Hi everybody...I'm the new guy who wants tp pick your collective brains...

I was looking for a little help/info with my spa.
without going into detail about my spa brand etc, it has to do with the unusally cold weather here in Ohio the past week.
the GFI kicked out last Sunday and by the time I had noticed the temperature has dropped to about 60. The spa has ran fine: heater light is on,pump running water circulating and no further GFI issues. The temperature has not been above 5 degrees since the gfi kicked and at night it has continually dropped to several degrees below zero.

The temperature in the water has remained at about 62 and has even dropped a little to high fifties. This morning it's down to 51.

Does anyone else have any ideas? Anybody else in the deep freeze have any issues with maintaining temperature? I'm hoping it's just the bitter cold weather: we have had the lowest temps in 6-7 years and the spa is 3 years old. Could it be since the temp dropped to 60 before I noticed its just too damn cold to heat it to 98 or so?
thanks in advance etc

I would say, from your description of events, that your heater element shorted, then opened, which would cause the gfi to trip, and upon resetting, not trip again. The heat you are getting is most likely from the pumps running, residual heat. If you have access to a multitester, do the following:

Disconnect power to the spa

Remove BOTH wires going to the heater element (or copper strips if it is a balboa setup).

Set the multitester to the "Ohm's" scale (resistance)

Measure across both terminals of the heater

Resistance should be 9-14 Ohm's. anything more or infinite indicates a faulty element and the source of your problem.