fiamen55

Well new box and wires installed.....FIXED THE PROBLEM See photos below of the new components. Thanks again for everyones input. Be safe link: http://www.diychatroom.com/f18/hot-tub-water-electrified-60-volts-please-help-81509/index3/

Well here is the deal. Unplugged blower=box still charged blower 2=box still cgarged cireculator pump, ozoneator, heater element, and lights Still power on the GFCI box. Also noted that even with all componets disconnected, my "balboa control box/brain" has a charge on it. Willing to bet that the entire control box has a short on the board somewhere. I have been on the phone with Balboa Water Systems over the past few days and they are pretty sure it's the the miswired GFCI and 3 wire not the 4 wire lead. Even when I told him about the scenerio above he still is sure it's the GFCI. So with that info, I did have another electrician (licenced) come over and look at this system. He is confident that the previous guy was trying to kill me and bang my wife after the insurance money came in Seriously speaking now, I have been reading the posts here and on another site and I appreciate all your observations and comments. In a nutshell the spa is wired with only 3 wires.....it's a 4 wire spa. He said there is no proper ground. So tomorrow 9/23 I'm getting a new 4 wire lead and a new GFCI with a 50 amp square D breaker. So we'll see what happens. I'll post back with the results. For the record, this was wired by an actual union electrician who was licenced in MA. I live in RI and he was not licenced here though I understand from everyone that this is a "basic" job that he should have been able to figure out.

I did do that test and the meter reads zero. The only grounding rod in the area is the one for my house that has been there for ever. The nearest transformer to my house is 5 miles away. As for the metal rod in the photo, that is a large crowbar I used as a ground to show the current flowing on my external GFCI box.

First want to start off and thank you for your time in reviewing this. I have had a 4 wire hot tub for 5 years now. On occation when I touched the GFCI disconnect I have felt a “buzzing fuzzy feeling” in my hand. Didn’t think much of it. The other day I placed my fingers in the water to add my usual bromine tab to it. I suddenly felt the “buzzing fuzzy” feeling in my fingers! Never noticed this before in the water. This can’t be good. I did some research and reviewed the wiring diagram for the tub. My tub is a balboa tub is a 4 wire 240V. From the tub there are 4 wires a black, white, red and a green. My electrician wired a black, white and green to the main in my basement to the external GFCI disconnect . I think this 3 wire configuration may be the problem. I did always feel the electrical charge at the external GFCI disconnect but never in the water. I placed my voltmeter in the water and then to the ground and recorded 50-60 volts in the water. At times when the water is not charged I do get the the same volt reding on the actual disconnect box. I connected a voltmeter to the door of the disconnect and to a piece of metal I placed on the ground and documented that the actual “box” is charged with what appers to be 100+ volts. It comes and goes and it makes no difference if the blowers are on or the underwater light is on or off. Sometimes the water is charged sometimes it isn’t. I have several photos here of the existing wiring. Any help would be greatly appreciated When looking at the photo of the GFCI the left side 3 wire conduit is from the house main and the right side is the 4 wire conduit from the spa. When looking at the photo of my "house main" the 50A breaker is the bottom left. There is a black and a white going to it. It looks like there is a big red wire also but it's just another wire from another appliance that IS NOT CONNECTED to the bthe spa breaker. Only a black and white. The green is connected to the silver bar thingy in the middle left. The conduit from the external GFCI is the metal conduit on the top left of the main panel I have the photos at this address.. http://spaforums.com/Spa-FAQ/Electrical-Electronics/Hot-Tub-Water-Electrified-With-Volts-Please_7378.html