I have a sundance Camio, 1993, 800 series. The spa quit working. Electrician fixed the fuse. Now it will stay on for about 30 mins before tripping the breaker. I have checked for leaks and see none. What else can it be. I don't think it has anything to do with the motor. What steps do I need to take to start eleminating things.
Willis

What breaker is tripping? If it is the house breaker feeding the tub, you might want to have an electrician check the amperage draw on the tub to see if it is using more power than it should. You could also have a bad breaker. Does it happen only after the tub has been in use for a period of time, or is it when no on is using the tub? Does it happen only when the heater circuit kicks on or doesn't it matter if the heat is on or not?

Good Luck

I got the spa from a friend. He said it just quit working one day. I had a electrician come and install 220 and he was the one that found that the fuse was burn out. He changed the fuse. Now it will operate for about 30 mins and the main house breaker trips. I don't know if it's the heater or what. How can I test to see.
Thank you so much for your help I really appreciate it. I just need to know which way to go. I want to try and eliminate as many possiblities as I can before I have someone come and look at it. I don't want to have to pay for something if I don't have too.
Once again thanks for your help.

WIllis

Charger,

I'm sorry I'm corrected. It's the GFCI breaker not the house breaker.
Thanks
Willis

so it's the GFI on the spa control cabinet that is tripping? Typically these will trip if you have a bad heater element, when the heater kicks on. One thing to try, to determine, is to unhook both wires from the heater element (tape or wire nut these separately and keep them out of the way during the test) and try the spa again. If the breaker holds, you just discoverd the heater element needs to be replaced.

I turned the spa on tonight without the heater on. It ran for about 30 min. with just the air, jet, and light on. When the air and jets shut off auto I turned them both back on and it immediatly tripped the gfci. Do I still need to disconnect the heater.
Thanks
Willis

Sorry, I meant to say the heater was turned Off.
Thanks

I would still completely disconnect it to rule it out.

Charger,

Okay, I disconnected the two Black wires to the heater. I turned just the jets on and it ran until they auto shut off. Then I turned the jets on again waited a few mins and turned the air on. It ran until the auto jets turned off. I turned the air off, then I turned the air and the jets on at the same time (Yesterday when I just turned the heater off and didn't disconnect, this is when the gfci tripped, by turning air and jets on at same time) It ran for about 5 mins and tripped the gfci. Also another question for you. I had a pool guy come and look at the spa, He really didn't know what to do. There is two pull out valves by the heater, They were both closed, he pulled one out. What are these valves for and what position should they be in.
So If not the heating element what else do you think could be causing the problem.

Thanks for all of your help.

Willis

Do you have a small circulation pump going to your heater, or do you use the same motor that the jets use? The reason I ask is that if you have a separate motor, just for the heat, it could be bad, and trip the GFI when it calls for heat (even though the element is disconnected). If you have this motor, disconnect that and try again. This will take some ruling out to get to the bottom of this problem.

If that doesn't work, then I would disconnect the blower, and try again. Basically, disconnecting one thing at a time until the problem goes away. Now, granted, once you get to the main motor as the last item on the list, you might want to assume it's the motor, but not so fast. You could just have a faulty GFI breaker, or even a bad connection somewhere.

On that last note, it might not be a bad idea to double and tripple check all connections for corosion, loosness, etc, and the insulation on the wires for cracks or abrading before going too much farther.