. make sure to flip that breaker of, i've felt 208/230 at 20 amps and it doesnt feel good, i couldn't imagine 50 amps.

[CHEDaddy]

You should probably call the installer, particularly if the work is warrentied. It is possible that a breaker is undersized or defective, and they are cheap and easy to replace. Here's what I would do.

I am assuming you are running 220/230 single phase (two out of phase 110 leads). You have a breaker inside a disconnect box near the tub. Open it and look very carefully for any white or black marks suggestive of arcing. If you see a component like that, I would just replace it. Also check for loose, scorched, melted, or otherwise bad wires (disconnect power first). Presumably the operating components are in the disconnect box (I know nothing about hot tubs), if not, find where they are located. Perform the same check. Motor starter relays (if present) in particular can chatter or partially fail and trip a break so check them.

I assume the system consists of a pump and a heater. Hook an amp clamp around a single lead to the heater while in operation and record the amps. If the heater is DC you will have to disconnect one lead and test in series. Do the same for the pump, with the pump off and then turn it on. Record the starting amps (which should hold for less than a second) and the running amps. Check against values for the motor and heater.

Disconnect the power. For a 220 single phase pump motor you may have a two wire (two leads and a ground) or a three wire (three leads and a ground) motor. If you have a three wire motor then the capcitor is not internal to the motor and you see it in the box. Disconnect the capacitor and short it with a screwdriver for about 10 seconds. Switch the multimeter to resistance and apply to both contacts for about 30 seconds - you are charging the capacitor. Switch the meter to volatge and apply to both poles - voltage should spike and then decay slowly if the cap is good. Now switch the multimeter to resistance and check each pump lead wire vs. ground for conductivity - any conductivity means either a failing motor or a short in your wiring (you sometimes cannot do this with a 110 motor because it connects to neutral). Now check the resistance of the motor wiring across the two power leads (you should need not a galvenometer to test a 1/2 hp or smaller motor in most cases). Resistance should be about 4-6 ohms for a 1/3 to 1/2 motor, but you need to know what it is, so call Baldor or whoever made the motor for the pump.

Check resistance across the heating unit (disconnect from circuit first), get acceptable range from manufacturer.

Also, check the voltage on each lead at your breaker and make sure it matches the pump motor. If the voltage is low, amps will be higher.

[MSP]

The circuit last tripped on November 16-17th, so it's VERY sporadic to say the least. There was a cold snap during that 24 hour period, dropping down to 20 degrees...

The good news is that the entire hot tub (pump, heater, ozinator, shell, etc) is under parts / labor warranty for 6 years.

[mistawiskas]

Isn't that breaker supposed to be a GFCI breaker? They are identified by a coiled white wire going from they breaker to the ground/nuetral buss.If so they run about 80-100 bux. If so then check that all of your ground busses are secured
and all connections tight, also, if there is any arching when the pump motor comes on, it may blow the breaker. There's a new kind of recepticle out on these new homes we are building and they kick off if there is any kind of arching at all. it's a bitch to run a saw or power tool because the brushes in the motors always arch when they come on.

[hans5849]

talk to me in August when im a electrician

[Jishory]

my dad has been an electrician for 30 years and i dont have a clue and i worked with him for 5 solid, i hate that crap

[pk_volt]

I'm a robotics and automation 2nd year student.


your second theory makes sense.

You should try to turn on all your heaters/washer machine etc at the same time to see if teh breaker will kick in.

Either that, or maybe your breaker has the wrong amperage rating?
I don't know much about troubleshooting, I only know how to design.

[MSP]

Well, the frequency of my tub resets increased to the point where it was popping the breaker once a day. So I scheduled service on it and the tech said "Before we come out, pull the filter and run the jets on high for 10-15 minutes. Sounds like a vapor lock..." Sure enough, that did the trick. Now that I thought about it the resets started right after I drained it a few months ago. It's a pleasant surprise, but I'm also surprised that could pop the breaker...