pkillur Posted February 2, 2010 Report Posted February 2, 2010 Greetings all - My GFI box is cracked, so I'm looking at getting a new one - This one here (http://www.spadepot.com/shop/Spa-Disconnect-GFCI-Load-Center-240V-up-to-60A-P9279C193.aspx) seems like it has a 120 circuit in tandem with the 240. But my question is does it work if you are using the tub? I'm not sure how this thing works... Quote
hot_water Posted February 3, 2010 Report Posted February 3, 2010 Greetings all - My GFI box is cracked, so I'm looking at getting a new one - This one here (http://www.spadepot.com/shop/Spa-Disconnect-GFCI-Load-Center-240V-up-to-60A-P9279C193.aspx) seems like it has a 120 circuit in tandem with the 240. But my question is does it work if you are using the tub? I'm not sure how this thing works... Yes it does work even when you're using the tub. To make it happen, you bring four wires from the main house panel, which is most likely what you have now anyway. The 240 volt circuit(s) for the spa use the red and black wires. The white wire is 120 volts away from either of these (it's the center tap of the power company's transformer). The green is called the "equipment ground" and doesn't carry any electrical current until and unless there is a ground fault - it's there for safety. Your spa may use 120V for some function or other (most do). The 120V branch circuit is connected across EITHER the red OR the black bus, and the white neutral from the neutral bus. If you want two 12V branch circuits, install one in the panel to the RED bus and the other one to the BLACK bus. The catch with all this is that your wiring from the main house panel to the sub panel needs to be adequate for the total of all the amperage - say, 60 for the spa plus an additional 15A for the 120V circuit - or 30 amps IF you connect up yet another breaker and run two 120 volt circuits (say, for landscape lights in addition to the outlet). You have to include factors for temperature AND the total number of current carrying conductors (don't include the green - it normally carries no current unless there is a ground fault) in the conduit - only a problem if there's other wires in the conduit besides just the red, black, white and green for the spa. You will probably be better off getting an electrician or engineer to look over the calculations, apply the proper factors, look at the wiring, and ensure that you're good to go. Be sure you don't connect the white and the green together at the spa sub panel. These should be connected ONLY back at the main house panel. My Midwest panel (Lowe's, less than $100) has space for a 120V circuit, but doesn't come with a single pole (120V) breaker (it uses Seimens breakers). So I don't see the Spadpot panel as that unique. Quote
Glid Posted February 3, 2010 Report Posted February 3, 2010 I'm not sure how this thing works... This statement, plus electrical, equals dangerous! Not trying to offend anyone. It is to assure safety. Contract a licensed electrician. Quote
pkillur Posted February 3, 2010 Author Report Posted February 3, 2010 I'm not sure how this thing works... This statement, plus electrical, equals dangerous! Not trying to offend anyone. It is to assure safety. Contract a licensed electrician. Not offended in the least. The 240 was physically run by me and hooked up by an electrician. I was just looking at the box and noticed it's got a knockout missing on the bottom and has a little crack. Most likely this is from moving it and might not be a big issue, but you know, like you said "not sure + water + electricity = stupid". Anyhow, as I was looking I stumbled across the spadepot one looking for new ones. Some things I completely feel comfortable screwing with because I've developed enough sensitivity to not step on any figurative bombs (plumbing, low voltage wiring, corporate antivirus ) - Electricity makes about 80% sense to me, which is where the danger lies! I know just enough to do basic stuff (pop out a breaker, run wire, conduits, etc), but I'm NOT an electrician at all... I was just curious how it worked and whether or not to get a new box with it or not. Since the post above yours said that I'd probably need to upgrade my GFI to 60 + the main to 60 (if I'm reading it correctly) I'll probably pass! Swapping out a box I can do, but calculating load isn't something I want to do, plus I'm @ appx 85 feet on 6 GA, so I'm not sure it could handle the load. I also have a 120 plug on the other side of the deck. Quote
NewB@Spa Posted February 3, 2010 Report Posted February 3, 2010 not sure + water + electricity = DEAD! Quote
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