Hot Tub Motor Troubleshooting

ugafx4

ugafx4

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2017
Messages
190
Location
CLT
Rating - 100%
11   0   0
Well, yall where a huge help with my AC outside. Lets see what we can do to figure out this issue.

First off, this tub is the bane of my existence and it came for free with the house. Of course my wife loves it and wants it working.

The issue is that my tub is tripping the GFCI breaker at the panel in my garage. I have, through a process of elimination, determined that one of the two motors is the culprit. I took this motor to a spa shop and they said it passed their tests and was good to go. I put it back in and boom, still trips.

So what should I be checking the motor for to see why it is tripping? What can I multimeter to diagnose? Could it be not properly grounded?

Any help is appreciated. This thing is driving me nuts.
 
What amp is the circuit? I’ve seen the electric fans we use at the fd trip 15 amp gfci circuits. When I read the owners manual it said a 20 amp gfci minimum to run them. It always kicks them when it’s starting up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I’m no real help here but has it always done this or did this just start happening? If it just started did you by chance just move it or plug it into a new outlet with the breaker?
 
Have you capped off the incoming wires and then reset the breaker? It may be in the wiring, easy to check.
Is there a dedicated ground passing thru the disconnect to the tub and motors ?
With the main breaker off and the motor in coming wires disconnected. You can check for a dead short to ground with a multimeter . On both the wires to the breaker panel and the wire to the motors.
 
Do both motors and heaters go thru same breaker? As motor and about any other wired devices age they tend to get more resistive and draw more current. The gfci is designed to trip when it senses a fast heavy amp pull, In case you are the Load . I Would check the wiring and swiches for any connection issues. Take one motor at a time out of circuit and test breaker. It may be possible to separate one of the loads to a different breaker. Mechlenburg Co has tuff codes so make sure before any wiring changes. The problem could be with heaters unless they are already on separate circuit. I used to work on x-ray film processors and they have heaters and motors. When ground fault breakers first appeared on the scene I had a lot of headaches. Usually was able to switch to regular breaker if code allowed.
 
Last edited:
My breaker's been tripped for a long time now.
 
Dan said:
The gfci is designed to trip when it senses a fast heavy amp pull, In case you are the Load .
Click to expand...
Actually, the gfci does not trip based on the total current in the circuit. It measures the current flowing in the hot and the neutral wires, and trips if the two are different by a very small amount. Ideally, all of the current flowing into the circuit via the hot wire should return through the neutral wire. If not, then some of it is going to ground through some unintended path, like your body.
 
Yes, like many said breakers start going bad when they get old.
Is the breaker in question a combo arc flash/ground fault? One of my kitchen outlet breaker kept tripping and was driving me crazy until I replaced with a GFCI and problem went away. To keep the arc flash protection, I bought a replacement combo arc flash/ground fault to replace the defective one and all is well now.
 
Has it been sitting for a while and unused? Parents had one like that and it had mosture in the heaters tripping it once it ran a little bit it quit.
 
1 of 2 or 3 things going on here.
1. Bad breaker.
2. You have a true ground fault in the wiring or motor.
3. Your motor is to big for the breaker. I seriously doubt this last one. If the motor has a starting capacitor it could cause problems with over current trips if it were starting to fail.

GFCI's will not trip on over current. GFCI's measure losses from the hot or neutral to ground. Do not replace this breaker with a non GFCI breaker. Do not use this hot tub untill you hire some one to fix it or fix it yourself. Using it with out fixing it could be fatal.
 
Last edited:
First off, thanks everyone for responding. Went to bed frustrated with this, hope to get further along today.

I think the most important question here is, has it always done it? The answer is no. I used the tub for 2 years plus no issues tripping the breaker.

I HAVE already replaced the heating element as I thought that was the issue. It is not. I had the tub running all night with one motor on heating up as a test and it was fine. As soon as I plug in second motor, trips a few minutes later.

I am not anywhere near an electrician so I am hoping pictures can answer a lot. Here is a photo of the motor that I took last night that can hopefully add to the discussion.

The tub is set up with two breakers. One in a box right by the tub that does not trip. The only one that trips is in the garage at the main panel. I did notice that the breaker is a little warm to the touch.

I'll take photos of everything later today and share them.
 

Attachments

  • 20170929_212048.jpg
    20170929_212048.jpg
    103 KB · Views: 9
ugafx4 said:
First off, thanks everyone for responding. Went to bed frustrated with this, hope to get further along today.

I think the most important question here is, has it always done it? The answer is no. I used the tub for 2 years plus no issues tripping the breaker.

I HAVE already replaced the heating element as I thought that was the issue. It is not. I had the tub running all night with one motor on heating up as a test and it was fine. As soon as I plug in second motor, trips a few minutes later.

I am not anywhere near an electrician so I am hoping pictures can answer a lot. Here is a photo of the motor that I took last night that can hopefully add to the discussion.

The tub is set up with two breakers. One in a box right by the tub that does not trip. The only one that trips is in the garage at the main panel. I did notice that the breaker is a little warm to the touch.

I'll take photos of everything later today and share them.
Click to expand...
GFI and Arc fault breakers will be more warm than regular breakers. But the hot spot will be towards the back side. I might be able to swing by and help you out monday as I am off work til tues. Going to pm you my phone number.
 
DrDover said:
I might be able to swing by and help you out monday as I am off work til tues. Going to pm you my phone number.
Click to expand...

And this right here is one of the reasons that CFF is the best place on the internet. Our members are always willing to help and assist other members.
 
Seriously this is unbelievable. Thanks @DrDover I sent a note back.

For those playing at home..... here are pictures of my set up. I am home all day if anyone wants me to try anything. You can see only 1 of 2 motors is plugged in. The breaker outside does not trip. The inside one does.
 

Attachments

  • 20170930_140435 (Large).jpg
    20170930_140435 (Large).jpg
    132.3 KB · Views: 9
  • 20170930_140442 (Large).jpg
    20170930_140442 (Large).jpg
    47.3 KB · Views: 8
  • 20170930_140447 (Large).jpg
    20170930_140447 (Large).jpg
    58.2 KB · Views: 6
  • 20170930_140513 (Large).jpg
    20170930_140513 (Large).jpg
    72.6 KB · Views: 8
Have you tried swapping motors that are plugged in first to see if it follows a pattern of what is causing the tripping?
 
Mine trips the breaker when it is off but if you reset it it works fine. The next day it is trpped agian. I feal your pain but have no answers.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom