Hi all-

I have a 1999 Cal Spa with Balboa C2000 digital controls. I had just done some work on the tub, which involved some leakage into the control area due to residual water, etc. Got everything back together, it ran for an hour, then the GFCI tripped and kept tripping. I isolated it to the heater- if I disconnect those leads it does not trip. The heater seem to test ok- through the element it is 14 ohms or so, I can't measure any connectivity from either lead to ground.

This unit is actually a heat exchanger design- the element does not contact the water directly, it is wrapped around the tube that the water is in. Then there is a box with some insulation in it (see pics). When I opened that up, I noticed that that insulation was a bit wet - could that be causing my GFCI problem? Or is it more likely something with the element? I guess I can let it dry out, put everything back, refill the tub and try it- can anyone suggest more tests I can do?

Thanks

Update:

I figured out how to get the heat exchanger off of the control box: it is held on by a hard to reach nut that goes on a bolt welded to the heater tube, and a screw that goes through the contact strip for the circuit board and into threads in the box that surrounds the heater- kind of a weird arrangement. I also had to pull the wires off of the pressure switch and pull the thermosensor out of the cavity on the heater tube.

I then cut through the cover of the insulation piece and took out the soaked fiberglass. After trying unsuccessfully to dry it with a heat gun, I finally put it in the oven at 200 degrees for a couple of hours. That worked well. I wrapped the heater tube back up, taped it and reassembled the box.

For a quick test, I briefly powered on the tub with the heater reattached but the pumps unplugged. The circuit breaker did not trip right away, so I replaced all the plumbing, refilled and turned it on. 16 hours later and it's up to temperature and seems to be working. Looking forward to a nice soak tonight!