Hi, I have searched the postings and havn't quite found a problem exactly like this, (I think) anyway. Went to use my hot tub today and it was off. Blown circuit breaker. Flipped breaker back on and the tub ran for the 5 second start up and blew the breaker again. I had my wife reset the breaker and I tried to run the controls to turn the jets on. as soon as I clicked the jets button - you guessed it blew blew the circuit breaker again. (I'm not sure if the 5 seconds were up or the jets coming on did it) So, I assumed maybe the motor was having problems, so I disconnected the water lines, and un bolted the motor. for the heck of it I turned the power on, the motor turned fine in low speed for approx 5 seconds and the breaker blew. Does this mean the motor is OK? I called an electrician friend and he seems to think if the motor was drawing to many amps it would blow the house breaker, any other problems with the tub should blow the GFI.

I read several posts where the heater element may be bad. How exactly to I bypass that to see if the element is bad? and would that blow the GFI or house breaker?

Any ideas or suggestions would be great.

Thanks in advance,
Scott

OK. after reading several posts I assumed the heater element was bad. Figured it was fairly cheap. Just changed it out. Didn't help. The hot tub comes on but just for 5-6 seconds. Enough time to click the jets on or adjust the temp. then cabluueey. Breaker in the house trips. could I have a bad sensor? the jets do come on and the electronic controls work fine. Just building a load somewhere.

any ideas?


Thanks in advance for the help,
Scott

Hi Scott-

I also have a Jacuzzi brand hot tub and mine is doing the same. Tripping the breaker when I plug it in. Have you gotten any answers about why it is doing this. I did do a troubleshooting search over the internet and it did say the heating element could be bad but I read you changed your and you still have a problem. I would like any help you can give me.\

Thanks, Suzie

Any electrical component can trip the breaker, including the service itself, but heaters, blowers, and ozonators are the three most common offenders.

Any time your breaker is tripping:

- Disconnect all components: Heater, Pumps, Ozonator, Blower, Lights, etc.
- Turn on service to just the control panel and make sure the topside display comes on properly. Wait to see that the breaker does not trip. If it does, disconnect the topside control and retry. If it still does, disconnect the service from the spa and retry.
- If the circuit board holds power, turn the tub off and start reconnecting the other components. Start with the pump, then the heater, then move on to the others.

By process of elimination you should be able to find out what component is giving you trouble. If you are not able to reliably replicate the electrical problem and the breaker is just tripping sporadically over the course of a few days, it is very likely that the problem is not the spa itself but the service to the tub. This could be caused by moisture, bad wiring, a bad breaker, an undedicated line, etc.